When a straightforward, durable, good looking suppressor at an aggressive price comes along, it’s sure to catch my interest. Checking every one of those boxes, YHM’s new R9 jumped right to the top of my to-test list and Silencer Shop was there to put a loaner unit in my hands. If you expect mediocre performance from a $449 MSRP suppressor, guess again. The YHM R9 is fantastic.
In the box you’ll find the R9, a 1/2×28 fixed mount, and a spanner wrench. The wrench indexes into tool slots located between some of the .223-shaped reliefs machined into the base of the silencer.
Wrench flats on the fixed mount provide a simple, standard tool interface for tightening or removing the mount from the suppressor and/or the host firearm.
The R9’s base uses what has become the industry standard 1-3/8×24 thread pattern, opening up an entire ecosystem of mount options from many different manufacturers including all sorts of QD systems, 3-lugs, boosters, fixed mounts, and more.
That said, take note of the distance between the base of the can and the front face of the first baffle, as some QD muzzle brake systems and boosters may be too long to fit into the R9. I’ll go ahead and state that most will work, but there are definitely some that will not. If you’re unsure, contact the pros at Silencer Shop or, of course, Yankee Hill Machine and they’ll get you sorted out.
A tubeless design, the R9 is manufactured entirely of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel with eight fully-welded baffles. No sir, it is not modular (other than the mounting system) or user serviceable. What it is is extremely durable as well as quite lightweight at just 10.7 ounces.
Uh oh, you’ve shot 2,500 rounds of 9mm and you’re feeling like it’s time to clean out that pistol ammo gunk from the inside? Shoot some 5.56 through it. Problem solved.
As a fully-welded 17-4 can, the R9 is rated for quite a lot of abuse above and beyond pistol calibers. In fact, with a 16-inch or longer barrel you’re good to go on .223 Remington/5.56 NATO, .308 Winchester, 350 Legend, 6.5 Grendel, and 7.62×39. With an 8-inch or longer barrel, 300 Blackout is in play.
Considering the YHM R9 is only 5.2 inches long, I had some reservations as to just how quiet — or loud — it might be. Heck, it’s barely larger than Roger, my pet backyard banana spider who isn’t much of a conversationalist but does a fine job proofreading my articles and staring at me with all of his cold, unblinking eyes while I write reviews on the patio with a cigar and a strange twitch in my neck as he gets uncomfortably close to my shoulder from the high ground above and behind me, which isn’t at all creepy or disconcerting and is just fine.
Out on the shooting range and well-armed against banana spiders, I first shot the R9 on an AR-15 style pistol caliber carbine chambered in 9mm with a 16-inch barrel. As a “subgun can,” the R9’s design is predominately focused on this sort of use including on 9mm SBRs and full-auto subguns.
And the R9 was pleasantly quiet. Impressively quiet, in fact, given its compact size. The vast majority of the sound experienced by me, the shooter, was due to the ejection port noise and general action noise of the PCC (one reason I’m not a big fan of AR-style direct blowback nine-millimeters). Impacts of the 147 grain subsonic Armscor ammo were clearly heard as the bullets thudded into the dirt berm backstop.
Swapping the 1/2×28 fixed mount for a booster unit, it was time to test the R9 a little harder by asking it to suppress the same ammo on an extremely short barrel.
Again, the little can was quieter than I had anticipated. It easily holds its own with longer suppressors designed exclusively for pistol use. In fact, YHM rates it at 123 dB on a 4.5-inch barrel, which frankly seems awfully optimistic but if accurate puts it in the upper echelon for 9×19 sound suppression.
The only negative to running the YHM R9 on a pistol — or at least on my P365 — was a bit more debris blowback than average compared to typical pistol suppressors. Not enough to be distracting or uncomfortable, but I could feel a few more flecks hitting me in the face than I’m used to.
300 Blackout, though, amirite? Here’s a great photo that shows off the YHM R9 on my 300 BLK SBR with an 8.3-inch Ballistic Advantage barrel inside that Lancer Systems carbon fiber handguard.
Well, okay, “shows off” may not be accurate. Can you see it now? The R9’s 1.562-inch outside diameter fits absolutely perfectly inside the handguard, and its length was a happy bit of luck.
Now if that isn’t a sweet look, I don’t know what is. Even the “knurling” detail around the top of the R9 happens to look like it was designed to go with the similar notches at the business end of the Lancer handguard. Heck of a combo.
As you can see and clearly hear in the video, first round pop on this setup was pronounced. When I fired that first shot I expected it to simply be the volume level of this suppressor on this setup, but once again the R9 surprised me with its exceptional performance. Subsequent shots were quiet. Very quiet.
Thanks to the much longer delay in this direct gas impingement action compared to the straight blowback 9mm action plus, if I may say so myself, the impeccable gas system and buffer tuning I’ve done on this gun, it was hands-down quieter at the shooter’s right ear than the 9mm PCC. It was far quieter than I expected considering the short length and generous bore of the YHM R9 for 300 BLK use. Yet again I think it would hold its own against many of the mid- to small-ish, dedicated .30 cal cans on the market.
