Re: silencerresearch.com subscription
I just signed up recently, and recommend you do the same. The reviews are as good as they can be, in my opinion. John knows as well as everyone else that dB aren't the only thing people need to know which is why his spread sheet/comparison chart includes: Silencer Name, dB unsuppressed, dB suppressed, Net sound reduction, A blast baffle measurement (maybe distance from bore?), Length of can, Diameter of can, Weight of can, Volume of can, Material the can is made of, Whether or not the can can be taken apart, Whether or not the can is multi-caliber rated, retail cost of the can, dB reduction per cubic inch, and Cost per dB reduction.
And that's just the comparison chart for the .22 cans! Then you can click on each can to see a write up that includes his impressions, photos, and videos of the cans INCLUDING the can tested on several platforms. He's got a summary/conclusion section that gives you a quick feel for the can you are looking for as well. There is no "standard" sound test that can mimic what the ear hears. This is why even when a can measures comparatively high in a category, he'll tell you if the can was actually as quiet to his ears as other can's tested.
You will not get as complete a picture on as many cans anywhere else online. For pay or for free.
And to ramble on some more... (notice, I just signed up for this site a week ago. I'm not an advertisement. I'm a fan.)
The usefulness of the sight is illustrated by my .22 can research. First, I have a 10/22 and a Buckmark. Both will be suppressed so I started by opening up the 10/22 page and the p22 (short barreled pistol) page. I had them up side by side. It was immediately obvious that some cans worked great on one setup but weren't even competitive on the other. But as stated before, dB isn't the be-all, end-all, so I ordered the can's by my priority. First, the can could not be aluminum. I want this can to last me forever so I wanted SS or Ti. Second was also non-negotiable. The can had to be of the type that I could take apart to clean. I just don't believe in sealed .22 cans, so this was also a requirement. I ordered both the charts based on material so that SS was up top. Then I went down each chart and only compared the dB ratings of the SS and take-apart cans. I also noticed how the can's performance compared on the two platforms. I clicked each can that past my requirement list and read the conclusion. This warned me off of a couple cans and told me to take a closer look at a few cans whose dB ratings may have scared me away had I not had a subjective description of the cans effectiveness to go along with it. After narrowing my search, I watched all the videos and read the complete description of the cans I was choosing from. I narrowed my search down to the SWR Specre or the Liberty Kodiak. The AAC Element would have been considered as well, but I decided against it because I didn't want a gap between where my 1" bull-barrel ends and the can begins. I just preferred the continuous barrel-extension look.
Of my top two, I preferred the mono-core of the Kodiak over the Omega baffle setup of the the Spectre. I would have been happy with either, and there are a LOT of Spectre fans out there, but I found a deal on a Kodiak and it's bought and payed for. Now the waiting begins, but I am 100% confident in my choice because of the information I was able to get in one place to compare the cans available.
Those people who say the sight isn't perfect are right. But it's the best we've got, and I'm absolutely satisfied that my $30 was well spent.
Regards,
Nate