Are you a satisfied BLACKSIDE .45 owner?

SMILEwait4Flash · Post by **SMILEwait4Flash** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:04 am

I have been using the BLACKSIDE .45 for about a year now and am very happy with the performance. I was just wondering what other BLACKSIDE owners think of the can. Please give some input on subject. THANKS PEOPLE

bigbigpig · Post by **bigbigpig** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 3:07 pm

I like mine OK. It's boosterless and very rarely has any cycling issues. I feel like all pistol silencers are just OK though. I'd rather be shooting long range with a rifle.

Wally · Post by **Wally** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:42 pm

I am very happy with mine...No booster on a HK Tactical...Does not like anything but 230's though...not a problem considering that all I shoot!!! Wally

diablito · Post by **diablito** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:41 pm

First can I bought but last can I was able to match... not due to issues but due to other projects... I'm running it on a 1911 and have yet to run into any cycling issues... A+

BTW: (booster-less)

Sigproshooter · Post by **Sigproshooter** » Sat Feb 13, 2010 11:18 am

I am. Mine never had a booster from day one and runs great on my HK Tactical and Sig 220. Sounds great wet and good enough dry.

The KAC can is quieter dry but I have no complaints about the Blackside, much to the dismay of some on here.

trey_phish83 · Post by **trey_phish83** » Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:25 pm

i like mine for what its worth. i paid 500 for it, it was my first can. put it on a HK like the rest. i don't care much about it, being said that, i abuse it and neglect it all the time. leave it wet, never dry it and completely fill it when i shoot it with water. quiet enough with water to shoot without hearing protection.

sniper1 · Post by **sniper1** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:38 pm

I have never had an issue with mine either. I use mine on a HK Tact, HK CT and my HK UMP Clone. It sounds great when I load it up with wire pulling gel, definitely hearing safe (my opinion).

kalikraven · Post by **kalikraven** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:57 pm

Worst can in the history of silencers. Yes I own one and will never buy another GemTech product again due to thier lack of customer service. I refuse to pay for what should be a warranty repair. Mine is not 100% on my HK Tactical that it was supposedly designed for.

mcmillanman5 · Post by **mcmillanman5** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:50 pm

kalikraven wrote:Worst can in the history of silencers. Yes I own one and will never buy another GemTech product again due to thier lack of customer service. I refuse to pay for what should be a warranty repair. Mine is not 100% on my HK Tactical that it was supposedly designed for.

This sums up the way I feel as well. I have a boosterless blackside, its my least favorite can.

sniper1 wrote:I have never had an issue with mine either. I use mine on a HK Tact, HK CT and my HK UMP Clone. .

Does your blackside have a booster? Mine will not even come close to cycling my CT and is hit and miss on my fullsize tac.

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:04 pm

At first mine was great! Then it sucked all sorts of donkey balls. I spent about $400 in ammo, springs, even had a machinist turn a couple thread adapters so I could try it on different host guns all in the name of trying to figure out what it would cycle. In the end, I sent Kel a metric ass-load of data detailing a bunch of rounds through it and they said, "call tag is on the way, we don't know why but if yours won't cycle we'll put a booster on it." Sent it back, they put a booster on it and I became the tester for the booster that's now an option on new Blacksides. It cycled 100% on both my fullsize, and ct, and then I ended up selling them and it sits unused. I should add that Gemtech added a booster to my can after I provided them with a bunch of data on my particular setup. While I feel like they should have offered this gratis as an option to any Blackside owner who was having trouble with their setup, I can understand their desire to hold separate price points. I will say that their CS was great in my case. Kel definitely went out of his way to make sure I had a functional system.

It's ok as far as db reduction but there are definitely better cans on the market. I just ordered a piston in .578x28 so we'll see how it sounds on a 1911 now that it's got a booster. However, I'm also ordering a Silencerco Osprey which I'm sure will relegate my Blackside to beater status.

I currently own 3 Gemtech cans, an AAC can, and soon a Silencerco Osprey. Right now the AAC is my favorite, my MultiMount is my most functional in that I can use it on a boatload of hosts, and I have a feeling my Osprey will be my shits and grins-Robocop-scare-the-piss-out-of-the-neighbors can.

sniper1 · Post by **sniper1** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:14 pm

mcmillanman5 wrote:
kalikraven wrote:Worst can in the history of silencers. Yes I own one and will never buy another GemTech product again due to thier lack of customer service. I refuse to pay for what should be a warranty repair. Mine is not 100% on my HK Tactical that it was supposedly designed for.
This sums up the way I feel as well. I have a boosterless blackside, its my least favorite can.

sniper1 wrote:I have never had an issue with mine either. I use mine on a HK Tact, HK CT and my HK UMP Clone. .
Does your blackside have a booster? Mine will not even come close to cycling my CT and is hit and miss on my fullsize tac.

no booster and no issues. but I think it is obvious that with this can it is hit or miss. so far so good for me.

bigbigpig · Post by **bigbigpig** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:22 am

kalikraven wrote:Worst can in the history of silencers. Yes I own one and will never buy another GemTech product again due to thier lack of customer service. I refuse to pay for what should be a warranty repair. Mine is not 100% on my HK Tactical that it was supposedly designed for.

