In this edition of the suppressor review we’re looking at suppressing big-bore rifles. For our test, we use a .50 Beowulf firing a 350-grain HP XTP round. It’s one thing to suppress a .22LR or a 5.56 round, but the physics get much larger with a monster round like the .50 Beowulf.

An interesting aspect of the big-bore Beowulf is that it fires from the AR-15 platform — the same platform that fires the 5.56/.223. It uses the larger 7.62x39 bolt, however. The cartridge is celebrated for its stopping power, which is impressive. The 350-grain bullet that I tested leaves the muzzle at nearly 1,800 fps and carries more than 2,400 ft./lbs. of energy. The round was built for close to medium range targets and excels in tactical operations where the operator must engage a target behind glass, such as a windshield of a vehicle. The large round isn’t easily knocked off course, which also makes it an excellent brush gun for deer, hogs and bear — especially if you don’t want to do any tracking.

As you can imagine, this round definitely bucks with recoil and has quite a roar to it. So how do you suppress it? Bowers does it with its VERS 50 suppressor. This isn’t like most of the suppressors I’m used to. It resembles a metal pipe that you would use as a weapon in hand-to-hand combat. The 11¼ inch long VERS 50 weighs 23.2 ounces, which isn’t terrible for such a large silencer. I’ve tested 5.56 suppressors that weighed that much. The VERS 50 is 1¾ inches in diameter, too, which gives it plenty of volume to soak up the Beowulf’s load of hot gas. The silencer comes with a standard adapter to attach to your rifle’s barrel and various other size adapters are available, too.

While I’m not a big fan of added weight on the end of my hunting barrels, the .50 Beowulf is one of the exceptions. The VERS 50 does a great job helping tame some of the recoil from the shoulder-pounding Beowulf and it drastically cuts down on the boom of the rifle report. At the end of the day it makes the .50 Beowulf more fun to shoot from the light AR-15.

The Bowers VERS 50 is full auto rated, designed for projectiles up to 2,200 fps and will shoot the .458 SOCOM, .50 AE, .50 Alaskan and .50 Beowulf. Bowers offers a stainless steel baffle stack that operates with bullets up to 2,650 fps.

Silencer Shop sells the Bowers VERS 50 for $859 and $875 for the stainless steel baffle stack.