The DSX-D Duty Suppressor System from Maxim Defense was built to optimize quiet performance in a suppressed weapon system. It provides superior direct thread suppression to weapons chambered in 5.56, 7.62, and 6.5 Creedmoor.
Closer look at the DSX-D Duty Suppressor.
Duty is built for the world’s most rigorous demands; this suppressor is designed to be the most robust and strongest suppressor in the category. It has been repeatedly tested with SOCOM tables across various calibers and barrel lengths, down to 8.5″ 5.56 NATO with M855 ball ammunition. It has survived with no damage or significant changes in sound reduction.
DSX-D: Duty Suppressor System
The DSX-D Duty Suppressor was explicitly designed to minimize the violent cyclic rate and gas blowback of a suppressed weapon system like the AR15.
The suppressor consists of a three-piece MonoKore design that adds 7.25″ to the muzzle of your rifle. It is rated for full-auto (with an 8.5″ barrel restriction) in the following calibers:
► 5.56mm
► 7.62mm
► 6.5 Creedmoor
The DSX-D Duty Suppressor looks great on any rifle.
Increase reliability and longevity with host firearms due to low gas blowback and low gain in host weapon cyclic rate compared to other more traditional suppressor designs.
Drops sound to well below hearing safe levels. The specific reduction amount is based on weapon configuration, ammunition, barrel length, and atmospheric conditions.¹
It’s said in the industry that it’s easy to make a 22 suppressor, but to make a good one is another story. Maxim Defense has taken the .22 suppressor to a whole ‘nuther level with its new DRF-22.
They’ve been seen and discussed before, but we will provide you with a little more detail.
DRF-22 (Direct Thread Rimfire) 22 Suppressor
Why the DRF-22? Because the DRF-22 suppressor is specifically designed to minimize the increase in cyclic rate and gas blowback of a suppressed rimfire firearm.
Primary design features include the significant reduction of sound signature, decreasing flash signature, reduction of recoil, and increasing the accuracy of the suppressed firearm.
And let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t want a suppressed .22? With the right ammo, the most you will typically hear is the action of the bolt. What’s not to like about that?
Things to Know About The DRF-22
There are four unique characteristics of the Maxim Defense DRF-22 rimfire suppressor that a potential user/shooter should know.
It is user-serviceable. This means that you can disassemble and clean the suppressor without having any specialized tools or having to send it into Maxim Defense. If the core itself becomes compromised from a bullet strike, all you need to do is remove the core from the tube and send in that part; there is no need to send in the serialized part and deal with the red tape of replacing that.
The suppressor has been designed to mitigate First Round Pop significantly; see below for more information.
The suppressor tube has an integrated carbon scraper. As you unscrew and pull the tube from the core, it scrapes any excess carbon from the internal core of the suppressor.
With some other suppressors on the market, after running a lot of rounds through them, the threads tend to lock up, and you cannot remove the suppressor from the gun. Maxim Defense has put the time into their thread design to ensure the suppressor stays secured to the weapon, but it will unthread with minimal effort when it comes time to remove it.
What is First Round Pop?
First-round pop is defined by the volume of the first round fired minus the average of the volume of the remaining rounds fired.
In a typical case, the first round fired is much louder than the other rounds that you would fire. There are several contributing factors to first-round pop.
First and foremost: before the first round is fired, the suppressor is full of an oxygen-rich atmosphere. This oxygen encourages a secondary detonation inside the suppressor as unburnt and burning gun powder enters the device.
After the first round is fired, the suppressor is immediately full of carbon dioxide instead of oxygen; additional detonations do not occur. There are other causes of first-round pop, but this is the most common.
Two others are:
Ammunition.Pressure. Pressure is generated in different measures by different loads. Therefore, separate versions even of the same cartridge (and/or manufacturers) may react differently.
Barrel length. Barrel length also contributes to first-round pop. As a result, short-barreled weapon systems tend to have first-round pop than their longer barrel counterparts.
Maxim Mitigation
Maxim Defense 22 suppressors, for the most part, are designed to negate or, at a minimum, significantly reduce first-round pop. The internal geometry of the suppressor baffles are what tend to increase or decrease first-round pop.
When Maxim Defense designed its monocore, they went to great lengths to find the right combination of entrance chamber volume and baffle geometry (fluid resistance). Its DSX and PRS line of suppressors have an integrated M baffle in the entrance chamber that significantly reduces or negates all first-round pop entirely. Its line of 22 suppressors does not have an integrated M baffle, as it turns out that they do not need it. The baffle geometry that they had designed worked perfectly on its own. For the .22, it all came down to a mathematically and geometrically optimized monocore.
