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The practical
sound moderator for full-bore rifles...
To be effective, full-bore rifle suppressors have to be rather bulky.
Adding a suppressor to a full-bore rifle normally
increases the overall length by about twelve inches, making the
weapon awkward and
muzzle-heavy. The suppressed weapon doesn't fit in a standard
rifle case, so the sound moderator must be removed for
storage and transport. Shortening the barrel by a few inches
helps a bit, but if the barrel is shortened
too much, the bullet muzzle velocity and trajectory are adversely affected.
To overcome these and other problems, Finnish designer Juha
Hartikka invented the Reflex
Suppressor...
What is a Reflex
Suppressor?
 The patented
Reflex design of suppressor (or sound moderator) has the expansion chamber
sleeved back over the front four to eight inches of the
barrel. This reduces the
overall length of the suppressed weapon, and improves its balance
and handling qualities.
Why use a full-bore rifle suppressor? To
save your hearing and, if you use a rifle for work, to comply with the
UK Health and Safety legislation. Independent tests
with a 308 Winchester hunting rifle confirm that Reflex
Suppressors do reduce the sound pressure at
the shooter's ear to well below the British Health and Safety
Executive's "peak action level" of 140 dB.
Above this level, HSE
regulations require employers to reduce workers'
exposure as far as reasonably practicable by means other
than ear protectors. This legal requirement also extends
to self-employed persons. In practice, depending on
the amount of bullet flight noise reflected back to the
shooter by trees or fences etc., a full-bore hunting rifle
with a good suppressor sounds about the same as a high
velocity 22 LR rim-fire rifle. Is a suppressed
full-bore
rifle "reasonably practicable"?
Individual hunting and target-shooting
circumstances vary, but the Reflex Suppressor
concept solves most of the practical problems associated with
suppressed full-bore rifles. For instance. this Tikka M695 270
Win hunting rifle with full-length barrel and Reflex
Suppressor still fits neatly into a
standard rifle case: 
For
muzzle-mounted suppressors, the usual single-point mounting system
is relatively crude and weak - just a short 1/2" UNF thread and a small shoulder
to align the sound moderator with the rifle bore.
By contrast, the
two-point Reflex mounting system with a thread at the muzzle
and a close fitting bush at the rear of the suppressor is very
strong and resistant to harsh field use. The suppressor
stays in alignment with the bore even if it is accidentally
unscrewed a couple of turns.
Accuracy and trajectory are not impaired!
 We
usually find that the accuracy of
hunting and target rifles is, if anything, slightly improved by the
addition of a Reflex Suppressor.
This
1/8 MOA group was fired during load testing with a specialized long range
target/varmint rifle fitted with a T8 Scout Reflex
Suppressor (see photo below).
Shooting without ear defenders, we can
listen as well as look and feel for wind changes. The suppressor also cuts recoil by about one
third, which makes group-shooting a real pleasure.
The 308 Steyr Tactical Scout rifle is only 3'
6" (107 cm) long and weighs
just 8.5 lb
(3.8 kg) with full-length barrel, Reflex
Suppressor and scope
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