Looking at YHM’s published numbers, though, it isn’t quite enough suppressor to tame .308 to OSHA-approved hearing safe levels of sub-140 dB (YHM states 142 dB). Without a doubt it was well under that threshold with subsonic 300 Blackout, though, and I’d assume the same for subsonic 350 Legend and I’m sure for supersonic flavors of those cartridges and others given a certain minimum barrel length.
As I wrapped up testing for the day I was nothing short of extremely impressed with the YHM R9. It’s an awesome little subgun can at a fair price, and it’s a top performer. Combined with the 1.375×24 mount system and a fully-welded 17-4 PH SS construction, it’s ready to go on all sorts of different firearms in all sorts of configurations in many pistol and rifle calibers and with mounts of every variety.
That’s a lot of utility the R9 helps squeeze out of that $200 tax stamp. For all these reasons and more, the YHM R9 has found itself high up on my recommended list.
Specifications: Yankee Hill Machine R9
Caliber: 9mm (but rated for many calibers from .17 HMR to .308)
Diameter: 1.562 inches
Length: 5.2 inches
Weight: 10.7 oz.
Mount Type: 1.375×24 universal mounting threads. Comes with 1/2×28 fixed mount.
Materials: 17-4 PH stainless steel
Finish: matte black high temp Cerakote
MSRP: $449 (find it for less at Silencer Shop)
Ratings (out of five stars):
Utility * * * *
With the “universal” mount system and durable construction, the R9 can be used on a wide range of calibers and firearm types and with mount styles from multiple companies.
Form Factor * * * *
Compact, light weight, and good looking.
Suppression * * * * *
Very impressive for its short length or, heck, just in general.
Overall * * * * *
Given its capabilities and performance at its price point, the YHM R9 is a five-star suppressor.
It’s a shame these are still NFA, political football items, when they should have been declared recommended over the counter safety equipment long ago. I am not willing to grant permission to ATF to inspect my gun room at their pleasure! At 69 I have tinnitus that started the indoor rifle range at my military high school in the 60s.
I am not willing to grant permission to ATF to inspect my gun room at their pleasure!
You do not waive your 4th Amendment Rights by obtaining an NFA item.
You are conflating this with an FFL (with or without a Special Occupancy Tax (SOT) license), which *does* require waiver of the business’s 4th Amendment Right.
The entirety of the NFA, being a tax on a Right, should be declared un-Constitutional, though. Oh, and suppressors ARE over-the-counter in other nations, such as England, New Zealand, …
“Occupancy”??
Yes, suppressors should be OTC in the USA as well.
Sorry, Occupational…. Sheesh…
@300
Apologies, did not mean to come off as a d**k.
Special Occupancy Tax just made me think of Kamala renting a room down at the local HOtel to meet with her Willie…er, Mr. Brown.
As a “kitchen table” home-based FFL+SOT, that’s mostly true. Hired a local lawyer to find out for sure for me tho …
I must submit to an official inspection of my official place of business by an ATF official during official business hours. Official place of business is only my office & where the business-owned firearms are stored. If they stop by when I’m closed or not home, they have to come back. Any other rooms or local law enforcement? I’ll need to see the warrant and call my lawyer.
Now I can get NFA firearms mailed directly to my home at wholesale prices, and other gun-loving folks come over and pay me. Not so bad!
Jeremy,
Since it is all 17-4 SS could you plunk it into a ultrasonic cleaner loaded with hot water and Purple Power?
Sure. It will remove or start to remove the Cerakote, though, if it’s a decent ultrasonic tank. You could also do “the dip” to clean it. But, realistically, firing a few 5.56 rounds would clean it out very effectively should there be schmutz in there from thousands of 9mm rounds. A little centerfire rifle fire will burn and blow that crap right out the front.
Thank you for explaining. I use the ultrasonic to clean my Sparrow (just the monocore and clamshells) because of the Cerakote / anodize issue. It works very well. Never have tried the “dip”…looks messy. I may have to ask my local Class III / SOT dealer to price one for me (he has a SilencerShop kiosk).
Does shooting subsonic ammo void the warranty on the R9?
At least these attach to an actual gun.
Question: If they made suppressors legal (without paper), could I go back to making own (theoretically) like I did in high school.
“Question: If they made suppressors legal (without paper), could I go back to making own (theoretically) like I did in high school.”
You could, if were legal, but it isn’t…
Legal is NOT what you want. Suppressors are already legal and that is why you can own them, but of course, subject to the government’s regulations. What you in fact mean to say and what all of us would like to see, is for suppressors to be “decriminalized” which would then result in there no longer being any crime attached to their possession or use and therefore there would also no longer be a need for any kind of government involvement regarding any aspect of the possession or use of a suppressor.
