Silencer Shop Authority: Griffin Armament Optimus Micro Review
Off the top of my head, I honestly can’t say how many .22 caliber suppressors I’ve reviewed. I know the answer lies somewhere between “several” and a “butt load”. Okay, I just counted and the number is 16. That’s 16 different .22 silencers I’ve looked at since partnering with Silencer Shop back in 2015. But that’s really beside the point.
The important thing to know is that I have examined several rimfire suppressors and unsurprisingly, I’ve found it to be a very, very competitive category. Efficiently suppressing a .22 LR round, particularly one that is subsonic, is no real feat of engineering. Certainly, some companies have found more effective ways to skin this cat, but by and large, most top brands have rimfire offerings that all sound extremely good.
So how do .22 silencers set themselves apart? Usually auxiliary features like ease of disassembly and weight (or lack thereof) are where the true top dogs shine. Sometimes, though, someone really breaks the mold. We’ve seen uber-modular .22 silencers like Q’s Erector and Thompson Machine’s Horizon, but today we’re going to take a peek at equally unique offering from Griffin Armament, the Optimus Micro.
Like Griffin’s full-size Optimus, the Micro offers considerable adaptability, but it naturally lacks compatibility with some of the calibers the Optimus supports. The Micro can be mounted to host firearms in nearly as many ways and overall, it shares plenty of design elements with its brother. What makes it substantially different from other .22 suppressors is its support for full-power 5.56mm usage. And no, this isn’t some sort of gimmick.
Our friends at Silencer Shop recently sent over one of their Optimus Micros for review. After spending quite a lot of time with it, I’m here to share my thoughts.
In the Box
Though the Optimus Micro isn’t quite as versatile as it’s big bro, it’s still configurable enough to be confusing. This is particularly true when it comes to figuring out what all comes with the can. Unfortunately, the Micro only ships with the suppressor, a ½-28 thread mount adapter, a pouch, and of course, the manual. If you want to use Griffin’s Taper Mounts or 3-lugs, you’ll need the appropriate adapters which cost $90 and $130 respectively.
Specifications
The Optimus Micro is a heavy .22 silencer. In fact, it’s technically the heaviest .22 can I’ve reviewed, beating both the Bowers USS and Rugged Oculus 22 by a small margin. Alone, the Optimus weighs 8.1 ounces – that’s without a mount of any sort. The included ½-28 adapter tacks on 1.2 more ounces. If you’re planning to use Griffin’s Taper Mounts, that adapter adds 2.7 ounces and Griffin’s universal 3-lug mount weighs 2.8 ounces. No matter how you configure this thing, it’s going to weigh more than 9 ounces mounted. Oh, and don’t forget the weight of the muzzle devices if you’re planning to use one of those last two adapters. A Taper Mount Minimalist Brake adds 1.8 ounces, while the 3-lug is lighter at 0.7 ounces. The table below should help to clear things up if you’re confused by all these numbers.
| Optimus Micro Lengths & Weights | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
Length |
Weight |
|
Thread Mount |
5.375" |
9.3 oz |
|
Taper Mount |
6.75" |
10.8 oz |
|
3-Lug |
5.5" |
10.9 oz |
Griffin advertises the Optimus’ outer diameter as 1.1” or 1.2” depending on configuration. In truth, the can is a smidge over 1.2” in diameter regardless of setup. I won’t discuss the design implications here as that’s for a later section. If you’re planning to use it on a small pistol (like my Walther PPK/S .22), note that it will interfere with your sight picture. Like the weight scenarios discussed above, the Micro’s various mounting options result in several possible lengths. With the thread mount adapter, it’s a short 5.375” can. Swapping that for the Taper Mount adapter lengthens the suppressor to just a little over 6.625”. Finally, a 3-lug equipped Optimus Micro will sit at 5.5” overall.
| Griffin Armament Optimus Micro (As Shipped) | |
|---|---|
|
Length |
5.375" |
|
Weight |
9.3 oz |
|
Mount |
1/2-28 Thread Mount |
|
Materials |
17-4 Stainless Steel |
|
MSRP |
$549 |
Materials & Design
The Optimus Micro is in relatively rare company in that it is a nitride-treated, fully 17-4 stainless steel .22 can. There really are only a handful of other .22 suppressors that are made entirely out of steel, but unlike the Micro, those aren’t rated for 5.56mm usage. Indeed, the Micro is, to my knowledge, the first .22 caliber suppressor that is fully endorsed by the manufacturer for 5.56mm usage.
That rating comes with some limitations. If you’re just planning to use the Micro with the included thread mount, you’ll be limited to a 14.5” barrel on a 5.56mm host. Swapping over to the Taper Mount adapter unlocks barrels as short as 12.5”, but you’re never going to be able to use the Optimus Micro with ultra-compact 10.5” or 7.5” barrels. As much as I’d like to see the Micro support 11.5” or 10.5” barrels, I get it. The muzzle pressure with these short barrels is really, really high.
Taking the Micro apart for cleaning is almost the same as the full Optimus. The front cap unscrews easily using a quarter to engage its grooves. Under the front cap is an additional retaining ring that helps to keep the baffles compressed. It unscrews in the same fashion. With both the end cap and the ring removed, the baffles dump out through the font of the can with ease.
