The SilencerCo Omega 45K: One Can to Rule Them All
Will Dabbs
The SilencerCo Omega 45K is the Swiss Army Knife of sound suppressors. As versatile as a unisex leotard and as rugged as John Wayne’s jockstrap, the Omega 45K is the one-size-fits-all handgun suppressor solution. It’s the one can to rule them all.
A proper sound suppressor is both a high-end piece of precision equipment and a not insubstantial investment. Additionally, the peculiar eccentricities of the transfer process are undeniably spendy and time-consuming.
IMHO About Silencers
If you ordered something from Amazon and it took from four months to a year to arrive, would you ever order anything else from Amazon? That’s the indomitable engine of capitalism. If you have the option of taking your business elsewhere in the face of rancid customer service you will do so. Capitalism is like gravity, only way more powerful. Unfortunately Uncle Sam enjoys a most unassailable monopoly.
As regards sound suppressors, the wait and expense are utterly superfluous. In America, you are markedly more likely to be struck by lightning (1 in 700,000) or eaten by a shark (1 in 6.3 million) than you are to be shot with a sound suppressed weapon (1 in 328 million). We really should be selling these things through vending machines, but that’s a discussion for a different day.
Given these onerous administrative hoops, it behooves us to seek out maximum versatility. The more disparate applications you can get out of a single suppressor, the better. That way, one interminable wait and a single transfer tax covers lots of guns. You’ll not find a more versatile handgun suppressor than the SilencerCo Omega 45K.
Technical Details of the Omega 45K
The Omega 45K from SilencerCo is a fully welded, maintenance-free, stainless steel can that reflects the current state of the art in sound suppressor technology. This sealed design is literally the most reliable component of your firearm. The Omega 45K is 6.39 inches long and weighs 11.1 ounces.
In its primary intended configuration, the Omega 45K sports a linear inertial decoupler (LID) and will run any Browning-style short recoil .45 ACP pistol action reliably, quietly and well. Swap the LID piston out for the 9 mm sort and the same can performs swimmingly on your 9 mm platforms. The larger exit pupil makes a scant difference, but not much of one. Swapping pistons yet again puts the Omega 45K on your .40 S&W pistols, too. There are 13 different pistons and a variety of direct thread mounts, so we’re just getting started.
Exchanging the LID piston for a 5/8” x 24 fixed mount opens up some fascinating long gun opportunities. Through a proper barrel the Omega 45K thrives with both subsonic and supersonic 300 AAC Blackout. 300 AAC Blackout ammo sports a .30-caliber bullet mounted atop a modified 5.56mm case and offers unparalleled versatility. Supersonic rounds offer the perfect ballistic numbers for varmints, pigs and whitetail deer. At reasonable ranges, the subsonic sort are fine for these applications as well while remaining markedly quieter.
Threading up a ½” x 28 fixed mount puts the Omega 45K on the end of most of your 9 mm carbines and large-frame pistols. Lots of folks make these soft-shooting guns using both AR and AK chassis. The Omega 45K is right at home on the SIG MPX 9 mm as well despite its weird left-hand metric muzzle thread. A quick swap to your mounting hardware and you’re good to go.
If your applications wander to more serious places, SilencerCo offers mounts that will put the Omega 45K on the end of your HK MP5 submachine gun. Semiauto or rock and roll, the Omega 45K doesn’t much care. The can’s stainless steel construction renders it all but indestructible.
Trigger Time
After more than four decades of squeezing triggers for fun and money, I am still amazed that I get to do this and claim it’s work. I called in favors and hit up friends to round up anything that might host an Omega 45K sound suppressor. The final tally was frankly breathtaking.
Threaded onto a Kimber Warrior SOC 1911 as well as a Springfield Armory XD-M the Omega 45K was completely reliable. I find the racket from suppressed .45 ACP handguns to be a bit uncomfortable. However, this is a function of that big thumb-sized bullet, not the can. It still makes for a great close-quarters, home-defense arm.
For 300 AAC Blackout, we opted for a SIG SAUER Rattler full-figured pistol and a Ruger American bolt-action rifle. The Rattler runs like a crack-addled chipmunk, but its 5.5-inch barrel is just a wee bit short to manage supersonic loads safely through the OMEGA 45K. Stick with subsonic rounds and you can channel your inner Delta Force commando. Either sort is fine through the Ruger’s ample tube.
The Omega 45K on the end of the 300 AAC Blackout Ruger American bolt-action rifle left me giddy. You could use that thing to pick off pigs surreptitiously without troubling the porker rooting through the soybeans three rows distant. If I had an adequate supply of subsonic 300 AAC Blackout ammo (which nobody does these days), I could shoot this thing until I starved to death.
Big-boned 9 mm applications mirrored the handguns. The Century Draco NAK9 9 mm AK pistol is straight blowback and remained thoroughly reliable with anything I fed it. Fast bullets produced audible snaps. The slower subsonic sort were more pleasant.
The SIG MPX offered comparable performance. The MPX thusly equipped occupies the place of honor next to the door, ready to grab and go when the zombies come. (I can think of no higher accolade.)
When mounted up on the nose of a full-auto MP5, the Omega 45K is pure ballistic bliss. The extra weight helps keep the hyperactive little stutter gun under control, and the Omega 45K is built like a main battle tank. The Omega 45K also doesn’t seem unduly concerned about heat, even after high volume shooting.
Denouement
One size fits all is an honorable goal, to be sure. However, choosing a single technical solution for multiple applications typically means suboptimal results for all. Not necessarily so with this silencer. When equipped with a piston and used on an autoloading handgun, the Omega 45K is reliable, efficient and effective.
The same can is right at home on full-figured pistols, carbines and even 300 AAC Blackout precision rifles. Whether your mission is to manage varmints on a rural farm, keep the local feral pig population in check, stock the larder with venison or protect the hacienda come what may, the SilencerCo Omega 45K offers ample bang for your buck. It’s definitely worth the wait.
The MSRP for the SilencerCo Omega 45K is $865
Will Dabbs
