Moderator for a 17hmr

[2-dead-in-the-air]

Whats the best one, or a link to a review would be good.

[steve_b_wales]

SAK.

[SSS]

+1 for SAK, very good value for money and the noise is hardly any different to any other

[ads03ads]

As they said, SAK all the way.

[Dougy]

Sak are good at what there supposed to do,

after some time though they are prone to errosion from powder burn, depends on the amount it gets used i suppose, but then for £30 its dissposable price.

[Lez325]

DM 80 is what I use and its very quiet & over barrel keeping the rifle length down - did have a a SAK but not a touch on the DM 80

 

 

Les

[Dekers]

Ten of the best .17HMR moderators

 

PES 32mm rimfire, SM11, PES Parker Hale, ASE Utra, PES 32mm muzzlecan,

J. Bowkett, LEI, Whisper, Husher 1, SAK

 

 

 

By Bruce Potts Shooting Times

Thursday, 02 July 2009

Silence is golden where pest control is concerned, so after testing full-bore and .22 rimfire moderators Bruce Potts turns his attention to the increasingly popular .17HMR calibre

I have tested all the full-bore (Full-bore sound moderators, 24 April 2008) and .22 rimfire moderators on the market (A best-buy guide to sound moderators for .22 rimfires, 31 May 2007), so now I want to look at the .17HMR calibre. It may seem odd to test moderators for only one calibre, but the .17HMR has a unique place in the British vermin shooting sector and deserves to be singled out because it can be tricky to moderate correctly. You can use a full-bore moderator to good effect, but a .22 rimfire moderator can work equally well and will be cheaper. I chose 10 models, some custom made and some newcomers to the market.

 

Husher 1

The Husher 1 was developed as a non-baffle, low-maintenance .22 rimfi re moderator, which reduces the hot expansion gases from the propellant by swirling them around the outside of the inner cavity and then back on themselves. It costs £127, weighs a mere 238g and is 6in long. Though it offers only moderate noise reduction, it is probably the strongest of the lot.

 

Whisper

The Whisper was developed as a slimmed-down version of Wildcat’s Predator. It is designed to achieve enough noise reduction to make it viable without adding too much weight. The biggest advantage of the Whisper is that it is

an over-the-barrel design and therefore only extends the muzzle by 4.5in. It is light, being made in aluminium with a stainless steel blast baffle, and it can be stripped easily for cleaning.

 

SAK

The dimensions and efficiency of the SAK from Jackson rifles make it a natural choice for the .17HMR round. It is 5.8in long, 1.25in wide and light at 165g. Though not the quietest, it does a good job of noise reduction and, being lightweight, stripped down easily. Priced at £33, it is perfect for the non-connoisseur.

 

PES muzzlecan, rimfire, full-bore

Next are the PES moderators. They are produced by MAE in New Zealand, but are still marketed as PES. The small Parker Hale-type muzzlecan is well made in stainless steel, but its large internal diameter hole makes it less efficient. It can, however, be stripped down, is rust proof and has a small diameter, which blends well with the heavy .17HMR barrels.

 

The PES/MAE 32mm .17HMR rimfire model is a sealed unit and works efficiently for this size of cartridge. The larger .17HMR baffled 32mm full-bore can is one of the quietest moderators on the market, but you have to pay full-bore prices. However, it is rated for use on all .17 calibre full-bore rifles,

so it can serve a dual role if, say you have a .17 Remington rifle as well.

 

John Bowkett

John Bowkett offers fine-quality and highly efficient moderators to suit factory and custom-built rifles. The .17HMR version of his rimfire moderator has a superb finish, with 17 baffles and a wide choice of internal chambers

and springs. His moderator was in my top five, which was not really surprising.

 

Edgar Brothers SM11

The SM11 is the same Sirocco moderator I tested in the .22 rimfire test and is now sold by Edgar Brothers. The company obviously knows a good thing when it sees it, as the SM11 is strippable, lightweight and a good length at 6.8in.

 

LEI blued and stainless

LEI used to make products only for the military but it now makes civilian sound moderators, which are marketed by Edgar Brothers. LEI have just produced two .17HMR muzzlecans. They are both in stainless steel, one has a stainless finish and the other is blued or blacked. At only 4.8in long and 0.87in wide, and weighing only 170g, the noise reduction is astonishing.

This should come as no surprise as Edgar Brothers are a Nato-rated supplier with a lot of experience. The only drawback is the price of £150, but they are unique and superbly efficient.

 

ASE Utra

Jackson Rifles import great full-bore muzzlecans. Though commonly used for .22 rimfire rifl es, its ASE Utra dual-cavity all-steel multi-baffled slimline moderator works well on .17HMR rifl es. Its noise reduction is one of the best and the price is good. It is possible to strip it down, but the 45 degree baffle stack is fiddly to reassemble.