DRF-22 Rimfire Suppressor Technical Specs
Diameter: 1.0″ outer diameter
Material Composition: 7075-T6 Aluminum and 6AI-4V Titanium
Weight: 3.5 ounces
Overall Length: 5.9″
Finish: Type III MIL-SPEC hard coat anodizing and DLC
DRF-22 Rimfire Suppressor Features
State of the art MonoKore Design
Simple three-piece design
Constructed of military-grade materials
No detectable first round pop
Designed explicitly for .22LR pistols and rifles chambered in .22LR, .22MAG, and.17HMR
Disassembles with standard tools for end-user serviceability
Find DRF-22 Rimfire Suppressor or the entire Maxim Defense suppressor lineup here online.
Maxim Defense is now manufacturing suppressors. Beginning with one for a belt-fed, then the DSX-D (Duty Suppressor System – Direct Thread) suppressor, plus the DRF-22 (Direct Thread Rimfire) suppressor, with more to come. And none other than Phil Dater is helping them do it.
Maxim Defense Suppressor Development
After S&W acquired Gemtech Suppressors and moved the company cross country, Maxim Defense was privileged to hire many of the talented people who remained behind. One of those people was Phil Dater. You might remember his name from the founding of Gemtech and the excellent work done by Antares Technologies in the modern small arms and suppressor industry.
Michael Windfield, founder and owner of Maxim Defense, launched the development of Maxim’s suppressors with the directive, “We do the hard stuff first.” Hard stuff in this context refers to successfully suppressing an FN MAG belt-fed machine gun, which they did.
Having checked that box, they began developing a full line of suppressors. Those devices are now dropping sound levels well below the OSHA hearing safe threshold of 140dB. For example, the average measurements taken per MILSTD-1474D while testing the DSX-D suppressor were 134dB on a 10.3″ AR-15 chambered in 5.56 and 114dB with the DRF-22 rimfire suppressor. These sound levels were measured at the shooter’s ear.
Maxim Defense DSX-D Suppressor
The DSX-D (Duty Suppressor System – Direct Thread) suppressor is specifically designed to minimize a suppressed weapon system’s violent cyclic rate and gas blowback.
The suppressor consists of a three-piece MonoKore design that adds 7.25″ to the muzzle of your rifle. The DSX-D is rated for full auto in all available calibers; 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and 6.5 Creedmoor.
There is, however, an 8.5″ barrel restriction. Additionally, the suppressor can be pinned to a 10.3″ barrel to give you a 16″ overall barrel length essentially.
DSX-D Suppressor Features
State of the art MonoKore Design
Simple three-piece design
Constructed of military-grade materials (Grade-5 Titanium and 17-4 Stainless Steel)
Drops the sound level below the OSHA hearing safe threshold of 140dB
Purposely built for each available caliber (5.56, 7.62, 6.5 Creedmoor)
The suppressor core has integrated carbon cutters for easy tube cleaning
Full auto rated in all available calibers
Ships with direct thread mount (1/2×28 for 5.56 or 5/8×24 for 7.62 and 6.5 Creedmoor)
Disassembles with standard tools for end-user serviceability
DSX-D Suppressor Technical Specs
Diameter: 1.75″ outer diameter
Material Composition: Grade-5 Titanium and 17-4 Stainless Steel
The Duty Suppressor System is built for the world’s most rigorous demands; this suppressor is designed to be the most robust and strongest suppressor in its category.
It has been repeatedly tested with SOCOM tables across various calibers and barrel lengths, down to 8.5″ 5.56 NATO with M855 ball ammunition. It has survived with no damage or significant change in sound reduction.
SOCOM Firing Table test is conducted using eight fully loaded 30-round magazines, fired sequentially at different rates, from 1 round per second to a full auto mag dump.
Magazine #1 – 1 round per second Magazine #2 – 2 rounds per second Magazine #3 – 1 round per second Magazine #4 – 3 to 5 round burst Magazine #5 – 1 round per second Magazine #6 – 2 rounds per second Magazine #7 – 1 round per second Magazine #8 – full auto mag dump
Maxim Defense DFR-22 Rimfire Suppressor
The DRF-22 (Direct Thread Rimfire) Suppressor is specifically designed to minimize the increase in cyclic rate and gas blowback of a suppressed rimfire firearm. Design features include the significant reduction of sound signature, decreasing flash signature, reduction of recoil, and an increase in overall accuracy.
DRF-22 Rimfire Suppressor Features
State of the art MonoKore Design
Simple three-piece design
Constructed of military-grade materials
No detectable first round pop
Designed explicitly for .22LR pistols and rifles chambered in .22LR, .22MAG, and.17HMR
Disassembles with standard tools for end-user serviceability
DRF-22 Rimfire Suppressor Technical Specs
Diameter: 1.0″ outer diameter
Material Composition: 7075-T6 Aluminum and 6AI-4V Titanium
Weight: 3.5 ounces
Overall Length: 5.9″
Finish: Type III MIL-SPEC hard coat anodizing and DLC
Find the entire Maxim Defense suppressor lineup here online.
