Suppressors are about as slow moving as it gets, but they remain popular. Along with the slow summer gun market suppressors are victims of politics. Many consumers are waiting for Congress to either “deregulate” them or remove them from the NFA, pure fantasy to me but no less problematic. Why buy now, just wait for Congress to eliminate the tax, provide a rebate, or better yet categorize them as muzzle devices. Anything is possible for sure, but the likelihood of either occurring soon is minimal to non-existent. The Senate can’t agree on the color of the sky let alone controversial legislation. On the other hand, for those willing to jump through the hoops there is no better time to buy. Most every manufacturer is discounting their suppressors. Instead of buying a number that will turn into a suppressor in months then wait for a transfer they are sitting on shelves. If you need or want one now is the time. You just need to make sure you get the right one.
Why A Suppressor?
Today there are dozens of choices. Most do some things well, other things better. None of them do it all, in spite of the marketing hype. It’s about getting what you want, need, or best suits your situation. It’s not just about sound. A quiet suppressor that turns your rifle into a toxic gas machine, or makes it inoperable is pretty useless. Besides, most suppressors are not “quiet” — they are “quieter”. That has always been the case, nothing’s changed other than the “secret” is out. As a consumer you want it to be safe to shoot, beyond that you want it to increase the effectiveness of your weapon and its use. Generally, the quieter the can the more they adversely effect your guns operation. Different designs have more or less backpressure, lighter weight, shorter length, ease of attachment, and the ability to work on less than conventional rifles.
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If you deploy a 10.5″ 556 in a CQB environment it needs to be as quiet as possible and maintain function without inducing lung disease. Only the brainless train without hearing protection, if it saves your hearing in a fight and works that’s what you want. As a hunter, rapid-fire strings are rare — it needs to work in practice, one or two on the hunt. Weight, sound reduction, and length are more critical. If you can only afford one, versatility is important. Own really short barrels, your choices are fewer but you may need to compromise. Shooting a rimfire, cost, weight and the ability to clean them is what you want. You just need to figure out what is most valuable to you, and the NG2 Defense MAXFLO 3D fits a few of these needs better than most.
Testing
Let’s make it clear up front, I used to work for NG2 Defense. My parting was philosophic not product based. In spite of my past relationship the MAXFLO works. Does it meet all the hype, nope, nothing does, but it performs in some areas where no others do and no one has the base knowledge and testing experience of this suppressor than me and it’s pretty extensive.
I completed the vast majority of testing from prototype until I left the company. This is not a one and done test on a couple guns. It was tested on AR’s with barrels from 7.5 to 22″ on everything from a 5.56mm to 7.62 x 51mm and lastly an AK47 in 7.62x39mm. Bolt rifles were used in various calibers with barrels 16-28″. Semi-auto, full auto, rapid fire, from across the room to 1,600 yards. No torture testing was done, but it was tested with consecutive full auto 30 round magazine dumps repeatedly. Tested rapid fire on a 12.75″ PWS 308 as well as a 9″ LWRCI 6.8SPC. I have tested it beyond most would ever use it. Performed testing on a Machinegun Armory belt-fed 5.56mm with an 11″ barrel, but I have not fired it until it melted off the end. Recent testing on an AK47, along with my Precision 260 Remington AR indicate the MAXFLO has only improved in its operation since leaving.
Given how much time I spent with this suppressor, rather than detailed descriptions of hundreds of hours of testing, here are the nuts and bolts. Most of the videos NG2 uses on their site and at shows is me, so there is plenty of visual proof of testing. None of those were made up or shopped — it’s just me shooting the product. Nor am I going to spew forth the technical aspects of its operation, it’s on their site.
You can purchase the MAXFLO 3D Suppressor at GunBroker.com.
What Does It Do?
The latest versions are as quiet at the shooters ear (the one the gas port is on) as anything on the market given the same overall length, especially in 5.56mm. Like ALL suppressors they are louder on short barrels regardless of caliber. Their 30-caliber version is louder than the 5.56mm on the whole, especially on the shorter barrels. You can get quieter cans of similar length for 30-caliber but there are tradeoffs. Longer suppressors are quieter, pure physics, but they trade sound for backpressure. If you want the quietest suppressor and don’t care how it works on your rifle, or how much crap you suck up from the ejection port there are better choices that cost less.
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Weighing in at about 20 oz. the MAXFLO Is not “light” compared to several others. You can get 30-caliber suppressors that are much lighter, dedicated 5.56mm suppressors in the single digits — it’s not the lightest. If all you care about is weight look elsewhere, but you will be trading against its other factors. Using the MAXFLO on several rifles it carries well and does not unbalance most barrels. That being said, most high-quality suppressors with similar length and quality of build are closer to 18 oz. The only suppressor that comes close to its lack of backpressure, the OSS Helix, weighs the same. If your decision weighs on a couple ounces with no other factor being relevant then this may not be for you. It’s also about as small in diameter as it’s going to get based on design, so if you are looking to fit it under most handguards you are out of luck. Nor is it likely to see a QD that matches the same design as others, it will occur, but it will be completely different.