Worst in history? It has to at least be tied with the AAC Eclipse which is pretty much the same thing. Everybody trashes the Blackside for being unreliable because it doesn't have a booster and because Gemtech didn't retrofit one for their customers for free. AAC made a boosterless .45 can that was an inch longer than the Blackside. To my knowledge they didn't retrofit boosters for free. They didn't even offer it as an upgrade if you wanted to pay for it. At least you have the option of fixing your Blackside.

Regarding sound performance... it was excellent in its day. There's much better stuff now.

I fault Gemtech for saying that it's 100% reliable on the USP-Tactical. I would never guarantee 100% reliability on anything regardless of it's boostered or not. Who the hell guarantees 100% reliability?

Sigproshooter · Post by **Sigproshooter** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 7:17 am

Actually,,,,,,the Blackside was designed for a 1911.

And I have never seen where it was guaranteed to function on an HK Tactical.

Although mine has ran 100% on my Blackside since day one. And I shoot WWB 230 FMJ most of the time.

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:59 am

Sigproshooter wrote:Actually,,,,,,the Blackside was designed for a 1911.

And I have never seen where it was guaranteed to function on an HK Tactical.

Well Kel told me this personally in an e-mail back when I bitched enough for them to boost mine for free. Either way it doesn't matter. If you say it'll function then it won't, you probably shouldn't be saying it functions. At the very least they should state that it's NOT guaranteed to cycle on all pistols. Even this little tidbit would have saved me time and money and bitching.

Sigproshooter · Post by **Sigproshooter** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 2:38 pm

JohnnyC wrote:
Sigproshooter wrote:Actually,,,,,,the Blackside was designed for a 1911.

And I have never seen where it was guaranteed to function on an HK Tactical.
Well Kel told me this personally in an e-mail back when I bitched enough for them to boost mine for free. Either way it doesn't matter. If you say it'll function then it won't, you probably shouldn't be saying it functions. At the very least they should state that it's NOT guaranteed to cycle on all pistols. Even this little tidbit would have saved me time and money and bitching.

I agree your can should have been right from day one, and if it wasn't it could have been made right with no questions asked. Kinda like SWR does things.

I have read magazine articles about the Blackside a couple times, and they both stated that it was designed to be truly booster less on a 1911. If Kel told you that, and I have no reason to doubt you, then he should have taken the next step for you.

I will say this and stand by it,

Take my HK tactical .45 with the KAC can,,,

and my Sig 220 with the Blackside,,,

put in a thimble of water in each,,

shoot WWB FMJ ammo,,

and I can NOT hear a bit of difference, and many people standing near me said that they thought the Sig set up was quieter

armoredsaint · Post by **armoredsaint** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:39 pm

sorry for ignorant question since i am still learning, but what is a booster? does all suppressor have them or benefits of having it?

TX-Leo · Post by **TX-Leo** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:48 am

armoredsaint wrote:sorry for ignorant question since i am still learning, but what is a booster? does all suppressor have them or benefits of having it?

It boosts recoil to help the gun cycle. Has a spring and a piston inside it. Attached between gun and can.

Selectedmarksman · Post by **Selectedmarksman** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 2:09 am

Boosters go by many names: LID's, Nielsen Device, etc. These are common on pistol caliber suppressors used on ramping-barreled, semi-automatic firearms to help them cycle reliably. It can damage the suppressor and firearm to use a suppressor with an LID on a fixed-barreled platform, while using a suppressor without one on a ramping-barreled semi-auotmatic firearm may only result in reliability issues.

You can see one at work in This video Mr. Silvers made of AAC's Black Box.

armoredsaint · Post by **armoredsaint** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:12 am

thanks again guys for the info, the only pistol suppressor i have is just for my 22 so i never paid attention to a booster.

does most larger caliber suppressors have boosters i assume, i read about the blackside 45 and they charge extra for one. for myself, i would think it's standard?

but i have a ti-rant 45 coming my way now!

