Airgun Moderator Design, Performance, and Development - Mass, Sound, and Aesthetics (part 21)

Catch the previous episode HERE.

Mass. It is the enemy of sound, being the most effective way to damp vibrations, but it is also the enemy of anything you’re going to carry. This is particularly the case with a moderator, where the last thing in the world you want is a big weight hanging off the end of the barrel. Since the beginning we’ve had a focus on lightness, our first experimental 1/2UNF moderator was even called Levitas. Our designs have gained some weight though, as they’ve adapted to higher production volume, modularity, higher power rifles, etc. They are still class leading when it comes to mass-to-sound ratio, being both exceptionally quiet and light.

But there is always a desire for more. Enter the Accipiter line of moderators. The idea is to unchain these moderators from practical manufacturing costs and push them toward performance extremes. While they share the same dimensional envelopes as their base model Falx and Sarissa moderators, few parts are common. Everything has been tweaked to shave mass and maintain or gain performance. The result is, in the current configuration anyway, we’ve managed identical sound attenuation while cutting the mass by 1/3rd.

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Sound. So we’ve been quietly beavering away, largely unsuccessfully, at making further significant improvements in sound attenuation. While a handful of little tweaks made it into the Accipiter line, allowing them to maintain performance parity with the standard line, so far none of the more advanced damping technologies have panned out. Acoustic metamaterials are a tough nut to crack. Interestingly though, even at standard flow, inferior damping materials can create substantial increases. One such example (pictured next to a production Falx’s trace for comparison, both captured on the same day minutes apart) managed to generate an average peak of 94. It is remarkable just how significant a role damping materials play. This is definitely an area for further development.

Aesthetics. This is always a tricky one, beauty being in the eye of the beholder, however we’re pleased to offer engraving on a custom-order-basis. Shown above is just one example. We’ve found this is a great way to add visual flair without mass.