B&T Suppressors Now With SureFire's Mounting System - Firearms News (2024)

August 11, 2023 By Patrick Sweeney

The Surefire mount and locking system they make for their suppressors is one of those clever ideas I wish I had thought of. It was so clever they patented it, (smart of them) and thus no one else can use it. Well, until now. B&T, the Swiss (and now USA) maker of suppressors and first-class firearms, have come to an agreement with Surefire over this mount design. The agreement is simple: B&T has the right now to use the Surefire mount system, and make mounts for their suppressors and Surefire suppressors, and make B&T suppressors to fit the Surefire mount. The first B&T silencers out of the gate to get the mount are the B&T Rotex-X, in 5.56 and 7.62. (Which I am on the short list to get, and test. Keep an eye out for that feature in the future.)

Chris Mudgett, Vice President of Marketing, B&T USA had this to say about the pairing: “Ultimately this agreement benefits the end user and future end users of both companies’ products by providing cross-compatible suppressor and mounting solutions produced by a pair of manufacturers who are fully invested in precision manufacturing techniques, leading to the creation of the highest quality products possible — products continually chosen by elite forces worldwide.”

So, those of you who have rifles with Surefire mounts, and not as many Surefire suppressors to mount on them, now have an option. I’ve got rack space devoted to Surefire-mount rifles and carbines, and I’m looking forward to testing the Rotex-X in its Surefire mount, on some or all of those firearms. Adding to the good news, Chris had this: “Our Rotex-X series rifle suppressor attachments interface with SureFire’s Fast-Attach® line of suppressor-mounting muzzle devices and vice versa. This is currently inclusive of our Rotex-X, RBS556 and RBS762 suppressor lines, to start.”

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Rotex-X, you ask? That is the newest variant of the Rotex series, and here B&T has reduced the weight by 20%, while retaining their flash and sound control, the comfortable gas flow, and the quick detach mount, now with the Surefire mounting system. I had spent a bunch of time at the B&T booth at the SHOT show, looking over future features, but Chris had not mentioned a word about this. Well, when the serious makers of quality stuff talk to each other, no-one else gets a hint, because that’s the way professionals do things.

And the Rotex-X suppressors? Depending on which particular variant of each you select (B&T, as is their custom makes what the end-users want) can get a 5.56 or 7.62 suppressor down as light as 19 ounces, and the “heavy” models run a mere two ounces more than that. One big advantage to the Surefire mount system is that the mount (flash hider, brake, combo, whatever) has an index tab machined into the mount itself. The suppressor (Surefire or now, B&T) has a slot in the silencer mount to mate with the tab, and as a result, your silencer gets mounted on the muzzle in the exact same orientation every time. This greatly reduces or eliminates zero shift. A well-made pairing other than Surefire also reduces or eliminates that potential shift, but this is a belt-and-suspender approach I can appreciate.

Now, if you are not into the Surefire mount system (Surefire silencers are excellent, but since you could before only use a Surefire suppressor on a Surefire mount) then the legacy mount design Rotex-X series can be had in their NATO A2 birdcage mount setup. A quick tip: if you do that, you’d best properly re-attach your existing A2 flash hider, ditching the crush washer and using flat washers and Rocksett adhesive for proper and secure timing, and also be checking alignment with a bore rod. It would be a shame to get a baffle strike on your excellent B&T Rotex-X because you depended on a $3 crush washer and a $7 A2 gun show flash hider, attached by the “gunsmith” at your local gun shop. (If you make that mistake, having been warned, you won’t get any sympathy from the rest of us.)

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I’m looking forward to the Rotex-X, both because B&T makes excellent gear, but also because, as I’ve mentioned, I have more Surefire-mount rifles than I have Surefire suppressors, and we just can’t have “a mineshaft gap.” (It’s a movie reference, look it up.) I’m trying to find a comparison; two great tastes that go together, a beverage and location that work perfectly, the best paint color on a muscle car, and I’m coming up blank. Probably because B&T and Surefire is such a primo combination that everything else just gets pushed aside when I think of it.