"Silent Destroyer"

Modeler · Jan 6, 2014

I was up in the hills shooting yesterday and a guy showed up with one of Tom Denall's "Silent Destroyers". It's a Ruger 44/77 (bolt action .44 magnum) that Tom builds into an integrally suppressed rifle.

With subsonic ammunition that rifle was as quiet as a suppressed semi-auto .22 pistol. Seriously, I was over shooting it when my friend looked over and asked if we were ok for the range to go hot; he didn't even know we were shooting it.

Pretty impressive...

waltermitty · Jan 6, 2014

just received my 77/44 after waiting 10 months for F4 to
be approved. it's been sitting in my safe for about 2 weeks.
haven't had time to get to the range yet. great big brother
for my Redhawk.

simon99 · Jan 6, 2014

Some pics would be nice....hint, hint

Stomper · Jan 6, 2014

waltermitty · Jan 6, 2014

stuck on project at work and wont be able to get to the safe for a
while. so i'm picking out scope and concocting some loads for it.
mine is in wood and blued configuration. this video was what pushed
me over the edge to to stand in line for my Silent Destroyer.

'....ah GOTS ta git me one of deez!....'

erudne · Jan 6, 2014

Modern version of the DeLyle Carbine

coyote223 · Jan 7, 2014

I have the SRT Bison, fun little quiet guns. I can almost get to 300 yds before I'm out of scope adjustment. Fun to ring steel at that distance with a .44,,,

waltermitty · Jan 7, 2014

i considered Doug's SRT rifle too...along with S&H, John's. but in the end
I ended up shipping my rifle to the adjacent state to have it hushed up.

if anyone is interested in shushing up a 77/44, i have older articles written
by Al Paulson on the SRT, Denall, and John's rifles. Never found a review
or article about the Higgins version.

skydiver · Jan 7, 2014

How easy/accessible are the suppressors to clean in each version? That would be a deal breaker or maker for me.

coyote223 · Jan 7, 2014

skydiver said:
How easy/accessible are the suppressors to clean in each version? That would be a deal breaker or maker for me.

SRT's can't be taken apart and cleaned,,,

ETA: I don't shoot lead bullets, so it wasn't a big deal that it couldn't be cleaned.

Modeler · Jan 7, 2014

simon99 said:
Some pics would be nice....hint, hint

Stomper said:

It wasn't my gun

Pictures and videos can be had via Google though.

waltermitty · Jan 7, 2014

Denall's Silent Destroyer disassembles for cleaning. Tom sent me tools to assist with alignment and assembly. That was the reason I opted to go with his suppressed unit.

skydiver · Jan 7, 2014

waltermitty said:
Denall's Silent Destroyer disassembles for cleaning. Tom sent me tools to assist with alignment and assembly. That was the reason I opted to go with his suppressed unit.

Good choice for that reason alone. Can't find a website with prices for his products. Do you know what the current price is?

Modeler · Jan 7, 2014

skydiver said:
Good choice for that reason alone. Can't find a website with prices for his products. Do you know what the current price is?

He doesn't have a website, I don't know exactly how much but the gun itself is $800 +/- and a suppressor like that must be at least $1,000?

waltermitty · Jan 7, 2014

skydiver said:
Good choice for that reason alone. Can't find a website with prices for his products. Do you know what the current price is?

(off the top of my head) I seem to recall it was $850. I remember that he
apologized that after a decade he had to increase it by $50. i'll check when
i get home from work.

i bought the NIB 77/44 for $425 so I shipped that to him when my name came
up for the job.

update: all told, the expenses associated with this toy thus far....

$800 Denall conversion
$425 77/44
$200 BATFE
$40 C3 F4 service
$35 ship rifle to Denall
$35 ship rifle to C3
======
1535

the4thshake · Jan 7, 2014

My dog has his own version of "silent destroyer". It will darn near singe your nose hairs.

waltermitty · Jan 7, 2014

the4thshake said:
My dog has his own version of "silent destroyer". It will darn near singe your nose hairs.

what kind of loads are you pushing through it?

curmudgeon · Jan 10, 2014

These are mighty nice guns. Tom does a beautiful job building them. If you get on the waiting list to buy one, expect to be on it for over a year. Tom takes his time building, you won't be sorry you waited. And, Tom is a really nice fellow too. If you are serious about getting one, call or send Tom some email to get on the waiting list. You don't have to buy a host gun right away, Tom will talk to you well in advance to "your turn" so you can buy a host gun. Too bad the standard wait time now is about a year to get a stamp, it makes waiting to get one of these for 2 years rather daunting (wait + stamp). You would think that since these things are a passive device, mitigate sound that disturbs folks around shooting ranges, you should be able to buy them for $50 at the corner hardware store...

If you go to the range, it will draw a crowd. I have even had some fellows announce to other shooters to be quiet and stop shooting so they can all hear how quiet it is. Plan to spend some time showing it off

I don't recommend shooting lead through it. It gets dirty quicker and takes a little more effort to clean than if you shoot regular plated/jacketed bullets through it. I find the extreme bullets seem to work okay, but jacketed bullets will hold the best accuracy and least amount of fouling. I load my 240gr RNFP at 1050 FPS, that gives me some range. The RNFP seems to work well in chambering too. If I want to be really quiet, I'll load them at about 850 FPS, but bullet drop increases. I use unique or clays universal powder as they are similar in load/performance and seem to be average in powder fouling. Adding a rifle basix trigger and a one piece scope rail to mount the scope enhances the shooting experience on these guns.
No, I don't want to sell it.