By the time ATAC Defense launched their highly regarded line of AR rifles in 2020, they were already well-known to industry insiders for their white label OEM work. Even then we had suspicions they would branch out into the wider world of silencers, and now they have with the release of their 30 Below series of suppressors.
ATAC Defense 30 Below
- Caliber: .308/7.62 and under
- Length: 6.56 inches (no mount), 6.75 inches (with ATAC HUB mount)
- Diameter: 1.5 inches
- Weight: 10.3 ounces (aluminum), 15.6 ounces (stainless), 9.9 ounces (titanium)
- MSRP: $859 (aluminum), $935 (stainless) $1,079 (titanium)
Though the name may invoke freezing weather and the frozen tundra (and maybe a Tauntaun or two), you’re not likely to find any of that at ATAC Defense, which sits about an hour away from warm Gulf waters. No, the name isn’t about being well below zero but instead is all about the bore diameter — if the caliber you’re shooting is 30 [or] Below, it’s good to go.
Right out of the gate ATAC Defense is offering good/better/best versions of their 30 Below silencers, not solely swapping internal baffle material but also body composition. There are options in aluminum and stainless, stainless steel, and titanium.
The ATAC Defense 30 Below silencers are smartly HUB compatible, and each unit comes complete with both 1/2×28 and 5/8×24 hardened HUB mounts along with a wrench. You’ll be ready to go straight from the box, but also be able to attach a 30 Below to essentially any rifle you can obtain a HUB adapter for.
The endcap is removable just like the mount, as is the baffle stack. ATAC’s 30 Below silencers can be disassembled for cleaning, though that’s not something you’ll need to do essentially ever, unless something has gone awry. The blast baffle threads in, holding the rest tightly. There are no surprises in terms of size, each 30 Below suppressor having a diameter of 1.5 inches with a length a hair over 6.5 inches. Each offering is finished in high-temperature Cerakote, and if you don’t like black then the beauty of the beholder is just a rattlecan away.
ATAC Defense rates their stainless and titanium 30 Below silencers for use with full auto, while the aluminum is relegated to semiauto only. It’s true that currently there’s no set standard for exactly what “full auto rated” actually means and everything hanging off a muzzle is subject to wear and erosion (especially on a short 5.56), but ATAC went the extra step of disclosing their methodology:
With a 10.5-inch 5.56mm M16 shooting 55-grain ammo, they fired (five) 30-round magazines through at 850 rpm, let it cool, then did the same twice more for a total of 450 rounds. This is a more extreme firing schedule than the SOCOM Table II, with nearly double the round count. This test is downright abusive, not only to the suppressors but the rifle itself — far beyond what people will actually put these silencers through outside of YouTube-clicky “torture testing” nonsense.
What you see here is the first ATAC Defense silencer, but certainly not their last. Stay tuned.
