One of the most talked about new products from the 2025 SHOT Show wasn’t even a gun. Silencer Central introduced its Banish 9K at Industry Day at the Range prior to SHOT Show. The interwebs immediately filled with videos of this tiny suppressor on a variety of 9mm guns.

SHOT Show Whispers: Banish 9K Suppressor

It didn’t take me long the next day to find my old friend Joe Kurtenbach, Silencer Central’s media relations executive, at their booth and ask for a run down on the new Banish 9K. Joe reached into his pocket and placed the suppressor in my hand. “It’s just 2.7 ounces,” said Kurtenbach, “and it is 3D printed from Titanium. It is direct thread and uses the common ½x28 pattern, so it’s going to fit a lot of guns. We designed it primarily for use with 9mm’s, but it can also be used on .380’s, 5.7×28 and .300 Blackout with subsonic loads. Because of its light weight, it does not require a booster on guns that use a dropping barrel lock-up.” Wow!

The Banish 9K’s small diameter, just 1.30 inches, allows for use with red dots and suppressor-height sights to get an unobstructed sight picture. The entire suppressor is just 4.10 inches long and is given a black Cerakote finish. Silencer Central claims a 26 db reduction in sound as well as a significant reduction in recoil! I was sold on Silencer Central’s Banish 9K before I even handed the suppressor back to Kurtenbach.

The versatile Silencer Central Banish 9K suppressor.

Silencer Central Un-complicating the Complicated

“How do I get one,” I asked.

“You should still be in our system,” said Kurtenbach as he opened his laptop. “We still have your NFA Trust on file and your digitized fingerprints. Let me get a new passport photo of you while you’re here.”

Truthfully that’s all there was to it! I ordered a Banish 5.56 last year and Silencer Central retained all of my pertinent information for use on my next Form 4. After electronically submitting it, I had the approval and tax stamp within 48 hours! Not much later, the post office delivered my 9K to my front door!

Screwing It On

Before my suppressor arrived, I arranged to get a threaded barrel for my Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro as well as my new Ruger RXM, which uses a Glock 19 Gen3 barrel. Springfield sent me a factory-produced threaded Hellcat Pro barrel while I ordered the Glock-compatible barrel from a popular budget website.

I found that 115-grain 9mm loads had about a 50% failure rate with the slides of both guns short stroking, resulting in a failure to eject or a smokestack-style failures. These loads were also right on the edge of hearing safe as they had velocities over 1,000 feet per second. Moving up to 124-grain and 135-grain loads, reliability improved to 100%, and they were easier on the ears.

Both of my pistols were outfitted with red dots that were precisely sighted in before use with the 9K. I found that the Hellcat Pro, with the suppressor attached, groups shifted about 2.25 inches to the right, while the Ruger RXM groups shifted about .75 inch to the left.

I also brought along my Marlin 1894 Trapper chambered for .357 Magnum. It has a muzzle threaded at ½x28. Single loading .38 Special target 148-grain wadcutters into the chamber, I found that there was no shift in impact at 50 yards, and these rounds were Hollywood-quiet while producing groups just over an inch and a quarter. If I found a bobcat or coyote in my backyard menacing my Labrador, it would likely be this combination I would grab so as not to upset my Birkenstock-wearing neighbors.

Banish 9K attached to lever-action rifle.

Mossad Approved

Silencer Central doesn’t recommend using the 9K with rimfire ammunition because of the wax bullet lube and the possibility of leading, but I couldn’t resist it. I screwed the 9K onto my Beretta M71, .22LR, equipped with a ½x28 thread adapter and fired a magazine of Aguila Match Pistol Target rounds. It too was Hollywood-quiet and to my amazement cycled with complete reliability.

One gun that I really wanted to try the 9K on was my Foxtrot Mike 9mm AR pistol outfitted with a pistol brace. Its 7-inch barrel is threaded correctly for the suppressor, but the inside diameter of the free-floating handguard is too small for the outside diameter of the 9K.

Springfield Armory’s New Kuna

I did, however, get to shoot the new Springfield Armory Kuna, equipped with the Banish 9K, at the recent Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous, held in Saratoga Wyoming. Springfield Armory sells this new semi-auto 9mm with a pistol brace or without it. Our samples had red dots, pistol braces and 9K’s threaded onto the muzzles and we just couldn’t miss with these guns! Springfield will have a very hard time keeping these new Kunas in stock!

Sending rounds downrange in 9mm with the Silencer Central Banish 9K suppressor.

Special K for Special Mike

I drove up to the Rendezvous with fellow writer Robert Jordan. He’s used several dozen suppressors in his years with a federal agency but had not yet examined the new 9K. He brought along an ammo can of reloads he commissioned to replicate the old Special K 9mm load. It uses a 147-grain JHP bullet with a velocity of about 950 feet per second from a 4-inch barrel. These loads ran like butter through my Hellcat Pro, were 100% reliable, and smacked the steel targets with authority! They were also easy on the ears! We had an antelope come to within 50 yards of where we were shooting, and he seemed unconcerned with our suppressed gunfire.

Hot and Soapy Rubdown

Silencer Central recommends cleaning the 9K every 50-100 rounds and suggests soaking the suppressor in a dish soap solution. Since the unit is 3D printed it is not user-serviceable. That is a fancy way of saying you can’t disassemble the 9K. I jury-rigged a system using a large volume syringe and pushed and pulled hot soapy water through the 9K and let it air-dry. Of course, you’ll want to avoid any cleaning solutions that may adversely affect the Cerakote finish. You’ll be able to prolong the life of your 9K by using jacketed bullets and resist the use of lead and plated lead bullets. You probably shouldn’t use any of the new projectiles with synthetic jackets either.

Pssssst!

Silencer Central’s new Banish 9K is small, lightweight and effective. It doesn’t require a booster and there’s no need to fill it with gel or other medium. The Titanium construction cools quickly so it can be tightened or unscrewed shortly after firing. Its ability to be used with multiple guns makes this suppressor extremely versatile. Priced at just $699, the 9K is something that every serious shooter should have in their collection!