Griffin Armament Announces Revolution Upgrade Program
One of the unfortunate truths of NFA firearms and the long wait times associated with the approval process is that sometimes that can you bought eight months ago and just picked up might already be out of date. With a litany of companies producing suppressors and new releases hitting every few months, it isn’t uncommon for an entirely new release to render your much-anticipated purchase “obsolete” (though not really) before you even take possession of it. New releases aren’t the only factor at play, though. Although the changes aren’t always widely published, it’s a fact that leading suppressor manufacturers often introduce multiple updates throughout a particular model’s lifecycle.
These sorts of intragenerational changes are often kept relatively quiet for a very good and innocuous reason. No matter how minute they might be, any inkling of an upgrade inevitably leads to early/earlier adopter reaction. At best, manufacturers are left with hundreds of requests for upgrades. At worst, they’re accused of ripping off their customers. These sorts of reactions lead even well-intentioned companies to shy away from big announcements with each small revision.
Some news out of Griffin Armament today presents us with a surprisingly unique twist to this discussion. When Griffin came out with their Revolution line of pistol silencers back in 2014, they changed the suppressor game by being the first major brand to release a modular silencer. A good can in its own right, the Revolution’s biggest selling point was the fact that it could be configured into two different lengths by simply removing the blast chamber and swapping the piston housing over to the main tube. As some buyers found out, this process wasn’t quite as easy as advertised.
The crux of the issue was the fact that the booster housing left only a small ring exposed when fastened to the main tube or extension. Once tightened down and dirty from use, the piston cage left insufficient exposed real estate for users to get a firm grasp and unscrew the part. This made changing the Revolution’s length surprisingly difficult.
When Griffin released the Optimus suppressor about a year after the Revolution was introduced, they carried over the same booster housing, but with one significant revision – notches. On the circumference of the housing’s outer ring, Griffin added four notches that are compatible with any AR-15 castle nut wrench to assist in installation and removal. This change was carried over to newer Revolution silencers to rectify the issues experienced by some users.
When owners of older Revolutions learned of the change, some were outraged. All of a sudden, complaints rang out that, and some even accused Griffin of ripping off owners with a faulty product. On some firearms forums, the discussion got quite ugly, but Griffin Armament promised to make the upgrade available to current owners for a fee – which led some users to amplify their rip-off claims.
As of today, the upgrade is finally available. If you own an older Revolution series silencer that has the smooth piston housing, you can now send your suppressor and $145 to Griffin for the upgrade.
While I know some will balk at the idea of paying the manufacturer to “fix” their can, $145 isn’t unreasonable. It’s less than the cost of a new tax stamp, and having used the Optimus, is probably worth the price. I can see how the old design might have gotten stuck, and the ones on the Optimus (and newer Revolution/Resistance silencers) work very well. I also don’t necessarily see old models as “faulty.” As I see it, Griffin simply found a better way to design the booster housing and chose to incorporate it on current generation suppressors, rather than wait for a new release. I don’t know about readers, but I think their chosen course is preferable, even if it does leave some feeling burned.
If you have an older Revolution and would like to get it upgraded, head on over to Griffin’s website for the details.
An information security professional by day and gun blogger by night, Nathan started his firearms journey at 16 years old as a collector of C&R rifles. These days, you’re likely to find him shooting something a bit more modern – and usually equipped with a suppressor – but his passion for firearms with military heritage has never waned. Over the last five years, Nathan has written about a variety of firearms topics, including Second Amendment politics and gun and gear reviews. When he isn’t shooting or writing, Nathan nerds out over computers, 3D printing, and Star Wars.