Product Review - The HUX Flow-Through Suppressor Ain't All That...

In the suppressor world, I’m not that technical. In fact, I would say I’m pretty basic. When I worked for S&W, I was lucky to have worked alongside Gemtech professionals, who are very talented and professional people. I was able to see how the suppressor cans were made, the pros and cons to them, and the struggles with size and weight.  With this experience, and my own personal experience using suppressors, there are three things that I look at when determining the quality of cans.  I look at the amount of gas in my face, the sound suppression, and the flash suppression.

Here’s why I look at those things. First off, gas in the face is my biggest concern. I’ve shot other cans like Surefire for years and have always hated eating so much gas every time I pull the trigger. In my opinion, it made shooting with suppressors suck. My eyes would water up, I couldn’t stay on the gun, and I wondered if ingesting all that gas would be good for my lungs over the years.  Next, when we’re dealing with the flash suppression, I look at the first round pop and trigger pulls on repeat.  The first round pop is caused by oxygen gathering in the suppressor, and the first round can cause a massive flash with a slightly louder pop than follow up rounds fired.  Additionally, the flash suppression while shooting can give away my position in low light scenarios. Finally, sound suppression, believe it or not, is last on the list.  Why, you ask? It’s because I will always be shooting super sonic ammo, and I will always have ear pro on. For the guys still on the job, their ear pro are also their comms, so I would not recommend  going out without those on. Just because my rifle is quiet doesn’t mean that my pistol is.  As someone who carries a rifle for work or trains with it, I always have a pistol on me should I need it. 

The bottom line is that I don't need the suppressor to be the quietest one on the market. If I were on the job, I would just need it to suppress the sound so that I could talk over the radio during a firefight and to confuse the bad guy on my location. 

Now that I have established all that, on to the HUX. When I first looked at the HUX Flow-Through can, I was really impressed. There was zero gas in my face, which I call a winner.   It was super easy on the recoil, too, almost like I had a muzzle break on the can. I loved all that it had to offer. However, the price is a bit much for the market. 

So why isn’t it all that, though? Well, to my fault, I never cleaned it. I accept responsibility for that. They say you should clean it every 1200 rounds, which for me is the equivalent to our Patrol Rifle Instructor or NVG class. Why didn’t I clean it? It’s because I never cleaned our Surefire or our Gemtech cans, and they ran no problem. Once my HUX was full of carbon, all those benefits were no more. You have to make sure you clean it, and to date, I haven’t found a “for sure” way of cleaning a suppressor. Sure ultrasonic cleaners and Breakthrough Suppressor cleaner is nice, but still doesn’t seem to get it all. With that said, you can add “low maintenance” to my list of things I look for in a suppressor. 

I have switched to the DeadAir Laz 6 in response, and so far so good with this can. At the time I am writing this, I have approximately 8,000 rounds through it with no cleaning. I am about to take a flight for a NVG class, plus some other work. By the end of the week, I should have another 2000 to 3000 rounds through it, so more to follow on the Laz 6 performance. To add to the collection, I have just received the new CT5P from DeadAir as well, so stand by…