May 15, 2012
Well, we finally had a chance to take one of the new
SWR Spectre II suppressors out to the range this weekend!
The original Spectre was an excellent suppressor, and we fully expected the Spectre II to follow in its footsteps. Fortunately, this new model did not disappoint!
We shot the Spectre II on a Savage Mark II rifle with both supersonic & subsonic ammunition. We spent time shooting for accuracy as well as shooting the subsonic & supersonic side-by-side with a sound meter. Overall, we went through several hundred rounds of Remington ammunition.
After finishing up, we were still able to take the suppressor apart by hand - and found that the baffles still pushed out easily. The inside of the tube was pretty much spotless, even after an afternoon of dirty rimfire ammunition, since all of the crud had been collected inside the baffle compartments. This is a testament to the effectiveness of the new click-together baffles that are being used in all of SWR's new take-apart suppressors.
Interestingly enough, I had a bit of a panic moment when I realized I had forgotten to put anti-seize on the suppressor threads - but it turned out to be no problem at all. :)
The sound metering results were impressive - especially for the price point of this new model.
On the unsuppressed Mark II rifle, we got the following results:
- Supersonic, average of 5 shots - 144.08 dB
- Subsonic, average of 5 shots - 140.24 dB
Using the Spectre II on the same rifle, we got the following results:
- Supersonic, average of 5 shots - 118.44 dB
- Subsonic, average of 5 shots - 116.4 dB
The total dB reduction was impressive - and landed us in the area that we generally target for a good .22 suppressor. When combined with the ability to handle .22 mag & .17 HMR, as well as the new click-together baffles, the Spectre II is likely to be one of the most popular .22 models on the market this year!
