The BOE Mod 1 Suppressor: Suppression, Performance, and Savage Looks

A few years ago, I had zero suppressors, and the only thing that kept me from getting more into them was the NFA-induced wait time. Eventually, I bit the bullet and filled out my first Form 4s, waiting almost a year for each one to be approved. I’m glad I did, because now I want every gun I own to be threaded and ready to mount a suppressor. Once you understand the value of a suppressor, it’s hard to go back.

Currently, wait times for Form 4s have ranged anywhere from 48 hours to 4 days for me. And come January 2026, the tax stamp will drop from $200 to $0. There has never been a better time to buy a suppressor than right now. In fact, many Special Occupational Taxpayers (SOTs) are allowing customers to purchase suppressors that they will hold until January, when the tax stamp price changes.

One of the latest suppressors I was excited to review is from Balance of Energy (BOE) Suppression. This brand analyzed the market and sought to develop suppressors with effective sound reduction, recoil reduction, and low back gassing/blowback pressures. They recruited support from university physics, engineering, and audiology departments to engineer suppressors that would master all three. I can tell you from experience that they have engineered a suppressor that checks all those boxes.

BOE Mod 1 Suppressor

BOE sent me the Mod 1 Suppressor with an Inconel core, rated for use with guns up to 5.56mm. While they offer the same version with a titanium core, I wasn’t interested in weight savings; I was more interested in sound reduction. The Mod 1 I received is 1.75 inches in diameter, is 6.8 inches long, and weighs 19 ounces. All Mod 1 suppressors are D360-coated, covering both internal and external surfaces.

The MOD 1 is a good-looking suppressor. The can ships in a hard case, with the outer tube separate from the core, and both a vented and a non-vented end cap included. The outer tube is the serialized item that the ATF tracks as the suppressor. This is a benefit for the end user. If the core is damaged due to misalignment or projectile failure, it can be replaced without waiting weeks or months for the suppressor to be “rebuilt” or issued a new serial number, which would require another tax stamp. This two-piece design also makes it easy to maintain the suppressor. You can visually inspect the core for wear or carbon buildup and clean it separately from the outer tube if needed.

Vented vs. Non-Vented Cap

As I mentioned, the Mod 1 ships with two end caps: one vented and one non-vented. Eddie Wear, the General Manager and Buyer at my SOT, Tennessee Silencer, tested the suppressor before I did. Eddie has done customer sales for Tennessee Silencer, demoing hundreds of silencers across many hosts on their test range for over five years now, so his feedback is always very valuable to me. He had some initial thoughts about the performance from both caps. Eddie shared the following: “The vented end cap is my preference. It has a little first-round pop, but overall, very little back pressure, and it’s still very quiet. It is heavy, but that’s to be expected for a larger full-size Inconel core suppressor. When I put the enclosed end cap on it, it’s a little quieter, but it mainly eliminates the first-round pop entirely. The difference in back pressure between the two end caps is noticeable, and that was what surprised me the most.”

I tested the Mod 1 Inconel core suppressor on two very different AR-15s and shot them with both end caps. I agree with Eddie that the first-round pop noise is more distinct with the vented cap. This isn’t a deal breaker, though, as most suppressors are going to have a first-round pop. The vented cap performs better at reducing recoil and back pressure than the non-vented cap. At the end of the day, I think choosing between the vented and non-vented end cap is a personal preference and depends on the firearm you mount the suppressor to.

End Caps, Ammunition Selection, and Adjustable Gas Blocks and Pistons

The two AR-15s I tested the BOE Mod 1 suppressor on are brand-new for 2025 and couldn’t be more different. The first is Heckler & Koch’s new MR556 A4 16.5-inch barrel rifle. This rifle has a short-stroke gas piston operating system with an adjustable gas regulator to tune the action to suppressed or unsuppressed operation. The second is the new Combat HD 16-inch barrel rifle from Midwest Industries. While this is a direct-impingement AR-15, it comes with the Riflespeed adjustable gas block system, which lets you tune the gas from setting “1” to “12.” These are two perfect examples of rifles designed to be suppressor hosts.

Another gentleman, Ethan, who works at Tennessee Silencer, and I conducted testing to determine which end cap, with which ammunition, and on which gas setting would make these rifles run reliably. I chose four similar, heavy-grain, precision loads from four different manufacturers. I have found that, compared to 55-grain ammunition, heavier-grain bullets sound much better when shot suppressed. The four loads were:

• Super Vel Ammunition .223 Rem. 77 grain OTM
• Hornady 223 Rem 75 grain BTHP Match
• Federal Gold Medal CenterStrike 223 Rem 77 Grain OTM
• Barnes Precision Match 223 Rem 77 grain BT OTM

There wasn’t a ton of variance in performance with these loads, except with finding the sweet spot Riflespeed setting on the Midwest Industries rifle. The hard stop “no-go” setting for both the vented and non-vented cap, where the rifle wouldn’t function properly, was on number four. The gun would fire, but the spent brass wouldn’t eject. With the vented cap on the Mod 1 suppressor, the lowest setting that reliably cycled round after round was seven. Settings five and six were hit-or-miss; sometimes it cycled correctly, and other times it failed to eject the spent brass casing. The non-vented cap gave the rifle a little more back pressure, so the gun would cycle just fine on setting five.

