It’s official; the silencer market has gone modular. Which makes sense given you’re asked to plunk down $200 in Federal tax and wait about as long as it takes to make a new human being before receiving approval to take that new suppressor home.
Long can? Short can? Booster? Fixed mount? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. The very modular Gemtech Lunar 9 is here.
In the box from Silencer Shop (I’m assuming you’re buying through them, since nobody makes the process as easy as they do) your Lunar 9 will include a 1/2×28 booster for use on most 9mm pistols, two modules with a bevy of baffles for each, and a front cap.
Fixed mounts and pistons with different thread pitches are sold separately. Gemtech GM-9 mounting components are compatible with the Lunar 9.
In its short configuration, the Lunar 9 is only 4.7 inches long. With a 17-4 PH stainless steel blast baffle and 7075 aluminum everything else, it’s also extremely lightweight at just 7 ounces.
Take the front cap off the mount module, move it to the end of the add-on module, and screw them together and you have the Gemtech Lunar 9 in its full-length glory. It’s now 7 inches long and weighs in at just 10 ounces.
Each of the Type III Hardcoat anodized baffles snaps onto the baffle before or after. In this way a relatively well-sealed inner tube is created, keeping the inside of the external suppressor tube fairly clean and providing much more wall strength than a can with typical K baffles inside.
Some of these baffles will only work in their specific locations, but thankfully there’s no way to assemble the Lunar 9 incorrectly.
If you get it wrong inside either of the modules, the front cap won’t install flush with the mouth of the tube. (yes, that’s a standard 3/8-inch socket drive in the front cap)
Likewise, the front module won’t install properly onto the base module. While some modular suppressors can be a tad complicated and require proprietary tools, a careful owner, and actually reading the owner’s manual, I found the Lunar 9 to be very user-friendly and self-explanatory.
As a 9mm-native suppressor we can obviously run the Lunar 9 on handguns. In full-length mode it’s very quiet. Competitive with most of the quality suppressors on the market.
In shorty mode I was very surprised with how good it sounds. What I was expecting was something just barely this side of 140 dB. “Hearing safe” but not entirely comfortable. That’s typically the goal of these “how-short-can-we-go” suppressors: make it as small as it can be without exceeding 140 dB.
But the Gemtech Lunar 9 was comfortable to my ears. Sounded quieter than another suppressor I own that’s effectively the same length. In full-length mode the Lunar 9 met expectations, but in shorty mode it definitely exceeded them.
While I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of aluminum inside suppressors, I am a massive fan of how little mass the Lunar 9 put on the muzzle of my guns. This darn thing is so lightweight it’s barely noticeable and it scarcely affects the handling characteristics of a pistol.
Out on the range, it’s that light weight that is perhaps the most noticeable feature of the Lunar 9 compared to most of its competition. I really enjoyed shooting a suppressed handgun more than I usually do. The lack of an anchor hanging off the muzzle and the maintaining of a handgun’s quick handling characteristics was awesome.
Of course, swapping over to a fixed mount means the Lunar 9 isn’t only for handguns.
On a PCC or “large format pistol” or other pistol caliber “subgun,” the Lunar 9 also shines. With the longer barrel length and muzzle farther away from the shooter, shorty configuration is typically all you’ll need.
Looks good on that Kalashnikov USA KR-9, right? It’s also only twice the weight of a fairly typical muzzle brake so, again, it’s barely noticeable out there.
Being aluminum, you won’t want to run the Gemtech Lunar 9 on your machine gun. Well, not much. Technically it’s rated for 4-8 round bursts every 4-8 seconds. On a semi-auto 9mm you don’t have much to worry about as rate of fire goes.
9mm not enough? Gemtech’s Lunar 9 is also rated for 300 Blackout, though with subsonic ammunition only.
I installed it in full-length configuration with a 5/8×24 fixed mount onto my 8.3-inch 300 BLK SBR. And I was really impressed!
My previous experience with pistol suppressors on 300 Blackout hasn’t been all that positive. Quiet enough, sure, but leaving a heck of a lot on the table as compared to an actual, .30 cal rifle can. Much to my surprise, the Lunar 9 was legit quiet. It sounded great and my carefully-tuned AR ran flawlessly and smoothly with it on.
The Lunar 9 may be even more at home on a 300 Blackout bolt gun, like this Black Collar Arms Pork Sword Pistol with a 9-inch barrel. No concerns about a high rate of fire getting things too toasty, and it’s wonderfully comfortable and hearing safe while out hunting hogs or steel targets.
At the end of my testing I was more impressed with the Gemtech Lunar 9 than I expected to be. On paper it didn’t jump out at me, but once I held it, the appeal became more obvious.
The design is really clean and well thought out, shaving weight everywhere possible — for instance, the mounts are all aluminum and only the thread insert is steel — and the machining, fit, and finish are all fantastic. It’s a great design that’s flawlessly executed.
More importantly, the Lunar 9 performs. It sounds great on handguns, PCCs, and 300 Blackouts. It fully met my expectations for a modern pistol silencer in full-length configuration, and it exceeded them in shorty format. All while barely changing the balance of the host gun. And the Gemtech Lunar 9 delivers all of this for under $600 through Silencer Shop.
Specifications: Gemtech Lunar 9
Caliber: 9mm, 300 Blackout subsonic
Diameter: 1.4″
Length: 7″ long, 4.7″ short
Weight: 10 oz long, 7 oz short
Mount Type: 1/2×28 booster included. Compatible with GM-9 mounts
Tube Material: 7075 Aluminum
Tube Finish: Matte Black Type III Hardcoat Anodize
Baffle Material: 7075 aluminum except for 17-4 PH stainless steel blast baffle
Full Auto Rated: Yes (limited to 4-8 round bursts every 4-8 seconds)
MSRP: $616
Ratings (out of five stars):
Utility * * * *
The Lunar 9’s modular design and readily available mounts bring tons of utility to the table. Aluminum baffles limits caliber and rate of fire options, but that’s a trade-off for its exceptionally light weight.
Suppression * * * *
Typical of a full-size, 9mm suppressor when in full-length configuration, and quieter than I expected in shorty mode. The Lunar 9 was also quieter on 300 Blackout with better tone than I expected. Overall, I was impressed.
Overall * * * *
The Gemtech Lunar 9 offers great versatility in an extremely lightweight, well-made package. And, of course, it’s quiet.
All photos by the author.