 

Field tests

I tested each moderator in an open field in Scotland with no obstructions that could influence the results of the test. I enlisted three judges to help to find the quietest moderator. I used a 16in CZ .17HMR Varmint rifle. I fired Hornady 17-grain V-Maxes at an average of 2,477fps from the 16in barrel on a cold morning at sea level, and the results were really varied and interesting.

 

I tested each moderator against a similar sounding one to determine the quieter of the two. Eventually, we found a winner and ranked the others in order of effectiveness. To the naked ear there were four moderators that scored five out of five for noise reduction, but the tonal range varied between them. Edgar Brothers’ SM11 achieved great noise reduction without being too long or too heavy and can easily be stripped for cleaning. At £50 it is very good value for money, too.

 

The PES 32mm muzzlecan with .17 calibre blast baffle was quieter than the SM11 and its stainless steel construction is a bonus. Though it is long at 7.8in, this was not a problem on a short-barrelled rifle such as the CZ.

 

The ASE Utra also was very good. At £84, with a slim 1.1in diameter and 6.5in length, it gave very good noise reduction from a small all-steel fully strippable design. This can also be said of John Bowkett’s custom-made unit, which was superbly constructed. It was a good length, gave excellent noise reduction and can also be stripped for cleaning.

 

The two new LEI models were the most interesting of the top-end moderators. The high quality of performance from such small units was impressive, though sometimes a pop could be heard when the first round was fired as the air in the moderator was consumed by combustion gases. Both moderators were stainless steel and tiny at only 4.8in long and 0.87in diameter. Some people might object to the fact that they can’t be stripped down, especially with a dirty .17HMR round, but tapping them on a hard surface after use will dislodge any dirt. LEI used a professional Brüel & Kjaer sound meter to test its moderators and the company sent some information to me to show how incredibly efficient its moderator is. The LEI has an internal volume of only 46cm³, whereas a Whisper has 174cm³, a SAK 118cm³ and a SM11 110cm³. The noise or decibel reduction readings are as follows: Whisper 23.3dB, SAK 26.9dB, SM11 28.6dB and LEI 27.5dB. In other words, though the LEIs were

not the quietest moderators on test, for their size they are remarkable. The only downside is you have to pay £150.

 

The remaining moderators reduce the muzzle report of the .17HMR to a more acceptable level and for the majority of shooters who do not want to spend a fortune they will all serve adequately. Priced at £33, the SAK is a no-nonsense cheap and effective .17HMR moderator that will please most shooters.

 

Conclusion

Using the diminutive .17HMR cartridge made it clear that it is a tricky round to moderate correctly, and the array of moderator designs and sizes

produced some interesting results. Every reader’s rifle will differ, as will their expectations on moderator performance. Therefore, those dB junkies who absolutely have to have the decibel reading will be pleased to hear I plan

to test the 10 best full-bore and rimfire moderators using two different £5,000 meters operated by experts for a definitive moderator test.

 

The LEI is an efficient performer, but if economy is important then the SM11 with its great noise reduction is a good buy. The PES 32mm muzzle doubles as a full-bore moderator, so it can be used on more than one rifle, the Bowkett offers custom-built quality and the ASE Utra is available straight off

the shelf.

 

To me, however, it is not only about noise reduction. The rifle has to feel and shoot well, the costs must not be too prohibitive and longevity is also key.

[Dave-G]

Ten of the best .17HMR moderators

 

PES 32mm rimfire, SM11, PES Parker Hale, ASE Utra, PES 32mm muzzlecan,

J. Bowkett, LEI, Whisper, Husher 1, SAK

 

 

 

By Bruce Potts Shooting Times

Thursday, 02 July 2009

Silence is golden where pest control is concerned, so after testing full-bore and .22 rimfire moderators Bruce Potts turns his attention to the increasingly popular .17HMR calibre...

I have tested all the full-bore (Full-bore sound moderators, 24 April 2008) and .22 rimfire moderators on the market (A best-buy guide to sound moderators for .22 rimfires, 31 May 2007), so now I want to look at the .17HMR calibre. It may seem odd to test moderators for only one calibre, but the .17HMR has a unique place in the British vermin shooting sector and deserves to be singled out because it can be tricky to moderate correctly. You can use a full-bore moderator to good effect, but a .22 rimfire moderator can work equally well and will be cheaper. I chose 10 models, some custom made and some newcomers to the market.

 

Husher 1

The Husher 1 was developed as a non-baffle, low-maintenance .22 rimfi re moderator, which reduces the hot expansion gases from the propellant by swirling them around the outside of the inner cavity and then back on themselves. It costs £127, weighs a mere 238g and is 6in long. Though it offers only moderate noise reduction, it is probably the strongest of the lot.