Government likes to criminalize and ban things that were previously universally in use by the public (such as hemp) and then much later act like they are doing us a favor by “legalizing” that thing but which then subjects us all to regulation, licensing and the payment of fees. We need to insist that government stay within their limited scope of authority as granted by the enumerated powers listed in the Constitution. And we need to force government to recognize the very clear command directive that is contained in the words of the Second Amendment that states; “the Right of the people to keep and bear arms Shall Not be infringed”. Understand that under contract law, an amendment overrides and “supersedes” everything that came before it and so it permanently alters the original document. And any conflict that may arise between the provisions of the original document and the amendment must always be ruled in favor of the amendment so that the amendment’s terms and conditions always prevail. If truth be told, the government lacks the authority to regulate any aspect of the firearms industry.
“…. What you in fact mean to say and what all of us would like to see, is for suppressors to be “decriminalized” …”
I think what you meant to say is “deregulated”.
Hmm. I just might have to jump on this and purchase my first suppressor if fedzilla can send my $200 tax stamp to me in 60 days or less.
Refresh my memory on the process:
If I do this as an individual (and not a trust), do I still have to send fingerprints to my local Sheriff and get his/her approval first? How long does that typically take in a state that is somewhat Second Amendment friendly?
Can I submit electronic request to ATF for my $200 tax stamp? If so, what are the turn-around times running lately?
LEO approval was removed in the 41F modification of the rules. Electronic submission of Form 4 (Individual or trust) has not come back yet. I highly recommend going the trust route as you can add and remove responsible persons (who can possess the item) without ever asking permission.
Rincoln,
I definitely like the trust route for the very reason that you stated. At this point I cannot justify the additional expense for creating the trust. Between the cost of the tax stamp and creating the trust, that $450 suppressor ends up costing about $1000 which I simply cannot afford right now.
Okay, I just finished looking at this particular suppressor at the Silencer Shop website. They will create a single trust for one (and only one) suppressor for $25. I can pony up the additional $25 for the flexibility of being able to easily and quickly add additional trustees such as family and friends who I trust implicitly and have clean criminal records.
I will be going to my nearest Silencer Shop in a couple weeks and ordering one of these.
Yes, IMHO that’s the way to do it. Single Shot means one trust for every NFA item you own and you can add people to the trust after it’s approved with those people having to go through the entire obnoxious process. If you do a trust where you add multiple items, every time you add a new item everyone on the trust has to go through the entire photograph and fingerprint and etc etc process every single time. Which can be really annoying if they’re in different states and is a lot to ask anyway. The single shot thing is super handy.
JEREMY!! Don’t you mean WITHOUT where you say with? Talking about adding people?
Yes, sorry, that’s a very unfortunate typo haha. The biggest benefit of the Single Shot Trust is that you can add people later WITHOUT them having to do that stuff.
CLEO sign-offs were entirely removed by Rule 41F. They are notified only, and your FFL+SOT will take care of that.
http://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/final-rule-41f-background-checks-responsible-persons-effective-july-13
To make your own silencer, that’s an ATF Form 3. These can be done electronically via ATF eForms (mail in your prints and photos separately).
To buy an existing silencer, that’s an ATF Form 4. These cannot be done electronically, but SilencerShop.com comes pretty close to making it as easy as possible.
http://www.silencershop.com/how-to-buy-a-silencer
As an FFL+SOT, I’m currently receiving tax stamps from Forms 4 that were signed in mid-April, plus or minus a few weeks. NFA wait times are pretty good right now, all things considered.
You, as an FFL+SOT, use a Form 3 to transfer an NFA item to your SOT. Us regular citizens don’t use them… We only use Form 1 (manufacture an NFA item) or Form 4 (non-tax exempt transfer of an NFA item)
Ample_Arms,
Am I understanding your post correctly about turn-around times these days? People who submitted Form 4s in April are receiving their tax stamps now? That would be a turn-around time of about six months? Last I saw turn-around time was approaching 12 months if I remember correctly.
Trust or individual will require prints and passport photos. Companies like silencer shop, Capitol armory, etc make it pretty easy if ordering online and coordinating with a local dealer, otherwise you need to find a local shop who has it or can get it or is willing to do the transfer for you if you get it shipped from someone else, but a good shop will probably help you out with the process and questions.
Silencer shop has been easiest for me, I have bought with and without them but them having my prints and photo through the app has been handy and easy.
Sounds like a good can so hopefully you can get one!
I suspect that you have misgendered “Roger”.
How easily is it attached or removed while under the handguard? Cool look, but there’s not much there to get ahold of, especially once it’s hot. Some notches on the business end to accommodate that spanner would be useful for those situations.
Roger told me his pronouns are he/him 🤷♂️
Yeah, there isn’t much to get ahold of in this case. Some sort of tool engagement surface on the front isn’t a bad idea for under-handguard use. In this case there was enough sticking out for me to grab and sufficiently tighten and then break it loose at the end. The biggest risk is that the mount stays on the barrel and the suppressor comes off the mount. I’ve had this happen with lots of suppressors. Usually it can be resolved without taking the handguard off, but that’s always a backup plan haha
How well does it work on a pistol with the booster? It seems there are complaints about its weight causing issues with certain tilt barrel handguns.
Also, the poor quality welds and finish are very apparent in your photos. I thought it was just people nitpicking on Silencer Shop… but sure enough, sloppy welds and dings/scratches show up in your photos as well.