Griffin Armament—3D-printed Optimus 6 LBP Suppressors
Griffin Armament’s history with metal-printed suppressors goes back to 2008 with the first prototype applications. At the time, they say, the technology was neither highly developed nor cost-effective enough to be both viable and publicly accepted.
Waiting for the expansion of the technology into more manufacturing applications, other industries being supported, and equipment and development costs becoming reduced, as well as the expansion of the technology itself and its capabilities, were considerable factors in waiting for the application to mature.
Fast-forward to the present, and Griffin Armament’s Optimus 6 is the company’s first printed production suppressor. Optimus 6 is a powder metal additive-manufactured, 6mm-capable suppressor optimized for the 5.56mm AR-15 platform. The company claims its complex internal baffle geometries were painstakingly prototyped and tested to yield a finished unit with low system backpressure and exceptional flash reduction.
The Optimus 6 is constructed entirely of 17-4 H900 heat-treated stainless steel and is available in three mounting variations: Dual-Lok, Griffin Taper Mount, and an industry-standard HUB (1.375×24 TPI) interface for use with HUB-mount adapters.
Critically, the printed baffle stack is welded to a machined rear housing that bears the suppressor’s serial number, making warranty and repair work possible without the need to initiate the lengthy Form 4 process for a new serial number. (The company claims this is a problem with fully printed cans that hasn’t yet been adequately addressed in the market.) A 1.73” outer diameter was selected to allow increased internal volume and this contributes to the suppressor’s sub-140 dB SPL.
For military and LE applications, flash reduction is often seen as more important than sound reduction, but both categories tend to suffer when creating suppressors with very low-restrictive baffling, according to Griffin.
To this end, the Optimus 6 end cap was developed to address the inherent increase in flash signature coupled with LBP suppressors. This unique, quad-prong end cap features complex internal and external flash-hiding geometries to bring highly competitive flash suppression to the LBP suppressor market.
In sum, the Optimus 6 is a thoughtful combination of traditional and new technologies to produce a low-backpressure suppressor that is easily repairable and highly durable while offering reasonable weight, all while exhibiting top-of-the-line sound and flash reduction at a lower price than many other printed suppressors on the market.
Click here to view the Optimus 6 launch video on YouTube.
Griffin Armament
Optimus 6
MSRP: From $699.95
URL: griffinarmament.com
