Thompson’s Operative suppressors are their integrally suppressed barrels for the Ruger 10-22. The “Operative” model is 17.5” long while the “Operative-S” model is 10” and is marketed for the Ruger Charger. I ordered an Operative-S and installed it on a registered 10-22 SBR using a Blackhawk collapsible M-4 type stock.
I didn’t come up with this idea –another Thomson stocking dealer is already selling 10-22’s in this configuration and has posted up a thread on these in the Thompson subforum on nfatalk. I ordered the suppressor from Brooks at Thompson and registered a 10-22 I already had lying around. Bit of a wait for the Operative-S to be manufactured, but in general it’s hard to bitch about anything transferring on a form 3 vs. a 4…
Construction
Here’s the operative-s disassembled into its 3 parts:
- 1) Barrel – carbon steel, about 4” (not including the chamber which is part of the barrel shank that mates with the receiver).
2) Suppressor core = aluminum, about 6” + endcap
3) Barrel sleeve – carbon steel, 0.050” tubing
Photo shows the relationship between the barrel and the suppressor core.
To assemble the suppressor, slide the barrel sleeve onto the barrel from the front. The rear end of the of the barrel sleeve is threaded onto the shoulder of the barrel. Slide the suppressor core in through the front of the barrel sleeve, and the threads at the forward end of the suppressor core will mate with interior threads at the forward end of the barrel sleeve.
Essentially, the barrel sleeve is used to align the barrel with the suppressor core, keeping everything concentric. There is a gap of just under 1” between the end of the barrel and the rear face of the suppressor core which effectively serves as the first blast baffle (not sure of the terminology here so someone can please correct me as needed).
For comparison, here is a photo that shows the Operative-S broken down next to a Thompson Zephyr-XL. The The Zephyr-XL is a 1.125” diameter suppressor while the operative is .875”
Small aluminum tool at the top of that photo is the disassembly tool Thompson supplies with the Operative-S for removing the suppressor core.
Maintenance
The barrel sleeve is a very tight interference fit with the barrel. The instructions from Thompson don’t mention that the sleeve can be removed by the user, so I put a few boxes (perhaps 150 rounds) of CCI standard velocity before I spoke with Brooks and learned that you can take off the sleeve on this model. Once I realized that the sleeve <can> come off for maintenance, I wanted to disassemble it and put on some anti-seize paste to make sure I didn’t lock it up with more use.
Even with only a few hundred rounds through it, it was <VERY> challenging getting the sleeve off. A strap wrench got the sleeve unscrewed from the barrel, but I eventually had to (gently) put the sleeve in a barrel vise after removing the suppressor core and then knock the barrel out of the sleeve with a heavily padded brass rod. The tight tolerances for the sleeve to barrel fit help keep everything concentric, but they make it easy to weld things shut if you use the suppressor without heavily lubing it.
Brooks mentioned that the full length Operative has the sleeve permanently installed while the charger version does not. I gather they use the same instruction sheet for each which may be why the instruction sheet for the Operative-S doesn’t mention that the sleeve on this model is removable.
Once I took the suppressor apart, I found the twelve gas ports drilled into the barrel approx 2.5” forward of the chamber (2 sets of gas ports, each set is 6 individual ports at 60 degree intervals). Just forward of the ports, the barrel diameter is heavily relieved, profiled down to a pencil barrel of approx 0.45”. the barrel is then returned to maximum diameter for approx 0.5”. This provides a forward bearing shoulder to assist in maintaining concentricity between barrel and suppressor core, and this relieved portion of the barrel provides another chamber for gas to vent into before the bullet exits the barrel and releases gas pressure into the blast baffle formed by the gap between the end of the barrel and the beginning of the suppressor core.