If you’re a firearms enthusiast, chances are you have heard of ARMSLIST. In fact, with more than 2 1/2 million users and over 1,300 registered FFL dealers involved, chances are you’ve probably also been on their website.
But how much do you actually know about it?
So What Is ARMSLIST?
ARMSLIST is a private online marketplace, but it doesn’t actually sell firearms. Instead, it works virtually with a huge network of registered FFL dealers to put a wide range of guns in front of prospective gun owners.
This allows people in the United States to list items for sale online, communicating safely, securely, and because you’re working directly with FFLs, you’ll be legally buying with very low risk of scams or fraud. Whether you’re a dealer, manufacturer, or individual gun owner, they provide you with an alternative to auction sites and has drastically lower fees, and zero commission fees.
ARMSLIST has guns and gear, accessories, blogs, and reviews on hundreds of products you’d be interested in owning, all while conducting business easily and legally, with accountability on both sides of a transaction.
Buying or Selling
The main thing to know about buying a gun on ARMSLIST is that you don’t need an account to buy a gun. As a non-subscriber, you can still purchase from the their network of over 1,300 FFL dealers. However, having an account opens up new possibilities for you.
Armslist offers two different account types, the Premium Vendor account, and the Personal account. Each account is adjusted to the seller’s needs, which provides options that many online companies don’t offer.
ARMSLIST Legal Defense Fund
Armslist also helps maintain the ARMSLIST Legal Defense Fund that fights to protect the 2nd Amendment rights of all Americans, focusing on issues regarding the internet. They also provide up-to-date news articles about guns, gun laws, and opinionated articles to educate the public on matters affecting the 2nd Amendment.
Armslist strongly encourages anyone interested in selling or buying guns to try the website immediately. But…if you’re not interested in buying or selling products, you can always support our Legal Defense Fund. Your participation there helps ensure the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans are not taken away.
Aaaargh, what be the best AR dry firing tool of the seven seas? The Mantis X Blackbeard answers the call!
Mantis Tech has been sailing through the industry headlines with their innovative dry-firing devices, and for good reason. Ammo shortages and price hikes have made the already important practice of at-home training with your defensive firearm all the more vital. Filling the void has been the Mantis X series. These devices directly attach to your firearm and offer precise shooting accuracy and technique diagnostics.
Honing in on your shots is the first important step for developing yourself as a competitive shooter. What about consistent follow-up shot training? For obvious reasons, this presents a technical barrier. The natural mechanics of your typical AR platform prevents you from doing so without physically resetting the trigger each time. At which point, you might as well be using a bolt gun.
That’s where the Mantis Blackbeard comes in. The Blackbeard uses a unique design that allows the user to conduct realistic and consistent dry firing sessions.
Following Up on Your Shots
If there’s one thing gun owners like, it’s simplicity. Luckily, the Mantis X Blackbeard is idiot-proof, being as simple to install as it is to operate. The system is a dedicated AR-15 dry firing solution. It replaces your bolt carrier group and charging handle with a solid, drop-in electronic device that emits a laser at the end of the barrel. The red color indicates that the device is a non-ballistic, dry firing tool. This can be seen easily from the ejection port side.
Drop-in, plug-in-play! The Mantis Blackbeard replaces your BCG, charging handle, and magazine.
You can make adjustments using the included Allen key to give yourself some semblance of a zero. Make sure to get as close to your sighting system as possible. Keep in mind there is no such thing as an exact zero to your reticle or sights from a laser bore alone due to the fact you’re matching up a laser from the barrel end and not actual ballistic trajectory from a live round.
The Battery Pack
The separate magazine is a rechargeable battery pack, allowing 100,000 shots per full charge. So you can safely “mag” dump to your heart’s content. With every pull of the trigger, the device’s piston will automatically reset it. The product comes in four different variations: red laser, green laser (what I use since I was feeling festive), infrared laser, or no laser. The visible lasers are great for general use as you’ll clearly indicate shot placement with just your naked eyes. The no laser model is fine for those looking only to get the trigger reset function. The infrared is for the Gucci operator Bois with NODs (jealous).
The package includes the Blackbeard laser device, the magazine battery pack, instructions, and a charging cable in a sleek case.
