Silencer Review: AAC Ti-RANT 45 / 45 S (.45 ACP)

There are those who view .45 ACP as the “one true caliber.” It goes by many names: “forty five,” “Browning’s bullet,” “Manstopper.” Some even claim that it’s accurate to rediculous distances, such as 600 yards. It does have one small issue — it’s loud as shit. Thankfully, Advanced Armament Corp. has a solution. And it comes in two flavors, “long” and “short.”

As a preface, I just wanted to emphasize that this is not a “full” review of this product. Here at TTAG we usually reserve judgment until we’ve put a couple hundred rounds through something and tried it out in different conditions. Unfortunately the BATFE here in the U.S. prevents us from getting our hands on silencers for protracted testing unless we go through months of waiting, spend $200 per transfer, and live in certain states. It’s impractical. Luckily I recently had a chance to visit the Advanced Armament Corp. factory and test all of their cans under their supervision. While the tests may not have been as complete as I want, they were good enough for a brief review.

Oddly enough, the Ti-RANT 45 and 45 S are similar to the Ti-RANT 9 I reviewed earlier this week. They’re designed almost identically, one simply larger than the other. They look the same, function the same, and even have the same seemingly complicated A.S.A.P. system (which allows semi-automatic pistols to cycle with the silencer attached). But do they get the sound of the gun firing to the same “hearing safe” levels?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ7sOEdI5Ug

The silencer goes on at about 3:52 in this video, skip ahead if you don’t care about the 9mm offerings. The fact of the matter is yes, the Ti-RANT 45 gets the sound of the .45 round going off to hearing safe levels. It’s not completely silent, but it’s quiet enough to not damage your ears. Compared to the 9mm, however, it was most definitely louder. Not uncomfortable, but your friend with a 9mm and a can is going to be laughing at your loudness.

When wet, the game changes a little bit. And by a little bit, I mean almost completely. AAC claims a whopping 41 decibel reduction in noise and I completely believe it. I would happily shoot that can wet all day long, and it would be about neck and neck with the 9mm (dry, that is) in terms of noise. To be honest, I was blown away.

When I was interviewing Kevin (an interview I hope to have transcribed from the audio recording I made Monday-ish) he talked a little about how different customers want different things from their silencers. Civilians, for example, prize sound suppression above all else. They don’t particularly care if it’s clunky, they just want it to be whisper quiet.

The Ti-RANT 45 S was initially designed for the military, who had different ideas about the perfect silencer. For them, all that mattered was that the silencer was short. Their rationale was that this was going on a secondary weapon system, and if they had to go to this then they were already in some deep shit. And while going unsuppressed would make the pistol even shorter, they still wanted the ability to mask their position a little bit. The difference is drastic. With the longer can the .45 was comfortably quiet, something you could shoot all day long.

With the shorter can that’s not so much the case. The best way I can describe it is “just this side of uncomfortable.” To be honest, my ears were ringing just a little bit after firing a few rounds through it. So while it works well enough to shoot without earplugs, if you’re looking for a gun that you can giggle a little bit at how quiet it is this probably isn’t it.

When wet the situation improves, but not a whole lot. The 45 S, when wet, is ALMOST as quiet as the 45 when dry. Personally, I’d gladly trade the extra weight and length for that extra noise reduction, especially since the things cost exactly the same amount of money.

The Ti-RANT 45 and 45 S are both functioning silencers that drop the ungodly racket of a .45 ACP pistol to a manageable murmur. If you want something that you can impress your friends with how quiet it is, get something in rimfire. But if the Manstopper is calling your name you’re going to want one of these.

Ti-RANT 45 / 45 S – .45 ACP Silencer
Length: 8.74″ / 6.42″
Weight: 11.5 oz / 9.2 oz
Diameter: 1.38″
Sound Reduction: 30 — 41 dB  / 18 — 28.5 (dry/wet)
MSRP: $850

Ratings (out of 5): 

Sound Suppression: * * * * (*) / * * * (*)
Obviously bigger is better.

Build Quality: * * * * *
It feels solid, and looked pretty damned good to me. Then again, I only had about 20 minutes to play with it.

Ease of Use: * * *
That A.S.A.P. system looks like a bitch and a half to clean, and the reason that I dropped a couple of stars. Plus, threading the thing onto your pistol takes some rearwards pressure (which I couldn’t figure out on my own). Other than that it’s easy as pie to use. Just like the other Ti-RANT.

Overall Rating: * * * * / * * *
Like I said in the body of the review, this isn’t a silencer that you’re going to buy because it’s impressively quiet — this is a silencer you’re going to buy because you’re an aficionado of the 45 variety. If you accept no substitutes, accept no substitutes.

(Pictures courtesy Advanced Armament Co.)