I’ve been a sucker for the .22 LR ever since I got my first Ruger 10/22 as a teen. I thought I was on cloud 9 when I got a Red Ryder BB gun years prior, but I didn’t know what cloud 9 was until stepping into the Ruger 10/22. From squirrel hunting to pest control, I carried my 10/22 with me everywhere I went in the woods. Several years ago, I stepped into the silencer fraternity and the first thing I did was get a threaded Green Mountain Rifle Barrel to attach my new suppressor to. Adding a suppressor to my 10/22 and loading it with CCI subsonic rounds put me on cloud 10 or 12! It took my squirrel hunting to a ninja-stealth level that only a suppressor can offer. That’s why I love checking out and reviewing new rimfire suppressors.
The newest rimfire suppressor I’ve tried out is the Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) Halcyon rimfire suppressor. AAC went the modular route with the Halcyon, which is value added for the customer. It’s essentially two silencers in one — a short one and a long one. The thought behind this is to run the full-size configuration (5.28 inches long, 6.1 ounces) with subsonic .22 LR ammo in a pistol to obtain decibel readings just over 110 dB. Then to cut down on suppressor length on a rifle, you can run the short version (3.41 inches long, 4.5 ounces) and using subsonic rounds to get decibel readings just under 120 dB. The best part is the tooless configuration to remove the end cap, front module and all the baffles. Which means you can completely disassemble the suppressor with your hands.
The Halcyon is designed to handle pistol, rifle and sub machine gun chambered in .22 LR (full-auto rated in .22 LR). In a rifle the Halcyon will shoot.22 LR, .17 HMR and .17 Mach II rounds and .22 Win. Mag. It’s also rated for the 5.7 round.
The Halcyon is constructed of titanium, stainless steel and aluminum. All K baffles (larger baffles) are made of titanium as well as the rear tube. All K baffles are shielded, which means they have an integral skirt on them to allow the user to easily disassemble them for cleaning. The K baffles also help to eliminate or reduce the first-round pop. AAC designed the Halcyon with accuracy in mind, so all baffles are keyed to align the same way every time. The front-end cap is made from 17-4PH stainless steel with nitride finish and front module is 7075 aluminum. It also has interchangeable rear end caps for multiple thread sizes. Another nice feature on the Halcyon is that you don’t need a spacer if you have an AR-15 chambered in .22 LR. The AR-15 typically has a full-length thread and with the Halcyon you don’t need a spacer.
In the video below, I was only shooting supersonic ammo, so the difference in decibel reduction isn’t as discernable. With the sonic crack of the supersonic ammo still present even when suppressed, you still hear the crack. A suppressor will not remove any supersonic noise created from the bullet, it only removes the muzzle blast sound signature. However, I later shot subsonic rounds with the Halcyon and the sound signature was backyard quiet!
SilencerShop.com carries the AAC Halcyon for $425, which is a great price for the materials and features found on this suppressor.
