By Jeff Johnston, FE Hunting & Shooting Editor
I find it fairly difficult to review suppressors because they’re all just various forms of metal tubes within metal tubes. Internally, their designs are so similar that subtle noise mitigation differences are nearly impossible to quantify without an audiology lab, and my garage ain’t no audiology lab. So I typically write about a suppressor’s modularity and how versatile it is, but now that most are adaptable to both the 5/8×24 and 1/2×28 thread patterns, I might as well just show a picture of the damn thing and admit that AI is about to take my job.
At any rate I chose Rugged’s new Alaskan 360Ti model for my next suppressor review so I’d have something to write about. And what could that be, you ask? Three things:
First it’s titanium so the whole thing weighs six ounces. That’s like half the weight of a beer, dude. Weight is a giant factor for not making your gun feel like a totem pole and for reducing point-of-impact shifts when shooting the gun with and without the can installed. But there are more titanium cans than ATF agents these days—which is saying something—and so besides being expensive, what makes this one special? This Alaskan’s Grade 5 titanium build makes it suitable for rifles up to .338 Lapua, something that is significant for a can that again, weighs just twice that of a regular-sized Oscar Meyer beef frank.
Third, it’s made for calibers up to .36-inches in diameter, meaning this hot dog will work on any 9mm rifle, subgun, or pistol; .357/.38, the new .350-caliber rimless lever guns; .338 magnum rifles, and a whole slough of the growing number of niche-AR calibers such as the 8.6 Blackout and .338 ARC. Of course it will still work with .223s, 6.5s and .30 calibers while remaining efficient if the appropriate-sized end cap is purchased.
It also doesn’t hurt that it looks like something that the Predator might have left behind after gigging the Rastafarians in that smoke-filled penthouse in Predator 2. Dammit, I wish I would’ve been at that party—at least before the bloodbath began.
I am repeatedly guilty of writing, “If I could have just one suppressor, this would be it,” when reviewing new suppressors … and I’m afraid I’m guilty of it again now.
Cost: $1,427
Pros: Lightweight; good for 9mm subguns and pistols to .338 Lapua Mags and everything in between
Cons: One of the more expensive cans on the market
