I wanted to put something together to help guide people through the vast array of suppressor mounting systems and thread patterns, clear up some confusion and mitigate the analysis paralysis a bit.
For a long, long time, we basically had either direct thread cans, or suppressors which used the manufacturer’s proprietary taper mount or QD system, none of which were cross compatible. At best, the latter led to being kinda pigeon-holed into that one brand if you wanted to move suppressors from host to host, but oftentimes the models would be discontinued & unsupported by the OEM, or the company would go belly up, and getting new muzzle devices was a custom part proposition, which is typically pretty expensive. Booster pistons for pistol cans were the same story.
Enter the modular era. SilencerCo pioneered 3 patterns that have become pretty standard, one of them very much so. I’ll get into other patterns that are shared by more than one manufacturer and detail the still-proprietary stuff later, but those patterns are:
1.375-24 Bravo (HUB). This is also sometimes called “Omega 300”, “Hybrid” or (incorrectly) “ASR” by the form 1 crowd. This pattern has been adopted by more manufacturers than not at this point, offering suppressors with those threads, mounts & adapters with them, or (usually) both. This means you can buy a SilencerCo or YHM suppressor and run it on your Dead Air Keymo muzzle devices by installing the Keymo adapter. Or you can take that adapter out and put a direct thread mount in for your hunting rifle with oddball muzzle threads or that you just don’t want the added weight of a QD system on. That’s just one example, but it’s modularity, it’s flexibility, allows us to change mounts & adapters at will to standardize across the collection and/or tailor to the specific host’s needs.
1.125-28 Alpha pattern, sometimes only referred to only by the nominal thread size. Though not quite as standardized as Bravo pattern, it is used in many pistol suppressors and a couple of rifle cans, namely the legacy SilencerCo Harvester and our ECCO Machine Furtivus slimline model. A much smaller thread size, it is obviously better suited to smaller diameter suppressors, and is typically the thread found in booster assemblies on pistol cans like the SilencerCo Octanes and Omegas, Rugged Obsidian, Griffin stuff and Our ECCO Machine Phoenix series. There are numerous 3 lug mounts in this pattern, although only the Kaw Valley Precision and SilencerCo ones are self-contained, the others require a booster housing with proper internal dimensions. There are other taper and QD adapters in this size, as well as many different direct thread mounts.
BPISTIN booster piston pattern. BPISTIN is actually a term I’m pushing to make common, many are still referring to it as SilencerCo/Rugged pattern, but there are several other companies which have adapted it now, so it needs a proper name. At any rate, these are 2” long, .75” body diameter pistons with a 10-tooth .993” diameter by ~.125” thick flange that are used by SilencerCo, Rugged, ECCO Machine, Dead Air (Odessa model), YHM (modern booster housings), Thunderbeast Arms, Kaw Valley Precision, OSS and possibly others. Griffin uses a slightly different pattern in their cans, but supports BPISTIN with the Cam Lok and EZ Lok pistons. We make booster assemblies in quite a few configurations to update/upgrade older and proprietary cans to use BPISTIN pattern pistons and Alpha pattern mounts & adapters, including the AAC TiRants & Evos, SWR pistol cans, Gemtech stuff and many others.
So those are the 3 most common. Now let’s look at a runner-up standard, which is actually 2 standards that can be problematic. Used by Gemtech & Liberty, and also found in Form 1 “B cell” tubes and supported by SD Tactical Arms, the 1.180-24 & 1.1875-24 patterns have been around a little while. But as you can see, the two slightly different sizes mean compatibility is a bit of a guessing game. 1.180-24 mounts & adapters will install in 1.1875-24 cans just fine, but the reverse may not be true. At any rate, there are booster housings and 3 lug adapters from those aforementioned manufacturers, and some other adapters from other sources. We actually support 1.180-24 with a few different thread adapters and taper mount adapters. But so far, no production manufacturers other than Gemtech & Liberty have adopted it for their suppressors, and that’s unlikely to change with the Bravo and Alpha patterns dominating.
