Silencer Central's New Banish Speed K Ti

Let's Get Lightweight!

February 13, 2025 By Patrick Sweeney

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Silencer Central teamed up with Federal to create an ultra-short 5.56 suppressor for use in an LE setting. What the LE side wanted was something quiet-enough, but with reduced back pressure, short length, and extreme durability as well as needing to be full-auto rated. If you’ve ever seen police officers using equipment, you can understand the need for durability, and as a result, the Banish Speed K tipped the scales at a smidge over fourteen ounces. Why? Inconel, the Speed K is 100% Inconel. If you want your silencer to stand up to full-auto use, there will have to be at least a big dollop of Inconel in there. That’s heavy. So, for the rest of us, who will use a suppressor hard but not subject it to full auto use, Silencer Central turned away from Inconel, and embraced titanium. Thus, the Speed K Ti was born.

Front and rear cap views of the suppressor — The front cap, non-removable, is vented to improve gas flow (Left image). The rear cap that came is the direct-thread version, the lightest and most compact setup you can have (Right image). ( Photo Provided by Author)

Made entirely of titanium, the Speed K Ti is light, at just over eight-and-a-half ounces, and it is short, coming in at four inches in length. Now, the length does depend in part on what kind of mounting system you use, and there, Silencer Central has you covered. The Speed K Ti uses the now industry standard HUB system, with the rear of the silencer threaded to 1.375"x24, so you can install any HUB-standard rear cap you want. You have the full set of options from direct thread to any quick-detached (QD) mounting system that makes a hub rear cap to fit their QD muzzle device. Mine came with a direct-thread rear cap, which is just fine. If the point of the exercise is to keep things as light as possible, then a direct thread mounting system is the lightest to be had. Anything QD adds weight, as the muzzle device and the rear cap add ounces.

HUB compatible rear threads and blast baffle image — The new industry standard, the HUB thread, lets you use any mount system from any brand that makes a HUB-compatible rear, QD or otherwise (Top right image) The blast baffle is supported by ribs to add strength (Bottom left image). (Photo Provided by Author)

The Speed K Ti is additive machined, as you can readily see if you unscrew whatever mounting system is installed in the HUB threads. Silencer Central has gone to great lengths to design the baffle system so it performs two tasks: one, it reduces noise, and two, it improves flow-through to reduce back pressure. With the rear cap off, you’ll notice the blast baffle, that’s the first one the muzzle blast encounters. It has six fins on it. When I saw that, I had to face Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and tip my hat to the designers and engineering staff. The blast baffle takes a big hit on each shot. If we assume the uncorking pressure of your AR-15 is 17,000 PSI (it is the ballpark figure, given various loadings and barrel lengths) then the blast baffle has to take a 17KPSI hit. Adding stiffening ribs to the blast baffle is a clever idea, and one that can only be done by additive manufacturing.

Short & Effective

Someone is probably thinking, “It is only four inches long; how good can it be?” Well, add in the width, at two inches in diameter, and the volume jumps back up. If we compare it to a standard-diameter suppressor, at 1.5 inches, the Speed K Ti has as much volume as that standard at seven inches in length (I did the arithmetic three different ways; it came out the same every time). So, you can get three inches off the total length of your AR-15 carbine or SBR and get the same internal volume.

“There’s got to be a catch, right?” Again, I know what you’re thinking. But a two-inch diameter suppressor is not so much larger that it extends out past the diameter of your free-float handguard. So, it isn’t like you’ve got a quart-sized tin can on your muzzle, and the light weight means that despite its diameter, the Speed K Ti is not going to significantly change the balance or swing of your rifle.

SBR AR-15 with Speed Suppressor mounted on muzzle — Using the Speed K Ti on an SBR can make it a lot more fun to go to the range. It doesn’t add much to the overall length, either. (Photo Provided by Author)

There is one drawback, with one caveat. The Speed K is not rated for full-auto fire. Not that many of us have that option, but some shooters seem to place a lot of value on having that extra durability. Okay, then you go with the Speed K, in Inconel, and its extra six ounces of weight. The caveat? Despite not being full auto rated, the Speed K Ti does not have a barrel length restriction. In talking with the folks at Silencer Central I heard one remark, “Oh, we’ve run it on a five-and-a-half-inch barrel.” I had to blink at that as the shortest I’ve been able to bring myself to shoot is an AR-15 with a 7.5-inch barrel, and that was just plain not fun unsuppressed, bordering on obnoxious. I don’t own one shorter than that, but I bet in my circle of shooters at least one of them does. (No, I’m not going to search him out and try the Speed K Ti on his blaster.) However, if you have one that short then Silencer Central has tested the Speed K Ti on one similar, and you are good to go. The Speed K Ti makes even the 7.50-inch barrel SBR less work and almost fun. Gas blowback? Greatly diminished, and with some loads not even there.

From 22 WMR to 5.56

As far as calibers are concerned, the Speed K Ti is good for 5.56 and everything smaller, with two things to keep in mind: whatever you use has to have a jacketed bullet, and the HUB system means you can get yourself in trouble. You have to stick with jacketed bullets, since the Speed K Ti is not disassemblable. You can’t take it apart and scrub out the gunk, you can only burn it out. So do not use .22LR through your Speed K Ti. If you do, you have no one to blame but yourself, but, .22WMR, the various 17s (as long as the case is not larger than that of the 223/5.56), and such are all yours to use. The second part is the rear cap. The HUB system means you can swap rear caps and install a QD system. It also means you can inadvertently install a rear cap that would then fit the Speed K Ti onto a rifle or handgun not suited to it. So, if you are going to go to the range and bring some friends so they can shoot a suppressed firearm, do not take extra rear caps. Take the 1/2x28 cap for your AR-15, and if you are going to shoot something bigger, have a different suppressor for that rifle. Save yourself the heartache of blowing up your Speed K Ti. I have to remind you that this is not just a Silencer Central situation, it applies to all silencers using the HUB system.

Speed suppressor on the muzzle of an AR showing the size compared to handguard — At two inches in diameter, the Speed K Ti does not hang out past your free-float handguard. At least, not enough to matter. ( Photo Provided by Author)

As far as dampening the noise, Silencer Central reports that the Speed K Ti knocks just over 20 dB off of the muzzle blast. Using a rifle-length barrel and mild .223 ammunition, this can get you down into the generally accepted “hearing safe” zone, that is, under 140 dB. But, on an SBR, and fed 5.56, a 20 dB decrease isn’t going to get you below 140 dB. It is, however, plenty good enough to make shooting with foam earplugs just fine. Despite the general acceptance of 140 as the threshold, I find that my hearing is good enough that 140 isn’t my threshold, but we aren’t looking to the Speed K Ti to get the maximum reduction.

The Speed K Ti is for competition, hunting, work around the farm or ranch, and law enforcement where the light weight and compact size are of greater value than the extra dBs a much larger and heavier suppressor could shave off. Silencer Central can even make the paperwork end of things easy as well.