A good place to start to learn about TDS:

https://www.recoilweb.com/issue-43-150627.html

3D printing with SLM (selective laser melting) of 25 micron particles of Iconel 718 and design theory generated (at taxpayer expense) by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. That's some amazing technology in play, the sort I never even imagined existed.

The part of the above article that really brought it all home was the X-ray of the two suppressors.

There is another decent article on TDS in "Small Arms Review":

http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display. ... icles=4113

The TDS website is not up to date with info on their second generation suppressors. Pay no attention to their specs:

https://thermaldefenseinc.com

Two of the five businesses listed as dealers aren't. Making suppressors for current .gov orders is apparently taking time away from keeping the website all pretty.

An example of their (excellent) warranty:



Images of their current suppressor line up:





From big to small, with my opinion as to the optimum application for each:

Strix II - 17 OZ, 7.9" - for the Mk 48 belt-fed 7.62 plus heavy 7.62 caliber rifles

Badger II 7.62 - 17 OZ, 6.9" - for AK's and 7.62x51 gassers

Badger II 5.56 - 13 OZ, 6.75" - for short barrel 5.56 SBR's

Bantam II - 8.5 OZ, 5" - for 14.5" and longer 5.56 gassers

I've shot the Bantam II and Badger II 5.56. They're lightweight, very quiet, very accurate, and have truly minimal gas blow-back. The ejected brass doesn't look like it came out of a gas gun.

Looking inside the back of these with a borescope is interesting. Imagine a perfectly concentric Nautilus shell sawn in half...









I have everything they make in stock, with more on the way. My website does not yet show the Badger 7.62, but it's here.

No chance yet to use a sound meter. Hopefully, that will change soon.

Good shooting,

Wes Grant
MSTN
http://mstn.biz

Good review - thanks! These honestly sound too good to be true, so I keep watching for more 3rd party reviews before I commit.

Your link is slightly wrong, but I found the correct one: https://www.recoilweb.com/thermal-defen ... 50653.html

You also mention X-rays of the Models. Yet I found drawings labeled: "The patent drawings show that these are anything but normal baffles."

Beautiful find for us though, thanks.

The new "Nocturnal", an uncatalogued 300 Blackout suppressor, is working out quite well for me. In use with US Marshals plus a certain element in SOCOM.

I like the extremely light weight (13.3 ounces), almost 7 ounces lighter than my SF SOCOM 300 SPS, with much less blowback. It's a bit louder but the trade-off is worth it to me.

Beautiful! Any idea if their production capacity has caught up yet?

I never have to wait more than 2 weeks for anything.

Oh hell - I've put this off long enough. Email sent for an order.

I received the Bantam II today, and I got a very quick conjugal visit after filling out the Form 4. Short version: it really is all that. I shot 5 shots of 55gr ammo out of a 12.5" barrel at a 10 yd berm from a covered shooting position with no ear protection, and was fine. No ear ringing or wincing at all. Read that again - that's crazy.

When shooting it against my 30 cal can I honestly couldn't tell a difference in the field. It was only when I played back the video with an immediate back-to-back comparison that I could tell a difference. The first round out of each sounds the same - but subsequent rounds through the 30 cal can (after the O2 was burned out of the can) were noticeably quieter (I would hope so!!!).

But the Bantam has only 40% of the weight of the 30 cal can, and 34% of the volume. Zero first round pop with sound, but there was a flash for that first shot - just burning out the O2. Subsequent shots had no flash. And the rounds in the mag afterward looked just like rounds after shooting unsuppressed - which is definitely NOT the case with the 30 cal conventional can.

Here's a visual comparison:



And an earmuff cam and iPhone are about the WORST things you can use to try to share the sound of a suppressor, but it's what I have. And I wished there were more videos and reviews of this can before I bought, so I'm adding one more for that reason:

https://youtu.be/Pk4kLMuJNLg

Sidenote: MSTN was GREAT to deal with. Comms and shipping were fast and correct/complete. And when FedEx tried its best to lose/delay the shipment, MSTN jumped right on it and had it sorted out in no time.

I had another conjugal visit with the Bantam II last month. This time I was accuracy testing and checking to see how much POI shift it had vs. unsuppressed. The answer is: not much. A little less than 1 MOA shift downward from my unsuppressed 12.3" barrel. Accuracy improved suppressed, but it's likely that was just random noise. If I shot more groups of each they'd probably equal out - but it definitely did not get LESS accurate with the suppressor on. For the record, this is with a 4x scope and a pistol lower.

Unsuppressed (77gr SMK, 100yds):


Suppressed (77gr SMK, 100yds). I probably should have put them at the same zoom level, but pay attention to the 1 MOA squares or the calculated group size for comparison:



Totally happy! 5-12 more months of wait time to go

Playing catch-up since the board has been down -

Here's some more non-scientific anecdotal information: I had it out shooting some VTAC drills on 5/2, and took my ears off for several drills just to see. No discomfort at all. And the shots never would register on the PACT shot timer on my belt throughout. Which was impressive, because we've seen several k-style suppressors at matches and they always registered on timers with no issue.

Mk262 clone ammo through a 12.5" upper. Totally happy!

Another update: I ran this on my 12.5" barrel at the Legion 9/11 Memorial Run N Gun, bouncing it on my back for 7.3 miles through heavy woods and crawling through swamps and 23" drainage pipes along the way. Hits from contact distance to 600 yds. Awkward positions and all.

I did notice a LITTLE gas to face when shooting multiple (20) shots from a VTAC board, but had no issues finishing the stage. I'm using a stock charging handle, so I'm not sure if the gas was coming from there or just the ejection port and bouncing back off the wall. Nowhere else did I feel any gas to face at all.

It never came loose, and it cooled down enough in between shooting stages that I could grab it with my bare hand with no issue to verify it was still tight. I brought a cut down silicone potholder for this just in case, but never needed it. Maybe direct thread suppressors really won't get you killed in the streets???

Still loving it.

Video from the above as an example. Note the echo is louder than the shot itself. Totally subjective and no metering, of course. But one more datum point.

https://youtu.be/79flsRIQslg