Episode 211 - Surefire SOCOM556-RC3 vs. RC2 - Technical Discussion and Research (15-MAY-2024) 

Jay, just finished the podcast and appreciate your analysis. My experience with both the RC2 and RC3 on a MK18 (Crane Socom cut barrel, pin gauged 0.070" gas port, H2 buffer) mirror your conclusions. The RC3 is picky about ammo types and will demonstrate less flash when used with M855A1 and MK262 mod 1 vs anemic PMC bronze 55gr. This may be because of flash suppressant additives but regardless, the flash performance is disappointing. Overall, I much prefer to shoot my MK18 with the RC3 vs RC2 simply for less gas and much less fouling. For my LE / Mil vets, the RC3 can be found for around $1450 from popular online distributors, which makes it an easier pill to swallow. Have you used the RC3 with ammunition other than the Federal XM193? If so, did you notice a difference in flash signature?

Jay has never experienced any suicidal thoughts and is not a danger to anyone. Nor does he have any information regarding Boeing.

I've switched to posting your RU-vid pod casts places instead of the research articles because I presume people can't read.

Fuck em. Keep doing what you’re doing.

I Appreciate the research behind this. This helped me make a informed decision between the two.

So i guess my 16in mid will be good either one. Got dd 16 mid, rc2 just fine or is it extra 5-600 dollars worthy to go to rc3?

As soon as you said the rc3's higher muzzle signature nullifies the benefit of its reduced port signature the rc2 vs rc3 debate ceased to be as simple as choosing one characteristic over another and the hand-wringing commenced. I'd be upset if I'd paid nearly $2k for an rc3, but I also wouldnt be directing my hate towards pew science.

Would love to see a mk18 round of tests on the cat JL. I know it’s quiet, but how quiet?

Ok, I have a few more minutes of this podcast to get through, but I'm going to opine. I'm a paying subscriber to Pew Science and appreciate the in depth analysis (Caveats; I haven't been on the site for a while) BUT there are just a few main evaluation points I care about and digging that data out is too time consuming even as a paid subscriber with limited time for my hobbies. I would like to see how suppressors compare and are rated for main use cases. And I also have a gripe with using the MK18 as a test case. It is an over-gassed, very short barrel blaster that is an extreme case even for short barreled rifles. For instance I'm shooting a 11.5" Geissele Super Duty with an RC2. This rifle is very well gassed and I get little noticeable gas in the face even when shooting strings of fire. The point is; that testing cans on semi-autos that are over gassed and untuned returns data that is less useful than it could be for me. As for use case testing; For semi-autos the sweet spot is General use ARs 14.5" and 16" and then shorter close quarters home defense or LE ARs 10.5" or 11.5". Many of the shorter rifles could be used in confined spaces too And because so many folks are going to night vision or are concerned about night time signatures, useful information with comparisons of signatures between cans would be helpful for me. You did a pretty good job on flash reduction concerns in this eval, but what about other cans? What if I want to compare the RC2/3 with other cans for flash mitigation. Here, it would be helpful if manufacturers described their own cans so buyers would at least know if a can was designed primarily to provide flash mitigation or low back pressure for instance. ----So, Hunting is its own category with its own criteria or use case. ---For me, the most important criteria is flash signature reduction, followed by durability, sound reduction is third, but still important. I wear hearing protection anyway, because most semi-auto rifle rounds are not well enough suppressed. ----I just got some cans, including an RC3, out of jail (had to wait a while). I probably made a mistake buying it in retrospect, but I got a sizeable discount, it might be up for sale soon.

Nerds! I don’t understand any of this. I bought an RC3. I’m guessing I shouldn’t have. Awesome!

I'm curious to know what the rating would be if the first shot didn't exist.

Winning on the Always Sunny reference

Jay, I dont know if you addressed this. But Surefire recommends only the SF3P/4P (for the RC3). Not closed tines. Which makes no sense for RC2 owners with multiple muzzle devices. Personally I think they made the RC3 for the SF4P. Which is heavily used in the military. On the mk18 and URGI 14.5".

Hopefully it performs better on the mid gas 14.5 host

Bussing On God

I am glad you compared the two suppressors. I honestly believe the rc3 is just a rc2 with a flow end cap welded on and up the price dramatically. They didn’t think about applying a flash hiding flow through end cap because the rc2 flash suppression is so good. That being said, i will still get one because i want to see for myself but thinking about waiting a little bit for surefire to redesign the rc3 and make it better

Morning Jay!

I knew Surefire was good at gaslighting but it turns out they took it literally…

people just get emotional about things they shouldn't. i've seen the same level of vitriolic responses to content creators posting about coffee for god's sake. i mean can you imagine sending death threats to someone over a youtube video on how to make coffee? jesus. secondly, any plans (and i suspect the answer is no and nor will there be in the near future) to test the B&T SRBS?

Why did you stop posting on Spotify?

Can you do b&t rbs sf next please

Bro this whole vid was an advertisement for your sponsors. There’s only like 2mins of suppressor talk. Jesus

Please stop…just stop! When I came across this I was eager to hear what you had gleaned from your research on this topic, instead I get almost 15+ minutes of petty & unnecessary drama. I tune into casts like this, because it doesn’t have all the daytime tv show drama. But I had to shut it off because it just kept going on & on, and it didn’t stop. Maybe I’ll try again, but jump ahead the first 20-30 minutes. You guys are waaaayyyyyy too intelligent to be producing rants like this. Benefits no one

Rc3 is ugly af

Great review, work on your audio though it’s like nails on a chalkboard hearing constant mouth noises and swallowing 😬