The Gemtech ONE is still fairly compact for a rifle suppressor.
The new rage products in the suppressor market are multi-purpose silencers. Some models like the SilencerCo Hybrid and Griffin Armament Optimus are made to cover both rifles and pistols. Others, like the Gemtech ONE, are multi-purpose, but for rifles only.
I like this more narrowed approach. Certainly multi-caliber rifle and pistol silencers are a great way to cover most of your gun collection with just one $200 tax stamp to Uncle Spendy, but there are tradeoffs. If a suppressor is to handle rifle pressures for the big calibers, it’s going to be somewhat overbuilt for pistol use. That’s not a big deal; it’ll just be larger and heavier than you need.
If you’re open to the idea of paying Uncle Spendy twice for a total of $400, you can get a .45 caliber pistol suppressor that can also work on any smaller caliber and a rifle suppressor that can cover everything from rimfire to 300 Magnum. This is the scenario where the Gemtech ONE shines. It’s designed for rifle use, and while it will be oversized for smaller rifles like rimfires, that’s not as big of a deal when mounting on a six to 12-pound rifle as when trying to stick it on a two-pound pistol.
I also used the ONE on this .22 – a Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 Performance Center rifle.
About the ONE
I can’t even say “the ONE” without suffering from “The Matrix” flashbacks. I guess that’s OK, I kinda liked the first one. Regardless, as we’ve touched on already, the “one” part of the ONE refers to one suppressor that fits a whole boat load of rifle calibers. How many? Everything from .17 HM2 to 300 Winchester Short Magnum and everything in between. I’ll post the full list from Gemtech at the bottom of this article, so you don’t have to scroll through that just yet.
There are two ways to mount the ONE to your rifle: a direct thread mount and a quick attach that pops onto a compatible Gemtech muzzle device. My trial unit from the good folks at Silencer Shop came with two different flash hiders – one for .30 caliber and the other for .223. These are threaded at ⅝”x24 and ½”x28 respectively.
The Gemtech flash hider – well used a you can see from this photo!
Just to be clear, the ONE ships with the Bi-Lock Mount and a 5/8×24 Direct Thread mount, but the muzzle device itself is not included, so you have to add one or more of those to your order if you want quick attach and detach functionality. If you have questions, the Silencer Shop folks can help you out.
The Mount
Direct thread mounts are simple, but if you want to get the most out of a suppressor designed for multiple calibers, you’ll want to use the Bi-Lock Mount system. Compatible muzzle devices have two lugs of different sizes on opposite sides of the muzzle device. Why different sizes? That’s so the silencer will only mount one way. By mounting exactly the same every time, the point of impact won’t change when you remove the ONE and re-add it later. If you put a compatible muzzle device on each rifle you want to use with the ONE, you can zero each one and freely move the suppressor back and forth without losing your zero on each particular rifle.
The muzzle devices have lugs to orient and hold the suppressor in place.
The mount is simple to use. Slide the suppressor over the lugs and push against the internal spring. When the spring is compressed a bit, rotate the suppressor body and let go. That’s it. To remove, push the suppressor towards the receiver and rotate in the opposite direction and it will slide right off. I like the mounting system and found that’s it’s not prone to sticking like other designs when the silencer gets hot, dirty and nasty. I also did not detect any point of impact shift when moving the suppressor between rifles and back again.
The bottom line is this. Bite the bullet and buy a muzzle device for each rifle you want to use with the ONE. It’s well worth it.
The suppressor will only mount one way as the lugs are different sizes.
Shooting the ONE
Since the ONE goes all the way down to tiny rimfire territory, I decided to try it on a .22LR rifle. Because fun. I did have a SilencerCo Sparrow-22 on hand, so I could switch back and forth on the same gun to see what performance differences I might uncover.
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