The HK A4 became a single-action rifle when the regulator was set to “suppressed” and the vented end cap was used. Once we switched to “non-suppressed,” the gun would function as it should in semi-automatic mode. This isn’t a failure of the suppressor, but an example of how well it and the vented cap perform.

If you’re setting up a rifle for competition or home defense with the BOE Mod 1 suppressor, perform adequate testing to ensure the gun will cycle whatever ammunition you plan to use. Any rifle with an adjustable gas block or adjustable piston regulator will require a bit more time to tune with a suppressor, especially if it has various end caps to try out. Once you find the harmony among the ammunition, gas block setting, and end cap, you’ll have a superior, flat-shooting, quiet gun.

Let’s Talk Mounts

Mounting a suppressor on a rifle should be cut-and-dry, but it can get somewhat complex depending on how you want to mount it. All BOE suppressors are threaded for the industry-standard 1.375-inch HUB/Bravo adapter, but they do not ship with one. You will have to purchase this from your SOT or online, in addition to the suppressor. The options for mounting the suppressor with a HUB adapter are a direct-thread fixed mount, a QD mounting solution such as the SilencerCo ASR or Dead Air KeyMo mount, or a non-QD muzzle device that the suppressor can thread onto instead of the barrel.

Option 1: Direct-Thread Fixed Mount

This option is probably the easiest if you’re newer to suppressors. All you need to know is the thread pitch pattern of the compatible barrel you want to attach the suppressor to. As I was using two AR-15s chambered in 5.56mm, both had 1/2x28 threads. The exact mount I used with the Mod 1 suppressor is the Huxwrx HUB direct thread adapter.

Option 2: QD Mounting Solution

Having a suppressor that can be quickly detached is valuable, especially if you want to mount it on multiple firearms. This setup can be a little pricier and will add more weight to the suppressor. For this setup, you’ll need to buy a QD-style muzzle device or flash hider with a matching adapter that is HUB-thread compatible. This is where you’ll need to research compatible setups to ensure the muzzle device is compatible with the suppressor's internals.

One example QD setup that will work with the Mod 1 is the short KeyMo Zero mount from Dead Air and the KeyMo adapter. The Zero mount threads onto the barrel, while the adapter threads onto the HUB-compatible suppressor from one end. The other end of the adapter features a collar that locks onto the KeyMo Zero mount in seconds. If you have multiple rifles set up with a KeyMo mount, you can easily swap the suppressor and HUB adapter between them.

Option 3: Threaded, Non-QD Muzzle Device

Option three is to use a muzzle brake or flash hider with external threads that allow a HUB-compatible mount to be threaded over it. This setup can be more straightforward to “not mess up” compared to some of the QD mounting solutions, which require attention to detail to ensure the collars are locked or the adapter itself is all the way tightened. This setup also allows you to unthread your suppressor and shoot the rifle with just a muzzle brake or flash hider.

An easy setup example would be the FHD flash hider from Rearden Manufacturing with the Atlas Gen 2 or Atlas XL mount. The FHD comes in multiple thread-pitch patterns to fit various caliber barrels. The Atlas mounts are both 1.375 HUB compatible with the MOD 1 suppressor. Rearden Manufacturing, in general, makes excellent muzzle devices and mounting options for suppressors.

Final Thoughts

I have over 20 suppressors now, in multiple calibers, various lengths, and made of different materials, yet each one serves a different purpose. The most common gun I own is the 5.56-caliber AR-15 rifle, and I tend to overlook the dedicated 5.56 suppressor and go straight to a 30-caliber can, even though I know it won’t sound as good as its 5.56 counterpart. I am glad I selected the Mod 1 with the Inconel core specifically, as it is an outstanding suppressor from beginning to end. I appreciate the value of it being HUB-compatible, so the attachment options are endless. The ability to change the end cap based on the rifle system or type of ammunition I plan to use is a considerable value. I didn’t experience enough back pressure to cause gas to the face and teardrop-filled eyes, as I have with many suppressors over the years. Overall, the BOE Mod 1 suppressor is now one of my all-time favorites and one I look forward to using on more rifle builds.

I asked Eddie to wrap up his thoughts after testing the BOE Mod 1 suppressor on several rifles. He shared this with me: “In our testing, we found the Mod 1 to be a great choice to fill a growing need in the suppressor world: a tough, quiet, modular, and easily serviceable low back pressure rifle can. As an Inconel core suppressor with a serialized outer sleeve, this suppressor is a tank that can easily be fixed or updated down the road. It does not make the typical tradeoff of compromising sound suppression for toughness. We found that the vented end cap made a significant difference in sound reduction, first-round pop, and muzzle flash. Often with suppressors that use this feature, the sound difference between vented and solid caps is extreme; however, we did not see this with the Mod 1. This would be a solid choice for a buyer who does not mind adding some weight to their setup to get a rugged, quiet, low-back-pressure suppressor.”