Banish 30 Suppressor Review

The Banish 30 is the most common and popular offering from SilencerCentral.com, a company that provides end to end sale, application, and to-your-door delivery of suppressors. They boast the Banish 30 as their Jack of all trades. But, is it worth the steep price of $999 plus the $200 ATF Tax stamp? I’ve owned mine for a few months now and put it to heavy use, and I’d like to help you make that decision!

Process

I will write an in depth review of the whole SilencerCentral process soon, but let me give you the quick run down since I haven’t done that yet. After selecting your silencer on their website, you purchase it, and that begins the entire application process. They send you a fingerprint kit that you print yourself with and send back. You upload some passport style photos, fill out some paperwork (with them AND the ATF) and then verify everything with a support representative over the phone. After completing the initial application process you then enter your dreaded ATF wait process. Anecdotally, the ATF seems to be getting faster with their application. Mine was created March of 2023 and I received my approval by October of 2023, a total of 8 months! After that, Silencer Central shipped it and it arrived at my door. I had a few shipping and receiving hiccups with them at the tail end because I was in the middle of a move, but that was really my fault and I won’t ding them on that. Overall, for my first time buying a can, I thought it was pretty simple and way easier than expected!

Quality

The Banish 30 is a multi-caliber titanium direct-thread suppressor. It’s threaded in the common 5/8”x24 thread pattern which is common for lots other muzzle devices as well (like flash hiders and muzzle brakes). There are other options on the SilencerCentral website but the Banish 30 base model only comes with the direct thread pattern. After putting a few hundred rounds through my 6.5 Grendel AR in preparation for an upcoming 2-Gun math, I noticed how often the hand-tight suppressor needed to be, well, re-hand-tightened. Not necessarily a ding on quality of this unit, but a consideration nonetheless. The Banish 30 also boasts 8 internal removable sound baffles, and a modular design from 7”-9” long (there’s a removable middle portion with it’s own baffles). It’s got a nice Cerakote type finish and looks pretty sleek. It has an internal rubber washer that helps get it all screwed back together tightly after taking the baffles out for cleaning, and generally seems like a good tight fit once it’s all reassembled. I out a heat shield on mine to protect from mirage ruining my sight picture, and this has helped to protect the finish as well. After a few thousand rounds, the Banish 30 still looks pretty sweet and doesn’t seem to have deteriorated at all, and I have been running it hard and fast at the range!

Overall I have no qualms with the quality of the Banish 30. It seems to fit the marketing claims from SC and is exactly what I expected. Any drawbacks or things I didn’t like, are really more just suppressor-isms in general (man, getting used to how dirty the blowback is on an AR is going to take a minute). I do wish I went with a QD-style mount instead of direct thread, because now I have to worry about twisting a steaming hot silencer tight between match stages, but that’s not really a quality issues with the Banish 30. If you know what you’re getting into with the direct threads, you’re good to go. I don’t have any other real pros or cons on quality, it’s held up well for a few thousand rounds, and performed as expected throughout.

Performance

Simply put, the performance was just as I had expected (sensing a theme here?). It made the gun less, well, loud. While I question if it really is below the hearing safe threshold on my 6.5 Grendel AR, it is considerably more quiet than shooting unsuppressed. With ear protection on and my cheek on the stock, I swear I can hear the action cycling louder than the report of the round. It’s a pleasure to shoot at the range, but does have a few added challenges. These are mostly general “suppressor-isms” and not specific to the Banish 30. First, the blowback is SUPER dirty on an AR. After one shot my whole mag is covered in carbon, and my brass is harder to find in the dirt since it’s not shiny. The direct thread seemed like a great idea, but I have to check-twist it every firing session (and it gets pretty hot even with the heat shield wrap on it). The unit is super light, at 10.5 ounces in full 9” configuration, which is a definite plus.

To clean the Banish 30 internal baffles you’ll need a $50 baffle removal tool, or you can fashion your own (a wooden dowel should do). The pieces are a bit tight to get back together but that’s expected after they get all fouled up from shooting. Overall, I was impressed with the removable baffle system and am happy I am able to clean it out easily as I do routine firearm maintenance after each range day. This was a definite positive for the Banish 30 design.

Overall, I’m pleased with the performance of the Banish 30. It performed as expected and hasn’t let me down yet, and I’m excited to keep running it at the range when I feel like going suppressed is the right thing to do.

Cost and Value

The unit cost $999 at its base, but required some extra dough for additional items and fees, plus the $200 tax stamp. I did find out later than they will offer a 10% military discount (bummer for me who missed it!) which is great, and definitely increases the overall value for the price. With taxes and fees the whole experience cost me about $1400 (really hope my wife isn’t reading at this point). Looking at the other suppressors on the market, this seems to honestly be on the lower to middle end of the market, but in my opinion that matches it’s basic feature set. I do believe the value is there if you consider the overall concierge-type process that Silencer Central offers to their customers at no additional cost. I expect the unit will last and, after realizing I could have spent a lot more for similar units, I think the cost and value is actually pretty great.

So, Is It Worth It?

In my opinion the Banish 30 is totally worth it, with some caveats. This suppressor was perfect for me, who didn’t really know what I wanted or needed, and had yet to be acquainted with the application process. It is a good all-around unit that I plan to use on most of my firearms for general hunting and shooting applications, all of which happen to be .30 cal or lower. I love the flexibility of the unit, the overall quality, the ability to disassemble it to clean, and the general fun of shooting suppressed. I definitely loved the Silencer Central process, and even with having some shipping challenges due to moving, I plan to purchase another through them simply because they have my fingerprints and pictures on file, and I hate filling out paperwork at the local gun shop and wondering if it got submitted properly. They have a ton of other offerings and I am curious to check them out, especially now that I know the specific features I want. If you decide to make the plunge I think this is a great swiss army knife to add to your arsenal. If you are a bit more experienced at running cans, I wouldn’t blame you for not picking the Banish 30, since I bet you already know exactly what you want, and exactly why.