While this no doubt helps make the can more quiet (more unmetered subjective feedback below), it also makes it easy to weld things shut if it is shot much without aggressive lubrication. In order to clean the gas ports, you’ll need to remove the barrel sleeve. In order to remove the barrel sleeve, you need to unscrew it from the barrel, and then pull the sleeve off the barrel (or knock/pull the barrel back out of the sleeve). As you can see from the photo below, this means that the forward section of the barrel (which is at full diameter and is an interference fit with the inside of the barrel sleeve) must be pulled backwards through the sleeve, scraping off all of the crap which is deposited onto the inside wall of the barrel sleeve in the gas port “relief area” which is located between 2.5” and 3.5” inches forward of the chamber.
Photo below is what I found after 150 rounds or so.
Although I could not get a photo that would show this, the same crud is deposited on the interior wall of the parkerized steel barrel sleeve.
The barrel and sleeve are parkerized steel, so if you shoot the suppressor wet you’ll need to be careful to either clean everything out or completely submerse it in something like mineral spirits to displace water. Once I got a look at the inside of this, I decided I would not shoot this wet, as I was very concerned that if any rust was allowed to develop between the barrel and sleeve, it may be very difficult or impossible to remove the sleeve without damaging the suppressor. Only reason to take the sleeve off in the first place is to clean/service the gas ports in the barrel. If I cannot get the sleeve off then you cannot performance maintenance on the gas ports.
My suggestion for anyone who purchases this:
before you use the suppressor, completely disassemble it, lube it heavily and apply anti sieze to all threaded AND bearing surfaces
Maybe this should be sop for every user serviceable suppressor, but I do think it’s really critical for this particular model because of the way carbon can build up <behind> the shoulder of the forward portion of the barrel, effectively wedging the barrel into the sleeve. I’ll probably diassemble it for cleaning every 300-500 rounds or so at first and see how things go. Again, want to make sure I do not let it go to the point that I cannot get it apart later on.
Performance
Staple-gun quiet. I’ve function tested it indoors in an uninsulated 10’x12’ basement room with cement floors (with the doors closed). Sounded quieter then opening a can of soda, and that is shooting CCI standard velocity. Noticed a bit of first round pop but it was very tolerable, i.e. it was still so quiet that I didn’t much care and was then surprised when the next round(s) were quieter still. I spoke with Brooks and when I mentioned the FRP he suggested that other ammunition like CCI or aguila subsonic ammo may have have lower (or no) first round pop. I may give that a try eventually, but right now I am very happy with the performance of the $25/brick CCI standard from Dicks.
At range time, this thing is a genuine crowd pleaser
I’ve taken it out a few times and without fail it brings a smile to everyone that tries it out. 
The assembled rifle with an inexpensive T1-knockoff is perhaps 2.5lbs, and with stock collapsed it’s got a great length of pull for younger kids. While everyone who has tried this rifle has enjoyed it, in all seriousness I think this is a great firearm for kids who are learning how to shoot and just getting involved in recreational shooting sports. It’s very light, collapsible stock can accommodate different (youth range) lengths of pull, and it’s truly Hollywood-quiet so kids spend all their attention on watching the cans bounce around downrange without being startled by muzzle report or having to wear earpro.
Anything I would ask them to change for the next version? I think it would be great to have a full .920 or even 1” diameter profile – more suppressor volume and I think the uber-bull barrel would just look cool. Had spoken with Brooks and he mentioned that their goal here was a “stealth” suppressor that would allow your Ruger charger to look more or less stock. When installed on an SBR’d 10/22, it’s obvious that something is up anyway, so I figured why not go big but that’s just aesthetics…
One change that I do think would be worthwhile (and something I’d pay a premium for if it was offered) is fabricating the barrel and sleeve out of stainless instead of using parkerized carbon steel. I want to make sure I can service the gas ports in the barrel, and any rust which builds up on the inside of the carbon steel barrel sleeve could make that a no-go. I’ll keep it well lubricated, but I’d pay a bit extra to for the rust preventive joy of stainless…
All in all I’m very happy with it. I think it’s a great value for the money and it’s easily among the quiestest I’ve seen from any rifle or pistol so far.
