Review: Gemtech ONE Suppressor

The new rage products in the suppressor market are multi-purpose silencers. Some models like the SilencerCo Hybrid and Griffin Armament Optimus are made to cover both rifles and pistols. Others, like the Gemtech ONE, are multi-purpose, but for rifles only.

I like this more narrowed approach. Certainly multi-caliber rifle and pistol silencers are a great way to cover most of your gun collection with just one $200 tax stamp to Uncle Spendy, but there are tradeoffs. If a suppressor is to handle rifle pressures for the big calibers, it’s going to be somewhat overbuilt for pistol use. That’s not a big deal; it’ll just be larger and heavier than you need.

If you’re open to the idea of paying Uncle Spendy twice for a total of $400, you can get a .45 caliber pistol suppressor that can also work on any smaller caliber and a rifle suppressor that can cover everything from rimfire to 300 Magnum. This is the scenario where the Gemtech ONE shines. It’s designed for rifle use, and while it will be oversized for smaller rifles like rimfires, that’s not as big of a deal when mounting on a six to 12-pound rifle as when trying to stick it on a two-pound pistol.

About the ONE

I can’t even say “the ONE” without suffering from “The Matrix” flashbacks. I guess that’s OK, I kinda liked the first one. Regardless, as we’ve touched on already, the “one” part of the ONE refers to one suppressor that fits a whole boat load of rifle calibers. How many? Everything from .17 HM2 to 300 Winchester Short Magnum and everything in between. I’ll post the full list from Gemtech at the bottom of this article, so you don’t have to scroll through that just yet.

There are two ways to mount the ONE to your rifle: a direct thread mount and a quick attach that pops onto a compatible Gemtech muzzle device. My trial unit from the good folks at Silencer Shop came with two different flash hiders – one for .30 caliber and the other for .223. These are threaded at ⅝”x24 and ½”x28 respectively.

Just to be clear, the ONE ships with the Bi-Lock Mount and a 5/8×24 Direct Thread mount, but the muzzle device itself is not included, so you have to add one or more of those to your order if you want quick attach and detach functionality. If you have questions, the Silencer Shop folks can help you out.

The Mount

Direct thread mounts are simple, but if you want to get the most out of a suppressor designed for multiple calibers, you’ll want to use the Bi-Lock Mount system. Compatible muzzle devices have two lugs of different sizes on opposite sides of the muzzle device. Why different sizes? That’s so the silencer will only mount one way. By mounting exactly the same every time, the point of impact won’t change when you remove the ONE and re-add it later. If you put a compatible muzzle device on each rifle you want to use with the ONE, you can zero each one and freely move the suppressor back and forth without losing your zero on each particular rifle.

The mount is simple to use. Slide the suppressor over the lugs and push against the internal spring. When the spring is compressed a bit, rotate the suppressor body and let go. That’s it. To remove, push the suppressor towards the receiver and rotate in the opposite direction and it will slide right off. I like the mounting system and found that’s it’s not prone to sticking like other designs when the silencer gets hot, dirty and nasty. I also did not detect any point of impact shift when moving the suppressor between rifles and back again.

The bottom line is this. Bite the bullet and buy a muzzle device for each rifle you want to use with the ONE. It’s well worth it.

Shooting the ONE

Since the ONE goes all the way down to tiny rimfire territory, I decided to try it on a .22LR rifle. Because fun. I did have a SilencerCo Sparrow-22 on hand, so I could switch back and forth on the same gun to see what performance differences I might uncover.

I mounted the ONE on a Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 Performance Center rifle. This .22LR plinker comes with standard ½”-28 thread per inch threading, so the 5.56mm flash hider was ready to mount with no adaptors required. While the ONE is oversized to muffle the tiny little rimfire, it worked like a champ. It even made my Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 look just like a big boy rifle!

I shot a wide variety of both super and subsonic .22LR ammo through this setup. Of course with supersonic varieties, I still heard the “crack” of the miniature sonic boom, but the muzzle blast was dampened. The subsonic .22LR loads like the new CCI Suppressor ammo were amazingly quiet. I mean the loudest noise was the operation of the bolt. I’m not sure, but going by the smiles of my range neighbors, this combo might have generated anti-noise, which means ambient sound was sucked away from the universe and relocated to that second obelisk from 2001 A Space Odyssey.

I clocked the CCI Suppressor ammo from this configuration using a Shooting Chrony and found average muzzle velocity to be 973.2 feet per second – well below the speed of sound. Got rodents? Got neighbors? This combination is your winning ticket.

Keeping the 5.56mm muzzle device on that rifle, I installed the 7.62mm flash hider and mount on a Daniel Defense DDM4v5 300 Blackout rifle as I wanted to check this silencer out with both supersonic and subsonic ammo. Using the Bi-Lock Mount system also allowed me to move the silencer back and forth between the two rifles in seconds.

From the 300 Blackout, I used both supersonic and subsonic ammunition. The subsonic variety was from American Eagle. Their new Suppressor line uses 220-grain bullets and from this rifle, with the suppressor attached, velocity measured with my Shooting Chrony was just below the speed of sound. The noise was a pleasant “whoosh” followed by a satisfying “thud” when the fat and slow bullet hit the dirt berm 100 yards down range. This part of the trial was kinda fun – my range neighbors got a kick out of the thud too.

