The Salvo 12 and The VERSAX 12, what are they good for?

Shotgun silencers are far and few between. Simply put, a 12 ga. is difficult to suppress and there is not a large market for them. The three most common use for a shotgun is bird hunting, skeet/trap or home defense. For bird hunting, most field guns are 28" and longer. Add a 12" silencer to the end of that and you could just poke the birds out of the sky! The same issue of length is present for the skeet/trap shooters as well. The longer the barrel and weight on the end, the harder it is to "swing" your gun to stay on target. Finally for home defense, even on an 18.5" or shorter set up, adding a large suppressor on the end makes the gun difficult to move around in confined spaces. Then there is the issue of attachment methods. Both silencers attach with the help of a choke. No issue there, but each shotgun company uses a different choke threading. So, if you want to suppress multiple shotguns of different manufacturers, you'll need to buy a different choke adapter for each one. The cost increases rapidly. Of course, these are generalizations and there are many nuances of each situation that could be argued.

So why suppress your 12 ga.?

Even with length and weight issues, suppressing the 12 ga. is a great way to help preserve your hearing. For instance, when hunting, I only put a plug in my right ear. This keeps the ear closest to the chamber protected while I can hear the dogs or other people with my left ear. For home defense situations, protecting your hearing is even more important. If you've ever shot indoors, you know how loud a gunshot it. For skeet/trap settings, suppressed shooting is great for bystanders that may be walking by.

What are my impressions of the two silencers?

The SilencerCo Salvo 12 is a beast of a suppressor! In its full configuration, the silencer is 12.5" in length and weighs 34.4 ounces. Or roughly the same size as a whisky bottle! This silencer can be shortened to find your ideal balance of suppression and weight/length, but that requires the purchase of SilencerCo rod kits. I shot the Salvo on an 18.5" Remington 870 Tactical and it was extremely quiet. The Salvo suppressed the 12 ga. enough that I could shoot all day without hearing protection. The only downfall was its size. I think this silencer would be best suited for static hunts such as dove or duck. I would not want to walk a field for pheasant with this setup unless I really wanted an oblique workout.

The JK Armament VERSAX 12 is tiny in comparison to the Salvo. In its full configuration, the silencer is 8" in length and weighs only 9.3 ounces. This silencer uses a unique baffle design that helps to keep the wad tight. Keeping the wad tight is essential to ensure the shot does not open prematurely inside the silencer and it helps to maintain the shot pattern. This silencer is also designed to be shot wet. Each baffle can be lightly coated in petroleum jelly which helps to disrupt the expanding gasses and slow them down. I shot the Versax 12 on an 18.5" Remington 870 Tactical and while it suppressed, it did not suppress nearly as much as the Salvo. A few shots without hearing protection would be fine but I wouldn't recommend shooting all day without protection. However, the Versax is also a much smaller package. It is several inches shorter and weighs a quarter of the Salvo. It is also only 1.95" in diameter whereas the Salvo is 2.96". The Versax 12 would be best for dynamic hunts that require you to move around.

Overall, both silencers are a blast to shoot. It's hard not to have fun shooting birdshot and buckshot suppressed. Which one to get will just depend on what you plan on using it for and the features you care about. Not moving around? I'd grab the Salvo. Walking a field? I'd reach for the Versax. There is a large price difference though. The Salvo retails for over $1,000 and the Versax under $600. Price sensitivity might make your decision for you. Want maximum performance? Salvo. Price sensitive and just need the shot knocked down enough to not cause hearing damage? Versax. As with any firearm set up, the mission dictates the build.