One of the biggest names in silencer development is Kevin Brittingham. Years ago he founded Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) with the intention of bringing silencers to the masses. After AAC was acquired by Freedom Group he left to head up the Silencer Division of SIG, and subsequently (about a year ago) departed SIG in order to start his own company. This creation is called Q, and its goal is a return to his original intentions with AAC. We got a chance to test drive his newest product over the weekend: the Q El Camino, a 22 rimfire can.
When our friends at Silencershop.com asked us if we wanted to sample it, we jumped at the chance. Silencer Shop will have an exclusive on these for the first year, so if you think you need one, that's where you'll need to do your shopping.
The El Camino is offered in two versions and while it might seem simplistic on its face, this little 22 can has a great deal more under the hood.
Our version was the slightly heavier and more economic version of the two in stainless steel. It weighs in at 4 ounces, while the Titanium version is described as weighting half of that. Overall length was just shy of six inches.
The first thing we noticed was the pouch in which it was shipped. If you were expecting nylon resplendent in MOLLE attachments and accessory pouches, then you may be let down. This was a silky leopard print pattern that just screams, “Cool.”
Or something.
Once out of the pouch we noticed the PVD coating. That's not what you usually see on a 22 can and is resistant to scratching and wear.
Then we saw the front and noticed we were missing one of those fancy takedown tools that most suppressors need. We looked at it closely to see if we needed to modify a bicycle spanner wrench or something of that nature and began. to. grin.
The takedown nut is a 1/2 SAE. You can fit a standard 1/2 in. box wrench or socket on this bad boy to take it apart and service it. That's thinking, and it shows Brittingham's commitment to making these devices accessible to everyone!
Rated to handle 22 lr, 22 Magnum, 17 HMR and 5,7 FN, Q's little silencer is full auto rated, but more importantly was engineered with accuracy in mind.
We tried it on a handful of 22s: SIG Mosquito, Beretta Model 71, S&W Model 41, Ruger 10/22 and full auto in our Uzi with a 22 conversion kit. On the handguns, the factory sights cleared the can on every model. Definitely a bonus for new people who cannot shoot “through” the can in their sight picture.
Accuracy was maintained throughout the admittedly limited initial trial run, and it does a good job of, well, doing its job. We observed little first round pop; overall, it was one of the quieter 22 cans we have used in recent memory.
Lastly we ran it on our FN PS-90 SBR and it worked fine, albeit somewhat louder than it sounded on the 22s.
We will give a more in depth review of the El Camino further down the road, but it is not often that a 22 suppressor leaves this kind of impression on us.
This will be a suppressor to watch.
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