I also checked out the Gemtech ONE using supersonic 300 Blackout ammo, in this case, a 125-grain Nosler Ballistic tip hand load moving at just under 2,000 feet per second. The muzzle blast was virtually non-existent, but of course, I heard the crack generated by the small sonic boom.

Point of Impact Shift

I tested the Gemtech one for point of impact shift – a normal phenomenon when you add a silencer to a rifle or pistol. While you could go nuts with different rifles, muzzle devices, ammo and ranges testing this, I kept it simple as I just wanted to get an idea of what to expect with point of impact shift.

I mounted the Gemtech flash hider and quick-attach muzzle device to a Daniel Defense DDM4V5 300 Blackout rifle with a 16-inch barrel and fired three shot groups at a target 50 yards down range. Ideally, I would have done at least 100 yards, but, hey, it was all the distance I had available at the time. I shot sets of three-shot groups unsuppressed using American Eagle 220-grain Suppressor 300 Blackout ammo and one of my supersonic 300 Blackout hand loads. This particular load uses a 125-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip projectile over IMR 4227 powder for a velocity of 1,971.3 feet per second from the DDM4v5. I then fired three-shot groups with the suppressor mounted, again using the same supersonic and subsonic loads. Using some “pretty close enough” math and measuring, I plotted the center of each of the groups so I could see the amount of shift.

For the American Eagle Subsonic ammo, the point of impact shifted straight down exactly 11/16 of an inch. There was no detectable lateral movement in the group. For the supersonic hand load, the group center shifted exactly ½-inch down and ¼-inch to the right.

Certainly, at longer ranges you would see more of a difference, but that’s irrelevant as the “suppressor shift” is a one-time adjustment. Zero your rifle with the ONE installed and just know what your minute of angle shift is when shooting unsuppressed. For practical applications, it’s small enough not to cause too much consternation.

Closing Thoughts

I really like this suppressor, probably because it doesn’t try to do too much. By limiting it’s intended performance, Gemtech is able to keep this can very compact for what it does. Compare the size to the SilencerCo Specwar 7.62 in the photo here to see what I mean. While possibly there for cosmetic reasons, I also appreciated the textured sleeve on the bottom half of the suppressor body. That makes for a good grip to mount and unmount this silencer, especially when you’re using a rag or suppressor mitt after it heats up.

Gemtech ONE MSRP: $1,099

Factory Specifications

Sound Reduction: 32 dB
Length: 7.5″
Diameter: 1.625″ with shroud
Weight: 16.3oz
Material: Titanium and Inconel
Finish: High-Temp Black Cerakote
Mount: Interchangeable Quick Mount & thread mount

Minimum barrel lengths by caliber:
5.56 rated for 7.5″ or longer*
7.62×51 rated for 12″ or longer*
300BLK rated for 7.5″ or longer
300WM rated for 24″ or longer
*Suppressor life is significantly reduced on short barreled rifles

Supported Caliber List

.17 HM2
.17 HMR
.17 Hornet
.17 Remington
.17 Remington
.17 Remington Fireball
.17 SMc
.17 Whisper
4.6x28mm (HK MP7)
.204 Ruger
.218 Bee
.219 Zipper
.22 Cheetah
.22 Hornet
.22 LR
.22 Mag
.22 WMR
5.7x28mm
.220 Russian
.220 Swift
.221 Remington Fireball
.22-250 Remington
.222 Remington
.222 Remington Magnum
.223 Remington
.223 Winchester Super Short Magnum
.224 Weatherby Magnum
.225 Winchester
.240 Weatherby Magnum
.243 Winchester
.243 Ackley Improved
.243 Winchester Super Short Magnum
.244 H&H Magnum
.244 Remington
6mm X 284
6mm X 47
6mm PPC
6mm Remington
6mm 303 British
.25 Winchester Super Short Magnum
.250 Savage
.250 Curry Magnum
.25-06 Remington
.25-06 Ackley Improved
.25-20 Winchester
.25-35 Winchester
.250-3000 Savage
.257 Roberts
.257 Ackley Improved
.257 Weatherby Magnum
6.5 X 55
6.5 X 57
6.5 TCU
6.5 X 06
6.5 X 06 Ackley Improved
6.5 Tucker
6.5 X 284
6.5 X 57 Ackley Improved
.26 Nosler
.260 Remington
.264 Winchester Magnum
.270 Winchester
.270 Winchester Short Magnum
.275 Rigby
6.8 SPC
7mm Remington
7mm TCU
7mm/08 Remington
7mm Mauser
7 X 57
7 X 57 Ackley Improved
.280 Ross
.280 Remington
.280 Remington Ackley Improved
.284 Winchester
7.62 X 39mm
.30 Carbine
.30 RAR
.30 Remington
.30 Remington AR
.30 TC
.30 x 57 Ackley Improved
.30-30 Winchester (.30 WCF)
.30-40 Krag (.30 Army)
.308 Winchester (7.62×51)
.308 Ackley Improved
.30-06 Springfield (7.62×63)
.30-06 Ackley Improved
.30-30 Winchester
.300 AAC Blackout (7.62x35mm)
.300 Ruger Compact Magnum
.30 Newton
.30_R_Blaser
.300 Savage
.300 Winchester Magnum
.300 Winchester Short Magnum