Zeroing in on Your Training with the Mantis X Blackbeard
So what does the Mantis X Blackbeard actually add to your training routine? As mentioned before, my fellow AR shooters will be delighted to know their trigger will now automatically reset at every pull. Gone are the days of awkwardly breaking your shooting form to rack the charging handle just to make another shot happen. Instead, the user is able to make rapid follow-up shots without any alterations to their technique. This prevents the development of certain training scars. Additionally, no changes are made to the trigger weight, so your pristine Geissele gets to perform in all of its glory.
Show me the green! Always good to see what you’re hitting.
I had a blast endlessly dumping into my makeshift targets and doing my usual routine throughout my testing. It cannot be overstated the importance of being able to pull the trigger multiple times without interruption. Suddenly, the practice of dynamic drills and advanced methods is possible. One of my favorite drills is the Failure to Stop. In this drill, the shooter is tasked with placing two shots to the target’s chest and one to the head in quick, accurate succession. This is simply not feasible in a dry fire setting without the Blackbeard auto-resetting trigger system.
Another subtle but equally important feature is the responsiveness of the trigger reset itself. For those worried about possibly “outrunning” the Blackbeard’s trigger reset speed, fear not. I may not be the Flash, but I did my damnedest to make this thing choke up on me with my trigger finger alone and experienced no issues.
Simple and efficient, the Blackbeard gives you an instant dry firing solution almost immediately out of the box.
Indicating Accuracy
Of course, there’s no use in having a shooting tool that has no indicator of accuracy. The laser emitter feature is essential for at least serving as a reference point for your shot placements. Other than simply tracking your overall groupings, the laser really shined when I began conducting on-the-move target transition shooting and simulated CQB drills. Call it LARPing, but doing my usual room-clearing drills felt cooler than ever before! I, unfortunately, did not have the opportunity to test this alongside the Laser Academy system. However, something tells me I’d spend even more time violently invading my room than usual if I did.
As far as reliability goes, the Blackbeard keeps on truckin’. You may have heard of earlier models failing after a few hundred shots or having tolerance issues. I experienced none of the above after thousands of shots. Mantis has made it clear these errors have been fixed with later generations.
Some Holes Need Plugging
Products are rarely perfect out of the box and the Mantis X Blackbeard is no exception. I will get the obvious out of the way and confirm that you will not be able to perform your standard reloads using this device. Core mechanical weapons manipulations such as racking the charging handle, inserting standard magazines (excluding the Blackbeard magazine battery), or flipping up the dust cover are impossible. Nothing on the device reciprocates outwardly, and the presence of the device in the chamber prevents any magazine from being fully seated. If you want to practice reloads within shooting drills or malfunction clearing, you’ll need to do so with your base BCG and charging handle.
Mantis Tech products should all be compatible with one another (hopefully, you have better luck than I did!).
The second issue I personally encountered was the Blackbeard’s inability to integrate with the Mantis X dry fire software. As it is advertised, the Blackbeard should be compatible with any of the current generation models of the Mantis X Shooting Performance System by using the universal magazine adhesive mount. Unfortunately, despite going through the X3 and X10 models, the most I could get were two or three shots to register in the dry firing diagnostic software. Upon speaking to multiple reps from Mantis, I was told the next generation of the Blackbeard will come integrated with a software feature. Hopefully, solving this problem altogether. However, I do believe I could have a defective model and am in talks with their customer support team to solve the issue.
The Mantis X Blackbeard Verdict
On the whole, the Mantis X Blackbeard is a fantastic addition to any AR owner’s training arsenal. The ability to have a safe trigger reset in combination with a laser emitter elevates the at-home, dry fire training experience. The hiccups I did encounter are not in any way disastrous. Fortunately, Mantis Tech is already improving upon the original design. It’s a pricey tool but think of this device as not just another accessory but as an investment for yourself.
About the Author: Eric is a writer, everyman-level, critic, gamer, martial artist, firearms enthusiast, social media marketer, and desultory, half-assed comedian. When he’s not cranking out good ole fashioned gun content, he’s likely playing one or more of the latest FPS games du jour. That or teaching friends not to shoot themselves in the foot and wishing he had better time management skills. Follow him on Instagram at @ground_floor_korean.
Wilsonville, Oregon based Crimson Trace (@crimsontrace) has announced the addition of Remington Arms 870 shotgun compatible models of Lasersaddle laser sights to their Lasersaddle line. Wel, they sorta announced it.
According to what’s been described on social media freqs and in the cursory descriptions online, the LS-870 will provide multiple ambidextrous laser activation pad points for instant targeting with a powerful 5mW red laser. As with all Crimson Trace laser sights, the LS-870 is user-adjustable for windage and elevation. The LS-870 features a Master On/Off Switch for completely powering down the system. This model provides 3 Hours of battery life with two provided CR2032 batteries.
The new Lasersaddle will fit the Remington 870 and Remington Tac-14 in 12 Gauge only. It does not fit the Tac-13.
