Second in a short series of Mack Brothers suppressor reviews (Zenith titanium .30 cal review is HERE) is the Vapor. This bad boy is a 100% titanium, rimfire suppressor that’s rated for all of your typical rimfire calibers (22 LR, 22 WMR, 17 HMR, etc.) on up through 5.7x28mm. We threw it on a short barrel to see how it stacks up . . .
Inside the Vapor’s titanium tube is a stack of titanium K-style baffles. These are a nicer design than the classic K baffles in that they’re shrouded so they seal up against each other when stacked. This keeps all of the gas and rimfire combustion gunk inside of the baffles and off of the tube, which makes disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly significantly easier. No matter how dirty you get the Vapor, that sealed baffle stack is going to slide right out of the still-clean tube.
An additional feature built into the Vapor’s baffle stack is an indexing line that runs down the side of each baffle. If you want to ensure perfect return-to-zero after disassembling and reassembling your baffle stack, the best way to do that is to line up the orientation of all of the clips and gas ports inside the baffles (or, at least, keep the orientation the same as before). Some believe accuracy is also improved if those baffle features are aligned throughout the stack.
Personally, in most rimfire shooting scenarios I don’t think this makes enough of a difference to worry about, but Mack Bros’ attention to detail here is appreciated. If you’re running an über accurate target gun, then go ahead and line up those lines for repeatable reassembly every time.
The Vapor comes with a hand tool for disassembly/assembly/tightening, but it also hides a front cap tool that’s machined into the base of its 1/2×28 fixed mount. I appreciate the sort of triangular-style design of the mount, which makes it really easy to grab by hand and get a good purchase on. In the video embedded at the top of this review you can see how both tools can be used on the Vapor.
I will say that the ideal scenario for reassembly is that you tighten the mount fully, then tighten the front cap down onto the baffle stack afterwards. This means you have to use the tool on the front cap since you’ve already installed the mount. This order can be reversed in a pinch, but it’s a little trickier as the Vapor is designed to have the mount index onto the bottom of the tube and the front cap index onto the end of the baffle stack. Basically, the “hidden” front cap tool on the mount is better used only for disassembly.
In size and weight, the Mack Brothers Vapor is basically dead-on average for a rimfire suppressor. It’s 5.375 inches long, 1.03 inches in diameter at its widest two spots, and weighs just 4.3 ounces.
What makes the Vapor more of a standout is its 100% titanium construction rather than aluminum or a hybrid of steel, aluminum, and/or titanium. The result is that the Vapor maintains a really light weight spec for its size, yet is much more durable than an aluminum suppressor. It’s rated for heavy use and can be fired on short barrels on effectively every rimfire caliber as well as on 5.7x28mm from a pistol or carbine. Additionally, titanium can withstand more aggressive cleaning than aluminum.
We threw the Vapor onto a Black Collar Arms Piglet Takedown SBR, because the short 6-inch barrel on this build requires the suppressor to do a lot of work. On a 16-inch barrel it’s really hard to tell the difference between 22 LR suppressors as there’s so little gas and gas pressure that they’re basically all ridiculously quiet. On a 6-inch barrel, though? Not the case. It’s very easy to hear differences between suppressor models.
As a basis for comparison, we first shot the Piglet with my CGS Siren suppressor installed. The Siren is extremely similar in size and I know it to be an extraordinarily quiet silencer even on short pistol barrels. Indeed, this was a super quiet setup. Full-0n “Hollywood quiet.”
Impressively, the Mack Bros Vapor more than held its own. Between Dan’s and my finely-calibrated human dB meters, which we keep permanently attached to our heads, if we had to give an edge to one of these suppressors or the other it would go to the Vapor.
On a 22 LR, even with a short barrel like this one, there’s effectively no more blood to squeeze out of the suppression rock. It’s as quiet as a semi-auto 22 LR can get, with nearly all of the perceivable noise from the shooter’s perspective coming from the cycling of the action, not from the gunshot.
With its rimfire-typical length and diameter, the Vapor will look right at home on most 22 LR firearms, in particular on any bull barrel rifles or pistols. I really like this size suppressor on my Piglet SBR as the size of the barrel is almost the same as the size of the suppressor, and I just find that cool.
Overall, color me impressed. While suppressing 22 LR isn’t particularly challenging, performing at this level on a 6-inch barrel demonstrates an extremely effective baffle design, and the Vapor is an extremely well-made and well-thought-out, top-quality rimfire silencer at a competitive price. It’s a great option to handle all of your rimfire use — up to and including 5.7×28! — without weighing yourself down with a stainless steel can.
Specifications: Mack Brothers Vapor
Caliber: 22 LR, 22 WMR, 17 HMR, 5.7x28mm, etc.
Mount Type: 1/2×28 fixed mount
Material: 100% titanium
Weight: 4.3 ounces
Diameter: 1.03 inches
Length: 5.375 inches
MSRP: $420