Friday 13 March 2009

Reflexogy - The Art of Silence


Non-airgunners often laugh at the thought of attaching a sound moderator to the muzzle of an airgun! But most airgun hunters I know do just that - especially if they're using a PCP with a shortish barrel.

Undoubtedly, hushing-up the report can have advantages when you're hunting with an air rifle. From the hidden depths of a hide, I've often been able to take a second, telling shot at my quarry when the first has sailed harmlessly into the dirt.

Most air rifles come with threaded muzzles - usually 1/2-inch UNF, but there are exceptions - and there are plenty of slide-on muzzle adapters if you need them to marry barrel and silencer.

Typically, you'll pay between £35 and £55 for an airgun silencer (which is unlikely to be proofed, so you can't transfer it to a firearm). Most will significantly cut down muzzle crack. The best are considered to be the Weihrauch and the Logun.

Now add Daystate to that pairing. They have just launched a new Mk4 model of the AirStream Silencer and independent tests have shown it to be the best dB buster of them all - although, at £55, it's also the most expensive.

Called the Reflex by virtue of the fact that its chamber sits back along the barrel, it has a carbon fibre casing inside which is a machined aluminium baffle system and the 1/2-in. UNF thread. Daystate only make it to fit their current models, but they will shortly be bringing out a universal variant for other makes of rifle. It's calibre specific, too - though (as has been pointed out to me), that's one of the characteristics that improves a silencer's efficiency.
Although the unit looks normal length, because of its reflex-style fitting, only around 75mm protrudes forward of the muzzle. I like that. For me, adding a long silencer to a rifle can make it 'feel' a bit difficult to control on aim. It also gives it an incredibly efficient length-to-noise reduction ratio.

Being carbon fibre and ally, it's pretty light, too - so it won't upset the balance of your combo.

Having looked at the figures (see below), I just had to screw one onto my Air Wolf. Although its barrel shroud already doubles as a 'stage one' sound suppression system, the addition of the Reflex was simply stunning. It was like I was shooting at 1.1 ft. lbs., not 11!

It may be expensive, but being the best that's out there, why shouldn't it be? Worth the extra, I'd say...




FIGURES FROM INDEPENDENT SOUND METER TESTS (Supplied by Manufacturer)

decibel (dB) output from a .177 calibre Daystate Huntsman Classic

  • Reflex - 61.3 dB

  • John Bowkett Long - 63.7 dB

  • Ripley Rifles (9-inch!) - 65.1 dB

  • Weihrauch - 65.5 dB

  • Logun QGS - 66.1 dB

  • Parker-Hale MM1 - 69.5 dB

  • Manders - 69.7 dB

14 comments:

  1. mine is on order now for my wolf can't wait.

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  2. must be faulty meter nowhere near as quiet as weihrauch on my mvt.22 12ft lb.just more dissapointing belas b.s

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  3. I've tried both the Daystate and the Weihrauch on a MK4 S, and the Weihrauch is undeniably quieter. There's no comparison.

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  4. I'm glad I found this. Having just bought the latest Huntsman classic carbine, I was surprised to find it had no integral silencer! After checking with Daystate they confirmed it to be the case and if I wanted the integral silencer I would need to have ordered the longer non carbine version. I said I thought they should have made everyone aware as there's nothing that mentions this on the web-site. Anyway getting back to the subject, I suspect the 61.3 Db was achieved with the non cabine huntsman, so with the addition of the Reflex to the integral - double silencing! I'll now go and buy a Weihrauch silencer.

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  5. I have one on my Airwolf, and it is never quieter than an Logun QGS or Weihrauch.

    This review is nonsense. It is shorter and better for balance, but in terms of sound it is noticably louder. How about some truthful reviews please, not glorified adverts...

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  6. Scott - this isn't a review, so neither is it a 'glorified advert'. The report quotes independent tests, and I was merely passing on that information. Almost a year since this blog entry was posted, I pulled together a 10-silencer side-by-side comparison in the new magazine I'm editing, Airgun Shooter (Blaze Publishing). You will see the results - complete with dBA readings - in the March 2010 issue. Back-copies are available - 01926 339808.

    I have been using the Reflex on and off my AW for the past year. I can't comment on whether it's better than other silencers, but I can vouch for it being super-quiet. I'm actually having my shroud shortened so that I simply run a one-stage sound-supresson system using the Reflex alone.

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  7. what a load of rubbish. the reflex is much louder than the hw or logun at power levels from 11ft/lb to mid 30'sft/lb. i do not think the testing is correct.

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  8. could anyone pass on any info for the back draft silencer and where to purchase one from i think armex is the company that makes them and have even looked on there but with not much luck.. many thanks

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  9. Backdraft silencers ARE made by Armex... even if they're not on their website. Our tests show them to be very effective indeed - though they're pretty B-I-G!

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  10. is the REFLEX moderator available for bsa pcp yet

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  11. ive just bought the mk 5 airstream carbon reflex silencer,what a waste of money,i cant understand how a company as big as them would allow such a joke of a silencer to be let loose on the market.the reviews of them tell you its one of the quietest silencers you will use.listening to these peoples reviews as made me wonder if they forgot to put the baffles in mine, because as soon as i squeeze my trigger,all i can hear is one almighty unacceptible noise

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  12. Hw 6-7 inches added ..3 inches with reflex...are you people just dry firing it with nothing coming out? Because the reflex is crap like that, with pellet in it is the same sound on my gun as i have both and done many compare tests Lol they must of sent you lot a dud with no baffles

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  13. I am too disappointed, my panther ft is not as accurate or consistent as my old BSA and as for the airstream 5 silencer, forget it, wish I had kept my BSA now.

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  14. I know I am bringing up and old post but what a lot of whining going on here, I have owned and used the first Air-stream moderator on my MK3 and this was very good but the MK6 Universal quietens the report to barely nothing and well within the ranges of near silent hunting. As was stated by others you must use a pellet with the reflex moderator, it will vary in sound levels ever so slightly on what pellet has been shot from the gun. Remember what you hear is not necessarily what the vermin hears and my advice to to go down range and ask a friend to shoot a target near you and then pass comment as that is where is matters!

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