The Micro’s five stainless baffles are identical in design to the ones in most of Griffin’s other suppressors, including the Alpha/Paladin, the Recce series, and the Sportsman. They’re M-style baffles with dual crossjets at each baffle’s apex and indexed skirts to assist in reassembly and to shield the outer tube from fouling. As baffle designs go, Griffin has really nailed it with these guys. I’ve found them to be solid performers in basically every respect. The only issue I have with the design is that reassembly is sometimes difficult because the baffles don’t interlock. You really need to make sure that they stay aligned as you drop the tube back down over the stack after a cleaning session, lest they’ll fight you the whole way in.
I highly doubt you’ll find a .22 suppressor with more mounting options than the Micro. I mentioned the various mounts earlier in the review, but it’s worth hashing them out a little more. The ½-28 thread adapter ships with the can, but you can also buy Griffin’s Taper Mount adapter and 3-lug assemblies separately. Swapping adapters is as easy as unscrewing the incumbent part and swapping in the new one. There’s not a whole lot else to say about the mounts, other than the fact that the Taper Mount adapter works with all of Griffin’s tapered muzzle devices, not just the Minimalist series. That’s a major plus for those of us with other Griffin suppressors/mounts.
Range Report
I won’t lie, though the Optimus Micro might primarily be a .22 can, the first firearm I used it with was not a .22 LR host. Rather, it was one of my ARs – specifically my M16A4 clone. At the end of the gun’s 20” barrel, the Micro was only barely noticeable. It may be heavy for a .22 suppressor, but Griffin’s product is remarkably light by 5.56mm standards. Sure, a 20” barrel with a can attached is going to be unwieldy from a length perspective, but weight absolutely wasn’t an issue. That’s only part of the story, though.
The truly impressive part of this tale is that the Micro sounded downright phenomenal on the AR. We’re talking no bullshit hearing safe performance. Writing this, I can already see readers’ eyes rolling at that last sentence, but trust me, this isn’t fake news. I’ve used plenty of 5.56mm suppressors and at the ear this one was one of the best – up there with the YHM Turbo and at least as good as (and perhaps better than) my SilencerCo Specwar 556. It’s truly remarkable. Moreover, the Micro is one of the least gassy silencers I’ve used on a 5.56mm host.
Muzzle performance is a more difficult discussion when a meter is unavailable. That said, there’s no doubt that the Micro is 2-3 dB louder than leading 5.56mm silencers when measured according to milspec standards. Griffin’s internal testing placed the can in the mid-130 dB range on a 16” 5.56mm barrel, whereas dedicated 5.56mm silencers are usually closer to the low-130s. Since the at-ear performance was so phenomenal, this discrepancy hardly matters for most people.
So how does the Optimus Micro do it? I didn’t touch on this in the design discussion, but there’s no black magic here at all. The truth is that despite its reduced size, the Micro’s internal volume is still 75-80% of the way to Griffin’s Recce 5. The Micro with a Taper Mount adapter is also approximately the same length as its stablemate. Length is a crucial factor in determining suppressor performance, even more significant than diameter, which helps to explain the can’s impressive showing.
It would be hugely disappointing for the Micro to do so well with .223 only to be a poor .22 LR performer. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about that in the slightest. If you can get past the weight (which wasn’t as terrible as I expected on either my SIG 522 or my Walther PPK/S .22), the Optimus Micro is a phenomenal .22 suppressor. It has negligible first round pop and superb overall sound reduction. I don’t know if it is the quietest .22 can I’ve reviewed, but it’s darn close. The performance results were consistent across both rifle and handgun. By that, I mean FRP was minimal on both and though the PPK/S was louder, it was very much in line with top .22 cans.
While I had the Micro mounted to the AR, I decided to check for point of impact (POI) shift. Most of the time, .22 suppressors have very little effect on POI – at least on .22 hosts and for the type of shooting I do (I know precision guys would likely disagree with respect to POI shift and .22s). Mindful of that, I didn’t test POI shift with my SIG 522. So instead, the AR was the ticket. I also felt that testing the AR would be more interesting to hunters who might want to use the Optimus on their rifles. Enough with the excuses, the Micro resulted in consistent 2 MOA shift directly left of the unsuppressed group. Overall accuracy did not appear to be impacted in any measurable way.
Conclusion
I know you’ve all heard it. You’re better off with dedicated suppressors for each caliber you plan to shoot. The Optimus Micro doesn’t change that fact, but it definitely tests it. If you’re looking for the greatest flexibility in terms of barrel lengths and top performance, there are better options for 5.56 hosts. But the Optimus Micro isn’t a 5.56mm can; it’s a .22 suppressor. The fact that it can be used on a 5.56mm gun is just gravy and with that in mind, the performance is mind blowing. If all you’re looking for is a .22 suppressor, the Optimus Micro might be a bit too heavy. However, if you are at all curious about using your .22 can on a 5.56mm gun or you’re looking for a super light (by 5.56 standards) and low-profile silencer for a hunting setup, there’s no better option. Moreover, for those of us who own other Griffin cans and are invested in their Taper Mounts, the Optimus Micro makes a lot of sense.
If you’re interested in picking up an Optimus Micro for yourself, you can find them at Silencer Shop for roughly $475, but actual pricing will vary between Powered By dealers.
This has been a review of products provided by and sold at Silencer Shop. All opinions are my own.
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.