:twisted

a22silensir · Post by **a22silensir** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:50 am

saint, are you still waiting on that form 3?

a22silensir · Post by **a22silensir** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:01 am

I think Johnny C's use of whinning on these forums about his Blackside has directed Gemtech to go the safe route and now sell the Blackside in only the LID configuration, unless requested without in special order. The internet is a powerful tool and companies dont like obsessive complaints by a few disgruntled customers. Not good for their business. I found the original non-LID Blackside great. To this point I say the Blackside is obsolete with a LID cuz its now in the sea of sameness. Near 8" wet can like the Hems, Evo and Kac. The only choice now is the Osprey, Tirant and HTG Cycle-2. The unbolstered Blackside offered a unique platform. 5oz and 6.25". Now its 11oz and near 8". I'm glad I got mine before the LID "fix".

Selectedmarksman · Post by **Selectedmarksman** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:19 am

What platform do you use your unboostered Blackside on and what ammo do you find functions reliably with it?

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:17 am

a22silensir wrote:I think Johnny C's use of whinning on these forums about his Blackside has directed Gemtech to go the safe route and now sell the Blackside in only the LID configuration, unless requested without in special order. The internet is a powerful tool and companies dont like obsessive complaints by a few disgruntled customers. Not good for their business. I found the original non-LID Blackside great. To this point I say the Blackside is obsolete with a LID cuz its now in the sea of sameness. Near 8" wet can like the Hems, Evo and Kac. The only choice now is the Osprey, Tirant and HTG Cycle-2. The unbolstered Blackside offered a unique platform. 5oz and 6.25". Now its 11oz and near 8". I'm glad I got mine before the LID "fix".

Ok, well how about you provide me with the 1500 rounds worth of 45 I shot in one sitting, not to mention the probably 3000 rounds I had shot before. The $75 in cash I spent on new springs, the money for the thread adapters I had made to shoot my Blackside on other hosts, and the time I spent providing hard number to Kel and company to prove that their can wouldn't cycle my pistol, and several other peoples pistols.

It's obvious that Gemtech had many complaints regarding their Blackside not functioning on peoples guns otherwise they would not have started offering it. Glad you can read Gemtech's website though. I also wouldn't consider the HTG Cycle-2 considering the baffle stack is a RCH away from a baffle strike even when everything is perfect. Anybody can make a quiet silencer if you can barely fit a human hair through it.

fatass · Post by **fatass** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:47 am

Love mine. Have it mounted on a Springfield XD-45 with a LID. Storm Lake barrel. Several thousand rounds and many gallons of wire pulling gel later and I can honestly say it is quieter than my SWR HEMS 2 or EVO-45. The new Osprey and TiRant are better but it is on par with the Cycle 2. It was made for the military, and they love it. So what else can you say really. Was not designed for us from the start. Just happy I have one.

Cruzzer · Post by **Cruzzer** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:17 pm

Yes I am, and Gemtech's customer service is fantastic!

I've had my Blackside for a year and recently it popped off the end of the barrel, WTF! My Class 3 dealer buddy looked it over and said it looked as if the threads on the can were stripping out. Sent it to Gemtech, Owen and Kelly called me the day it arrived and said yes the can threads were stripped but the reason was the barrel had not been properly threaded and profiled (HK 16x1 LH) by my gunsmith in Houston and their threads were not tight enough for their quality control. After a bit of phone tag over the next few hours and at my request they added a booster, chopped my 6 inch barrel a bit more (5 inch 1911 slide) and re-threaded and properly profiled the barrel and it will be here within the next day or two at a VERY reasonable cost. (Don't ask, I won't tell. But I can't be the only customer they would do that for.) I added the LID for a little more versatility in the event I get a FNH .45 Military or decide to get a threaded barrel for my Sig 220.

BTW, I have popped this thing off at a wet newspaper backstop within the city limits with a water medium. Either it is plenty quiet or everyone around me is really deaf.

Should it have malfunctioned? No. But they are going out of their way to make it right and in a very timely manner for 50% of the circumstances that were out of their control.

So overall I'm a very satisfied customer. Those guys have always picked up the phone, answered my questions and have been very courteous. Basically I like Chevys, Dodges and Fords, one or two items in their product line over others but I like them all. Same for suppressors. I own Gemtech, AAC, Tactical Solutions and YHM, they are all nice, and I'd like some more.

Semper Fi! Cruzzer

Are you a satisfied BLACKSIDE .45 owner?

Are you a satisfied BLACKSIDE .45 owner?

Re: Are you a satisfied BLACKSIDE .45 owner?

Re: Are you a satisfied BLACKSIDE .45 owner?