No suppressor tested to date matches the MAXFLO’s lack of backpressure. Is it “zero”, no idea, that requires a laboratory and some guy more interested in why it works then how. It’s so little it has all but no effect on a rifles operation when attached. If it runs without a can, it runs the same with the MAXFLO.
Swapping out the muzzle brake on my Custom 260 AR shifted impact one inch lower with no adverse effects to operation. Impact shift is all about barrel length, weight and taper, ammunition, the shooter, and conditions, so your experience will vary. Same is true for the 9″ and 10.5″ 5.56mm rifles and the 12.75″ 308. Little to no change to brass ejection, no gas plume in my face, and the magazine and ammunition remained clean after multiple rapid-fire strings. Recoil change on the first round tends to be similar or identical to subsequent rounds. Most of the adverse effects of backpressure are mitigated or eliminated depending on the rifle, ammunition, and shooting conditions when the MZLMAX is used. No backpressure, less recoil as a rule, but that really depends on the rifle and ammunition. Some were very noticeable, others not so much.
Since it doesn’t trap gas, it doesn’t require welds. Need to clean it, take it apart, throw it in a sonic cleaner, dry it out and put it back together. Put it on a rifle you did not test for true and ding the end piece and they replace just the part. There is no need to cut your tube, they just repair it and send it back. You see that with rimfire suppressors, but standard designs just don’t do this as a rule with centerfire rifles.
Myth Busting
Let’s put a couple myths to rest, the first being any similarity in design with other suppressors. Ernie Bray thought this thing up on his own, based on my complaints about much of what was out there. It was based on his MZLMAX muzzle device, not any other suppressor. It’s a collaboration between Ernie and his engineer, with input from a few others. There is no crossover from somewhere else. All is different — all is patented. The only similarities are it’s a suppressor, with less backpressure that doesn’t trap gas. Secondly, nothing at this point is outsourced, everything is made in house, in Draper Utah, on state of the art CNC machines by one of the most experienced machinists out there. All of the materials came from the USA when I was there. It’s a ground up design, made in the USA, on the best CNC machines money can buy.
Who Is It For?
At $1,500.00 it’s not cheap. You buy this because it does what you need it to, which is provide solid sound suppression with minimal backpressure and all the ill effects that fixes. It’s about perfect for a Direct Impingement AR “pistol” in 5.56mm since your gun will still work. Is it hearing safe on a pistol — nope — none of them are, but it will work and its better than turning it into an eardrum rupturing flame thrower.
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Perfect for an agency running a 10.5″ 5.56mm AR’s with or without select fire. This is NOT some novelty can for machineguns. Attach it and leave it. No gas plume to ingest, your gun runs clean, and it’s the same all the time. Zero it and shoot it, if available when I was in command of the team we would have had them.
Running a rifle that won’t work suppressed, they likely will with the MZLMAX. The only rifles I had issues with were 300 BLK versions tuned to run suppressed with subsonics. They use backpressure to run, this has none. Throw in real ammo and they run great. Suppressing 308 AR’s or any of the 308-based cartridges is a nightmare, not so much with the MAXFLO. Rifles with AK based gas systems run softer with no need to change the gas system like my Galil. It ran perfectly on my short-barreled AK47 and was pretty quiet. No reason it won’t see the same results with other rifles that either don’t work or beat the gun (and you) to death when suppressed.
Bottom Line
Suppressor companies are notorious for the most hyped marketing in the industry; to the extent, many just don’t believe anything they say anymore. Not all make stuff up, but some have and that has muddied the waters. When they were flying off the shelves it did not matter, but it’s a different day. People want to see it work for real not just on the web. Throwing mostly useless or fudged numbers in their face does not do much these days. NG2 Defenses MAXFLO works doing most everything their marketing states. People are going to need to see it work though. Properly demonstrated its strengths and weaknesses are quickly evident. If you are looking at a suppressor track down a demo of the MAXFLO, it will probably surprise you just how well it works and may be exactly what you need.
| Construction: | Titanium and Stainless steel. |
| Length: | 7″ |
| Weight: | 20 oz |
| Sound Reduction: | Hearing safe on barrels 16″ or longer measured at the shooters ear. |
| Caliber: | Currently available in 5.56 and 7.62mm versions (same dimensions) |
| 5.56mm threaded ½ x 28 tpi (Threads Per Inch) | |
| 7.62mm threaded 5/8 x 24 tpi | |
| Both right hand | |
| MSRP: | $1,495.00 |
For More Information visit: www.ng2defense.com
