Photos by Kenda Lenseigne
Most suppressors on the market today use some form of the original Maxim design, patented more than a century ago.
In it, propellant gases slam against a series of baffles, slowing them down, creating turbulence, and allowing them to expand and cool before making their way to the atmosphere. Like the metallic cartridge case, the tech is proven, cheap, and reliable.
And unless there’s a giant leap forward in materials technology or manufacturing methods, any performance gains are going to be incremental refinements of previous iterations.
Bersa has taken a different route. Instead of the emerging gases hitting a blast baffle, they exit into a huge expansion chamber. At the far end is a stainless steel plug that threads into the muzzle end of the can, and this plug contains a small monocore baffle to further divert the products of combustion. The suppressor body is a simple aluminum tube, with identical threads at both ends for the direct thread mount and endcap/plug.
By straying from received doctrine, Bersa claims to have produced a can that will do the usual things suppressors are supposed to do but will also produce minimal impact shift and tighten group sizes as well. As a side benefit, first round flash is almost eliminated, and as you’d expect with such a huge expansion chamber, back pressure is considerably reduced compared to similarly sized baffled cans. All of this sounded too good to be true, so we headed to the range to make our own assessment.
Threading the WhisperTech B65 onto a SIG Cross in 6.5 Creedmoor, we shot for groups. Using Norma Golden Target 140-grain OTM ammo, we didn’t see any significant decrease in group size, but then again, this particular rifle has never shown stellar accuracy, averaging 1 MOA with decent loads.
Notable was that there was no significant shift in POI either, with suppressed and unsuppressed groups stacking on top of each other. We don’t currently have access to sophisticated sound measuring equipment, but our slightly degraded Mk1 eardrums weren’t ringing after a couple of boxes of ammo, and the tone is somewhat midrange.
At an MSRP of $649, the B-65P is reasonably priced, but the price tag is held at this level at the cost of additional features. For example, the direct thread muzzle adapter is made of steel, adding a couple of ounces to the can’s overall weight — a titanium version would be a welcome addition to the lineup, even if it’s a more expensive option.
When we went to thread in a different maker’s Ti mount, we found that while the Bersa uses the industry-standard HUB diameter of 1.375 inches, their thread pitch is for some unfathomable reason not 24 TPI, leaving prospective users out in the cold, should they want to make use of QD adapters.
Overall, the WhisperTech line of cans seems like a good value, should you want a dedicated can for your precision or hunting rig. If you plan on swapping it quickly between rifles, or already have your guns set up to make use of your favorite QD system, then you might want to ping the company and let them know you’d appreciate a HUB option.
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