Suppressors and suppressor performance can be a fickle thing. I personally love no suppression more than that on a good bolt action rifle whether one of the hunting or target persuasion. It is truly the best form of shooting. The sharp muffled report from the barrel. The silence afterward as you await the answer from the steel in the distance. Run the bolt. Repeat. It’s clean. Civilized, if you will.
Challenges come with suppression. Acquiring them is still detailed even if the tax is no more. They’re dirtier, so maintenance schedules must tighten. You must be aware of changes in point of impact or dispersion, for every suppressor is not created equal, nor may it be the right match for a particular rifle. There is also increased weight and length. These factors are often mentioned, but are often just seen as the price to pay to be able to suppress. But thankfully, due to designs like the Nomad Ti OTB from Dead Air, the weight and length factors dole less of a penalty to the user.
Understanding the Nomad Ti OTB Concept
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OTB stands for “over the barrel” and it’s far, far from a new design, but now that I think about it, I don’t understand why it isn’t utilized more. There must be some drawback that I’m not considering. With the suppressor extending several inches back over the barrel, maybe heat build up is the great issue. There is also consideration to the overall design since the suppressor must fit backward over certain sized barrels. Because of this It must be larger in diameter. Attachment to the rifle must be considered too. Maybe the design is cost prohibitive in some way. But this is just me spit-balling, trying to be sensitive to the challenges of the OTB design.
So let’s discuss how Dead Air approaches these considerations. The Nomad Ti OTB is a lightweight suppressor with an overall weight of 10.5 ounces. It’s not the lightest suppressor on the market but you get full-sized suppressor performance and the weight balances a bit better because of the OTB design. With an overall length of 7.6 inches only 4.6 inches of that extends forward of the muzzle. The remaining three inches rides rearward not adding much to the overall rifle’s length. This could be a very big deal depending on your set up and what and where you are doing what you’re doing. Adding a six or seven inch suppressor to a 26-inch barrel isn’t ideal, even if it is worth the return you get when shooting. This OTB design really shines here.
Mounting System & Setup
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The Nomad TI OTB attaches via Dead Air’s Xeno muzzle device which is a straight forward and repeatable system. Once you attach the muzzle device to your rifle, the suppressor reverse threads onto it. It’s painless and drama free. A Xeno radial brake is included with the Nomad Ti OTB and is threaded for 5/8×24.
Built for Performance
The Nomad Ti OTB is a 3D printed suppressor. The main material is 6AL4V Grade 5 Titanium. Like the entire Nomad line up, this suppressor is tough, but it is not full auto rated, nor does it need to be for its intended use. That said it handles heavy calibers up to 300 RUM and 7mm Back Country with 16 inch barrels. It will handle a 12.5 inch 5.56mm as well. Shooting should be kept to semi auto only to ensure you don’t damage the suppressor. It is 1.76 inches in diameter. Larger diameters make for better sound performance as it gives the gasses more room to expand and cool. Remember, suppression is a method of physics and there is no getting around it. Smaller cans are cool and cute, but they will be louder than larger cans. Increasing the diameter means you can keep the length down somewhat.
First Impressions Of The Nomad Ti OTB
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I rest in the camp that your purchases should be memorable in some way. In other words, presentation does matter. If I’m spending $1,000 on something I’d like to feel good about the spend. Dead Air does a solid job in this area. Their product comes in attractive boxes with appropriate levels of packaging. Included patches and stickers are always a nice touch too. The Nomad Ti OTB came in looking good with excellent fit and finish on the the Dark Earth model. You can also get it in basic black but the FDE just speaks to me. The Cerakote has a matte finish that is perfect. You have to enjoy the moment before sending your first rounds through it, because it will never look this pristine again. A well-worn suppressor, one characterized by lots of use, looks equally attractive but the time between these opposing looks can be long.
Range Performance
Dead Air’s Nomad line, in this case the XC line that the Ti OTB is based on, has always been a great performing line. Recoil is manageable and sound performance is great. It’s a .30 caliber suppressor making it multi-caliber and a versatile tool. Due to the modular end cap you can add a device to aid in recoil reduction, like the Dead Air’s E-brake which is a radial brake type attachment. There are other brands like Recoil X that make a specific type of brake call the Comp Brake. Either option will add length to the OTB suppressor and smidge of weight. That said the performance gains are typically worth it.
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Real-World Application
With the one inch maximum barrel diameter in mind, I attached the Nomad OTB to what I like to call a multi-purpose rifle of mine. Chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor with a Proof CF barrel with Sendero profile, this rifle started life as a Gunworks complete build. It possesses both hunting and target rifle DNA and so it’s multi-role if you will. The Nomad Ti OTB fit over the barrel like a glove and the FDE color looks great with the rifle’s camo pattern. Recoil manners were excellent without any muzzle devices attached to the suppressor. It was not difficult to stay relatively on target and spot my own misses and impacts. Recoil impulse felt quite linear, and this was done without any recoil devices attached.
I plugged velocity data into my app and immediately began to shoot and the rifle setup was pretty much spot on. I ended up removing .3 MIL of elevation overall. Initially I was concerned about heat building up where the suppressor overlaps the barrel wondering how it might effect accuracy but in practice it cooled down quite quickly and I had no issues to note. It was a successful long range session, giving me confidence in the Nomad Ti OTB.
Final Thoughts
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I’ve used the Nomad Ti OTB on various platforms in varying conditions and every experience has been a good one. The Nomad series of suppressors has always impressed me and this suppressor continues in the lineage. I feel like Dead Air continues to develop great products and rise to the occasion. The Dead Air Nomad Ti OTB can be purchased with confidence and used in the proper role, will be a hard suppressor to beat given the advantages of the OTB design and coming from Dead Air.
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