Sylvan Arms SA357Ti Suppressor Review: Titanium Where It Counts

Quick housekeeping first. In the reset video I said I'm backing off the gear review treadmill, but I promised this one before that, and I keep my word. YouTube also took the original upload of this video down, so this is round two. Full transparency: Sylvan Arms sent this can out at no cost. That doesn't change anything. If it's junk, I'll tell you it's junk. And it still went through the full process: Form 4 through Silencer Shop, digital fingerprints, all of it. With the court injunction situation, nobody really knows what's going on yet, so for most dealers it's still Form 4s. Plan accordingly.

What is it? Designed and made in the USA, 8.1 inches long, about 14.3 ounces before the muzzle device. The tube is grade 9 titanium in black Cerakote and the baffle stack is grade 5 titanium. The blast chamber and blast baffle, the parts that eat the first hit of gas, are 17-4 stainless. So you get titanium where the weight matters and steel where the abuse is. Mine is the version that locks onto Sylvan's own QD muzzle device; there's also a direct thread version.

Calibers are the whole pitch. Sylvan optimizes it for .350 Legend, .357 Magnum, and .38 Special, and says it also performs on 9mm. It's rapid-fire rated. Minimum barrel length is 5.5 inches on .357 and .38, about 5 inches on 9mm, and 12.5 inches on .350 Legend. It's not rated for rifle magnums or long-action calibers. One mount note that matters before you buy: it is not HUB compatible. It's Sylvan's QD or direct thread, so if the rest of your cans run HUB accessories, factor that in.

So why test it on 9mm? Because it's the caliber it isn't optimized for, and a blowback Scorpion is about the hardest place to make any can sound good. I ran it on my CZ Scorpion Evo 3 S1 pistol with a little over a 7-inch barrel, up at the new property in Okeechobee, with three loads: cheap 115 grain, 124 grain, and Hornady 147 grain subsonic.

The 115s: suppression was pretty good, but I kept my hearing pro on because I didn't know what to expect, and I wouldn't want to shoot that all day without ears. The 124s were maybe slightly better, but not dramatically different. You're still sitting right at the sound barrier, so you're not going to get a ton more out of 124 than 115.

Then the 147 subsonics, ears off. Much, much different sound profile. On camera the mic probably catches more of the Scorpion's blowback action than the shot itself, so the footage undersells it. In person it sounds fantastic. Put this on a lever gun or a roller delayed gun with less action noise and you'd hear even more of what the can is doing. Taking my ears off was my call on my land, not me telling you any gun is hearing safe.

The knocks. One: supersonic 9mm through this can still wants hearing protection for extended shooting. That's physics more than Sylvan, but know it going in. Two: no HUB, so it breaks a HUB-standardized setup. Three: the 12.5-inch .350 Legend minimum rules out shorty Legend builds. Four, and I'm not sure it's really a knock: Sylvan lists it around $740 to $775 depending on mount. That's not a budget can, but it's not abnormal for a can that covers this many calibers.

I didn't get to shoot .357 or .350 Legend this trip, and a lever gun is definitely the follow-up, since I'd expect that to be the best setup for this can. I'm in the market for a new lever gun, so tell me in the comments what I should put this on.