 

Whisper

The Whisper was developed as a slimmed-down version of Wildcat’s Predator. It is designed to achieve enough noise reduction to make it viable without adding too much weight. The biggest advantage of the Whisper is that it is

an over-the-barrel design and therefore only extends the muzzle by 4.5in. It is light, being made in aluminium with a stainless steel blast baffle, and it can be stripped easily for cleaning.

 

SAK

The dimensions and efficiency of the SAK from Jackson rifles make it a natural choice for the .17HMR round. It is 5.8in long, 1.25in wide and light at 165g. Though not the quietest, it does a good job of noise reduction and, being lightweight, stripped down easily. Priced at £33, it is perfect for the non-connoisseur.

 

PES muzzlecan, rimfire, full-bore

Next are the PES moderators. They are produced by MAE in New Zealand, but are still marketed as PES. The small Parker Hale-type muzzlecan is well made in stainless steel, but its large internal diameter hole makes it less efficient. It can, however, be stripped down, is rust proof and has a small diameter, which blends well with the heavy .17HMR barrels.

 

The PES/MAE 32mm .17HMR rimfire model is a sealed unit and works efficiently for this size of cartridge. The larger .17HMR baffled 32mm full-bore can is one of the quietest moderators on the market, but you have to pay full-bore prices. However, it is rated for use on all .17 calibre full-bore rifles,

so it can serve a dual role if, say you have a .17 Remington rifle as well.

 

John Bowkett

John Bowkett offers fine-quality and highly efficient moderators to suit factory and custom-built rifles. The .17HMR version of his rimfire moderator has a superb finish, with 17 baffles and a wide choice of internal chambers

and springs. His moderator was in my top five, which was not really surprising.

 

Edgar Brothers SM11

The SM11 is the same Sirocco moderator I tested in the .22 rimfire test and is now sold by Edgar Brothers. The company obviously knows a good thing when it sees it, as the SM11 is strippable, lightweight and a good length at 6.8in.

 

LEI blued and stainless

LEI used to make products only for the military but it now makes civilian sound moderators, which are marketed by Edgar Brothers. LEI have just produced two .17HMR muzzlecans. They are both in stainless steel, one has a stainless finish and the other is blued or blacked. At only 4.8in long and 0.87in wide, and weighing only 170g, the noise reduction is astonishing.

This should come as no surprise as Edgar Brothers are a Nato-rated supplier with a lot of experience. The only drawback is the price of £150, but they are unique and superbly efficient.

 

ASE Utra

Jackson Rifles import great full-bore muzzlecans. Though commonly used for .22 rimfire rifl es, its ASE Utra dual-cavity all-steel multi-baffled slimline moderator works well on .17HMR rifl es. Its noise reduction is one of the best and the price is good. It is possible to strip it down, but the 45 degree baffle stack is fiddly to reassemble.

 

Field tests

I tested each moderator in an open field in Scotland with no obstructions that could influence the results of the test. I enlisted three judges to help to find the quietest moderator. I used a 16in CZ .17HMR Varmint rifle. I fired Hornady 17-grain V-Maxes at an average of 2,477fps from the 16in barrel on a cold morning at sea level, and the results were really varied and interesting.

 

I tested each moderator against a similar sounding one to determine the quieter of the two. Eventually, we found a winner and ranked the others in order of effectiveness. To the naked ear there were four moderators that scored five out of five for noise reduction, but the tonal range varied between them. Edgar Brothers’ SM11 achieved great noise reduction without being too long or too heavy and can easily be stripped for cleaning. At £50 it is very good value for money, too.

 

The PES 32mm muzzlecan with .17 calibre blast baffle was quieter than the SM11 and its stainless steel construction is a bonus. Though it is long at 7.8in, this was not a problem on a short-barrelled rifle such as the CZ.

 

The ASE Utra also was very good. At £84, with a slim 1.1in diameter and 6.5in length, it gave very good noise reduction from a small all-steel fully strippable design. This can also be said of John Bowkett’s custom-made unit, which was superbly constructed. It was a good length, gave excellent noise reduction and can also be stripped for cleaning.

