We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More ›
The first time I saw a Salvo shotgun suppressor mounted on the barrel of a shotgun, it reminded me of the rectangular flags that Japanese samurai would wear on their backs as they charged into battle. But that description might be too generous. The fact is that the Salvo is an ungainly looking contraption. And ungainly is not a quality shotgunners appreciate in their scatterguns. Far from it.
The Midnight Troubadour
Tough and timeless, this polo is built for the long ride. Featuring a crisp, non-collapsing collar and a rugged, stretchy fabric, it's the perfect shirt for any cowboy's wardrobe.
Now, there are some shooters who might look at that metal box and think, “Cool.” But I can guarantee you that they are not serious shotgunners. No, serious shotgunners fuss over their guns, adding small bits of weight here and there to make them balance and swing better. They do things like adjust where the triggers sit within the trigger guard to improve ergonomics, and get their stocks tailored to their specific dimensions. Among this crowd, putting a Salvo on a shotgun is as classy as break dancing during a royal wedding.
Which is a pity, because the Salvo shotgun suppressor addresses a real problem that pretty much every hardcore shotgun enthusiast faces: hearing loss. I’ve been in many noisy shooting environments over the years, but few scenarios can match the skull-splitting intensity of a crowded duck blind when fast crossers can cause even the most disciplined waterfowler to over-swing. Getting an earful of magnum-powered muzzle blast will make you see stars.
And even when you’re hunting pheasants in wide-open uplands, the report generated by high-brass 6s can make you or your partner’s ears ring—to say nothing of what it does to the hearing of the dog you just shot over.
So here’s the big question: Can the need to bring a shotgun blast down to a safer decibel level override the negatives, in both performance and aesthetics, that come with attaching a 2-pound hunk of metal to the end of your barrel?
The author (left) and Darren Jones with the day’s bag.
▶ TEXAS BOUND
It’s that question that prompted my trip last winter down to the Gulf Coast in Texas for a cast ‘n’ blast with Darren Jones, one of the executives at Silencerco, the maker of the Salvo and many other types of suppressors. Our plan was to spend three days in Baffin Bay, hunting ducks and casting to speckled trout.
The night we arrived, Darren stepped me through the workings of the Salvo, which has several features that make it unique among firearms suppressors (see illustration opposite). In terms of its base functionality, however, the fact that it is made of stackable baffles that allow the shooter to customize its overall length and weight makes it especially appealing.
Depending on how many baffles are used, the Salvo can be 6, 8, 10, or 12 inches long. Naturally, as the Salvo is made shorter and lighter, its ability to reduce the report of the shot is diminished.
At 12 inches, the Salvo is quiet but unwieldy. It is perfect for turkey hunting, but the swing of the shotgun goes down the tubes with that much weight out there, so I wouldn’t recommend it for targets on the wing. Going to 6 inches, however, didn’t silence the shot as much as I’d like with heavy waterfowl loads.
Beyond a doubt, the sweet spot while hunting ducks was 8 or 10 inches. The thundering bang of our 3-inch magnum shells was reduced to a forceful pop that created a most enjoyable duck hunting experience—one where you don’t have to worry about your buddy blowing out your hearing, and where your ears don’t ring after ripping through three shells in quick succession.
▶ ON THE WATER
Our hunt started agreeably cold and rainy—perfect duck weather. We got to the boat launch in the inky dark and motored out along the bay, picking an exposed point of soft, mucky bank to set up against.
After tossing decoys into the shallow, salty water to create a couple of enticing holes in front of our makeshift blind, we waited on the birds. Whatever concerns I had about how my Benelli M2 was going to handle with the Salvo attached vanished when the first ducks buzzed the spread. Darren and I popped out of our chairs and cut a couple of birds out of the sky.
Truth is, I barely noticed the suppressor during the hunt. The Salvo made the shotgun muzzle heavy, for sure, but it didn’t hamper my swing or my ability to connect. Even with the fastest crossers, or when quickly transitioning from one bird to the next to get a double, the gun and silencer performed just fine.
The next couple of days reinforced these impressions. The duck numbers never reached epic levels—we had to make the most of the gadwalls and wigeon that came to the dekes. With the pressure on to make each shot count, it would have been frustrating to feel hampered by my gun, but that wasn’t the case.