D-Cell. This is not a major manufacturer pattern, but it is a very common thread for Form 1 builds. It is the thread used in Maglite D cell tubes. There are actually two varieties, but the most common is 1-7/16 20. The other is 1-7/16 24. Several outfits do make mounts in this pattern, but they are generally not manufacturers of production suppressors. We are the only outfit to my knowledge who makes both cans and D cell adapters.
The one drawback to modularity is that the end user needs to educate themselves, as there are certain suppressors and mounts/adapters/muzzle devices which will be incompatible despite sharing a thread specification. It is important to do your research, to learn what mounting options suit your needs and use the available dimensional information from various manufacturers to make informed decisions and avoid fitment problems or possibly even damage.
OK, now a couple proprietary ones significant enough to be recognized-
Dead Air, for reasons I cannot fathom, selected 1-13/64 28 (1.203-28) threads for their handgun and carbine suppressors. Nobody else uses it, and to my knowledge, Rearden Mfg. and us are the only manufacturers other than Dead Air who support it with mounts & adapters.
SilencerCo Charlie pattern-this is a goofy system that uses at least two pieces, one of which is the part that is actually the mount/adapter with a taper on it and a small flange, the other piece a retaining ring that is female threaded 1-3/8 32. Nobody else uses this system on their suppressors, but SilencerCo continues to manufacture it. It is, however, supported by a few other manufacturers with adapters for their muzzle devices.
From here, I’ll start addressing the mounting systems that are available in the common patterns (this will be edited and updated as things change or I become aware of more):
Advanced Armament Co: In Bravo pattern, they offer a 51 tooth mount adapter
Dead Air: In Bravo pattern adapters, they have their Keymo and Xeno system. No Alpha pattern mounts
ECCO Machine: In Bravo pattern adapters, we have our Gyrex taper mount system, Griffin taper mount adapters, Rugged QD adapters, Cherry Bomb pattern adapters, ThunderBeast CB adapters, S.A.S. TOMB adapters, Bravo to Alpha adapters, booster housings and direct thread mounts . In Alpha pattern we have our Gyrex taper mount system, Griffin taper mount adapters, Rugged QD adapters, Cherry Bomb pattern adapters, ThunderBeast CB adapters, booster housings and direct thread mounts.
Energetic Armament: In Bravo pattern, they offer their Centrix adapters, ThunderBbeast CB adapters and Direct thread mounts
Kaw Valley Precision: In Alpha pattern, they offer their Mach 3 Tri Lug adapter
Griffin: In Bravo pattern adapters, they have their “Plan A” standard taper mount and the new Dual-Lok system. In Alpha pattern adapters, their taper mounts, Cam Lok and EZ Lock are offered. Also a 3 lug mount, but it requires a booster housing.
Hansohn Brothers: In Bravo pattern, they have Sig taper direct thread mounts
Liberty Precision Machine: IN Bravo pattern, they offer direct thread mounts
Rearden Mfg: In Bravo and Alpha pattern adapters, they have their Atlas Cherry Bomb pattern mounts.
Rugged Suppressors: In Bravo and Alpha pattern adapters, they have their QD mount system. In Alpha pattern, they offer a 3-lug mount, but it requires a booster housing
SilencerCo: In Bravo pattern adapters, they have their ASR adapter, Booster housing and direct thread mounts. In Alpha pattern adapters, their ASR adapter, 3 lug adapter and direct thread mounts are offered.
Torrent Suppressors: In Bravo pattern, they have their “hideout” QD adapter and direct thread mounts
Q Suppressors: In Bravo and Alpha pattern adapters, they have their Plan B Cherry Bomb pattern mounts
YHM: : In Bravo pattern adapters, they have their QD mount system, Direct thread mounts, 3 lug and booster housings.
That’s it for now, but I will work on compiling a list of which cans use what mounting system (usually mentioned in product descriptions), and also get into mount conversion services.
