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Gemtech's TREK Silencers Small • Light • Quiet & Full-Auto Rated
Text and photos by Jeff W. Zimba
After participating for several decades in the silencer business, Gemtech is a very familiar name in the world of military weaponry. Their ability to continue manufacturing effective sound suppression systems to meet a constantly changing environment is a cornerstone they wear with pride. With a current industry desire for silencers to perform with shorter barrels combined with a heavier rate of fire, their answer is the new TREK and TREK-T.
The TREK series silencers not only meet the criteria for short barrel use with a fully automatic rating, but they do it in a very small and very light package without sacrificing sound reduction.
The TREK silencers are the shortest and quietest thread-mounted 5.56mm suppressors available in the Gemtech family. With an overall length of 5.7 inches and an outside diameter of 1.5 inches, the standard TREK is manufactured from Stainless Steel and Inconel and weighs 17.3 ounces. The TREK-T has the same measurements and is constructed of Inconel and Titanium. The weight of the TREK-T is an extremely light 10.3 ounces.
Live Fire Testing
It would be a disservice to our readers not to mention that we are very excited about the claims of durability with short barrels (>10.4 inches) and the ability to withstand fully automatic usage. When you combine the small size and effective sound reduction it makes it even more interesting. We are currently conducting long term testing on both the TREK and TREK-T silencers but we are so excited with the early findings we wanted to give you some initial impressions in the early stages of testing. Watch future issues of Small Arms Review for long term testing including precision accuracy, fully automatic usage and high round counts.
It is the unanimous opinion among all shooters participating in these tests that the TREK silencers are far quieter than what is expected. All ammo has been standard 55 grain and 62 grain FMJ from numerous manufacturers with similar performance in all areas. Both silencers are very comfortable with no hearing protection and fall far below the pain threshold for shooters and spectators. While some 5.56x45mm suppressors with supersonic ammo can still be slightly uncomfortable to shoot with no hearing protection over long periods, the Gemtech TREK does not fall into that category. We have not yet tested these with sound metering equipment thus far and are only going on practical sound reduction, but as several testers have noted, that is the best and most important test for those people who actually use them. A silencer that meters well but is still uncomfortable to shoot is far less desirable than one that is simply noticeably quiet to those behind and beside it. An interesting comment that keeps surfacing is that the TREK-T is even noticeably quieter than the standard TREK. The residual sound has a different "pitch" that is easier on the ears and has been the preferred of the two models.
During the accuracy phase of testing we have been pleased to find that the noticeable point of impact (POI) shift has been almost non-existent with each platform when the rifle is sighted in with a standard flash hider. At this phase in testing, all shooting has been with an EOTech Holographic Sight, off-hand at a range of 50 yards.
Conclusions
As mentioned earlier, we are only in the very early stages of some long term testing with the Gemtech TREK and TREK-T silencers. So far the results are very impressive and all test shooters have expressed in being involved through all phases of future testing. Our initial conclusions are the TREK family of silencers performs much better than we had anticipated and we are quite intrigued with the lightweight and quiet TREK-T. The performance is impressive when compared to other suppressors, much larger and heavier. And the lack of point of impact shift is also reason to be pleased.
Since our early impressions are based on what we consider the initial phases of a long term test, and it is important to understand that our "light usage" is usually equivalent to or surpasses many shooters regular to heavy use, we have little doubt that the TREK silencer family will fail to impress anyone who has the opportunity try one for themselves. The MSRP of the TREK is $525 and the TREK-T is $1,100.
Gemtech
P.O. Box 140618
Boise, ID 83714-0618
Ph: (208) 939-7222
Website: www.Gem-Tech.com
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V14N7 (April 2011) |
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