 

The two new LEI models were the most interesting of the top-end moderators. The high quality of performance from such small units was impressive, though sometimes a pop could be heard when the first round was fired as the air in the moderator was consumed by combustion gases. Both moderators were stainless steel and tiny at only 4.8in long and 0.87in diameter. Some people might object to the fact that they can’t be stripped down, especially with a dirty .17HMR round, but tapping them on a hard surface after use will dislodge any dirt. LEI used a professional Brüel & Kjaer sound meter to test its moderators and the company sent some information to me to show how incredibly efficient its moderator is. The LEI has an internal volume of only 46cm³, whereas a Whisper has 174cm³, a SAK 118cm³ and a SM11 110cm³. The noise or decibel reduction readings are as follows: Whisper 23.3dB, SAK 26.9dB, SM11 28.6dB and LEI 27.5dB. In other words, though the LEIs were

not the quietest moderators on test, for their size they are remarkable. The only downside is you have to pay £150.

 

The remaining moderators reduce the muzzle report of the .17HMR to a more acceptable level and for the majority of shooters who do not want to spend a fortune they will all serve adequately. Priced at £33, the SAK is a no-nonsense cheap and effective .17HMR moderator that will please most shooters.

 

Conclusion

Using the diminutive .17HMR cartridge made it clear that it is a tricky round to moderate correctly, and the array of moderator designs and sizes

produced some interesting results. Every reader’s rifle will differ, as will their expectations on moderator performance. Therefore, those dB junkies who absolutely have to have the decibel reading will be pleased to hear I plan

to test the 10 best full-bore and rimfire moderators using two different £5,000 meters operated by experts for a definitive moderator test.

 

The LEI is an efficient performer, but if economy is important then the SM11 with its great noise reduction is a good buy. The PES 32mm muzzle doubles as a full-bore moderator, so it can be used on more than one rifle, the Bowkett offers custom-built quality and the ASE Utra is available straight off

the shelf.

 

To me, however, it is not only about noise reduction. The rifle has to feel and shoot well, the costs must not be too prohibitive and longevity is also key.

 

Any chance of seeing where the Utra came in that list please?

 

Looking forwards to the full test results too.

[Colster]

Ten of the best .17HMR moderators

 

PES 32mm rimfire, SM11, PES Parker Hale, ASE Utra, PES 32mm muzzlecan,

J. Bowkett, LEI, Whisper, Husher 1, SAK

 

 

 

By Bruce Potts Shooting Times

Thanks for posting this, an interesting read

[Cumbrian]

I can strongly recommend the LEI. Not cheap but excellent quality, really does the job, and it's small and light.

[Dekers]

Any chance of seeing where the Utra came in that list please?

 

Looking forwards to the full test results too.

 

 

I'm not sure, this appears to be all I saved of the article, if you can look it up from the references near the top of the article I'd be interested to!

[hyflier]

At the risk of repeating myself

 

If you use an SM11 with the .17hmr 16" barrel, make sure it has the new stainless steel baffles

[chrispti]

Here is the link to the posted article above......with pictures

 

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/rifles/38...rs_review_.html

[chrispti]

Or, try one of these if you have a 22 rimfire aswell

 

http://gunmart.net/accessories_review/jage...fire_moderator/

[Frenchieboy]

SAK every time for me. I have had mine on since I got the rifle and as long as you keep the mod clean there is no reason why it should need replacing for quite a while, and even then at £30.00(Ish) it's good value for money!

[mikee]

had a scirocco on mine but swapped it with the sako of my .22lr, much quieter now, tried my mates sak and the sako is still quieter

 

mikee

Edited June 9, 2010 by mikee

[deputy dog]

I got a SAK on mine. And for the £30 price tag, i think it does the job more the good enough. I usually clean mine about after a few hundred round through it. Easy to take apart an maintain it. There are better out there which are much dearer. But if your on a budget or not the humble SAK is a good choice for the job.

[Dekers]

Or, try one of these if you have a 22 rimfire aswell :blink:

 

http://gunmart.net/accessories_review/jage...fire_moderator/

 

 

[hawkeye]

Have a ASE utra on mine got rid of the SAK didnt like it.. :blink:

[wildfowler.250]

SAK :blink:

[Dekers]

Here is the link to the posted article above......with pictures

 

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/rifles/38...rs_review_.html

 

 

Thats it

 

Interesting looking at the table about the wild price variations and the overall performance.

 

I have to say I have a Sirocco on mine and I am not that impressed, but then I have not been impressed with ANYTHING I have put on the HMR or the WMR. They are just difficult to deal with, I even tried £300 worth of CQB on the HMR and that definately was not worth it.

 

When the Sirocco dies it will get a SAK on the HMR just like all my other rimfires.

[2-dead-in-the-air]

Thanks for all the info............... has anybody got details and price for a DM80 :(

[Beardo]

Right here's my results of the one's i've got and tried....

 

From noisiest at the top to quietest at the bottom

 

Wildcat Growler £60

Parker Hale £30

SAK £30

Country Pursuits £30

 

The Country Pursuits is the quietest, but only by a tiny amount more than the SAK (which is slightly shorter and lighter)