Small Business Saturday – American Manufacturing

When most of us think of silencers, our thoughts turn to the large manufacturers who deliver hundreds or thousands of cans every month. This is good as it gets more shooters into the NFA game and allows these manufacturers to continue with R&D to produce better suppressors.

Still, there are hundreds if not thousands of smaller shops producing silencers on a smaller scale. Many of those may not have the name recognition of the main players, but still deliver a great product at a reasonable price.

Small Biz Saturday – American Manufacturing

Custom Silencers at a Reasonable Price

American Manufacturing is one of these companies. A one-man operation since 1998, Mike Klos turns out a quality product for a great price. He builds each model, one at a time by hand on manual equipment with the exception of his baffles which are CNC made.

Klos is highly regarded in the NFA world and his silencers made a big splash on the small screen on the TV show Freedom Fighters with Jeff Zimba, Blaine Anthony and Adam Henesby for two years in a row.

Says Klos,

“I started making silencers around 1997 and got lucky with an easy design that worked pretty good. I have sold hundreds of them over the years and I can say that all of my designs are all my own. I do use K baffles and I know they were patented by Charles Finn in the 1970's but even these are my own with regard to the shape, the angles, the cuts and exhaust ports. I call then K-Jets because they jet gasses across the bore to the exhaust port very powerfully under pressure.”

These silencers are full auto rated and Klos has yet to see a damaged can come back. The units are of steel and stainless steel construction, sealed with 28 individual tig welds throughout making it exceptionally strong in every aspect.

“I'll repair it at no charge since I stand behind everything I build 100% and if I do ever repair one, I will always provide the latest internals. Over the years I've sent them to guys I know with belt guns to try to destroy them and so far, they have lived up to everything. I've got demo units that I've had glowing to the point of somewhat transparency where parts and welds are visible.”

As a full time gunsmith, he manages to produce between 100 and 150 silencers per year in addition to his regular gunsmithing duties.

We tried out the Triple X Warrior.

This is his flagship can in 223/308. The direct thread model tips the scales at 20.7oz and measures 7.25″ long. He makes a  brake mount unit that has a little less metal at the mounting end and weighs about 18oz. We received the silencer with two brakes: one in 5/8 X 24″ the other in 1/2 X 28″.

Our DPMS LR-308 played host for the 308 brake system and the 223 host was an Israeli Tavor. MSRP on this one is $375 and the brake mounts run about $100 each.

Hydroprinted on the side of the silencer is a Spartan helmet with Triple X Warrior. This can be left off if you desire, but we actually like it. Small touches like this on a silencer tend to set it apart from the rest of what's out there, be it hydroprinting, knurling, fluting, etc. If anything it lets yours stand out from the rest on a trip to the range in that you can recognize yours at a glance.

On the Tavor in 5.56 the Triple X Warrior was hearing safe and about as quiet as you could expect on a supersonic rifle round.

A problem with suppressing the Tavor is that the gas blows through the “closed” ejection port cover on the left hand side of the stock. In attempting to make this rifle ambidextrous, the designers must not have considered the use of a silencer, which increases rearward gas pressure.

Luckily a company known as Gear Head Works  has a solution for this in the form of a single point sling swivel mount known as the Fulcrum Located Extra swivel (FLEX) that replaces the factory ejection port cover on the stock. It securely clamps directly into the receiver with a very close fit into the ejection port window. It works on either side and can be mounted with the swivel socket forward or to the rear. It is hard anodized billet aluminum for extreme durability and is the perfect balance point for a single point sling. Additionally, this device closes off the gaps in the ejection port cover that allows the gasses to hit the shooter’s face. It did not make the rifle any quieter, but it was definitely more pleasant to shoot.

Moving over to our DPMS LR-308, we found it only a slight bit noisier than a typical 308 rifle can like the AAC 762SD. That can retails for double to triple the price of the Triple X Warrior, though.

Whether you are looking for your first silencer or you 41st and you prize durability and use on full-auto over weight, you may want to check out American Manufacturing. Mike can handle anything from rimfire through pistol and the Magnum rifle calibers with a price that can't be beat and one of the best warranties in the industry.

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