Once upon a time, a small country allied to the US needed a lightweight, inexpensive silencer for their special purpose bolt action rifles. Gemtech won the contract to provide that silencer. When the project was completed, Gemtech had a lightweight inexpensive design that could fit a variety of commercial uses. With a slight redesign, the Gemtech Tracker was born.

The Gemtech Tracker is a lightweight, .30 caliber suppressor designed for low-volume of fire applications. The suppressor is constructed of aluminum with a titanium blast baffle. This results in a compact package that weighs in at 11.3 ounces.

The light weight and compact size do pose some limitations. Although the Tracker is rated for .300 Winchester Magnum (24″ barrel), Gemtech warns that no more than ten shots should be fired before the suppressor is allowed to cool back to ambient temperature. Recommended barrel length for .308 and .223 platforms is 16″ or longer. You don’t want to throw this on your 10″ .308 and drop a mag dump. While these guidelines may seem to limit, most shooters will have no problem staying within them.

The first rifle we chose for our evaluation was our Remington 700 AAC-SD in the Modular Driven Technologies ESS Chassis. This rifle still wears its factory 20″ hammer forged 1:10 twist barrel. The muzzle came from the factory threaded 5/8″-24.

Groups with the Remington 700 AAC-SD were sub-1″ at 100 yards. The zero shift was 1.44″ down and  2.88″ left from a bare muzzle. When we attempted a return to zero (RTZ) test, the shots were all over the place. The Tracker would not return to zero without a significant sight adjustment on this rifle.

Our next test platform was a Remington 700 that had been trued and barreled by Southern Indiana Precision. The Hawk Hill barrel was chambered in .308 Winchester and the muzzle was threaded to Thunderbeast Arms’ specifications.

The zero shift on the SIP 700 was 1.08″ up and 1.44″ right at 100 yards. The return to zero was within 1 minute of angle (1.047″ at 100 yards).

The third and last rifle we tested the Gemtech Tracker on was a Remington 700 in .260 Remington. This rifle wears a Bartlein 1:8 twist barrel finished at 24″, chambered and threaded by Southern Indiana Precision. This muzzle was also threaded to the Thunderbeast Arms specification.

The .260 showed the best performance of all of the test rifles. The Tracker caused a zero shift of 0.36″ down and 1.08″ right from a bare muzzle. The return to zero on this rifle was also within 1 MOA.  This rifle also managed a sub-half MOA five shot group at 100 yards with the Tracker attached. The silencer did not hinder accuracy in the slightest.

The Gemtech Tracker uses aluminum baffles in an aluminum tube. The construction, as well as the warning not to exceed ten rounds at a time, had me somewhat concerned about rapid fire performance. In our last test, we decided to warm things up a bit. I loaded a single magazine with two rounds and a second with ten. I started the test by firing one shot at 100 yards on paper. I followed that up with ten shots on a 375-yard steel plate as fast as I could run the bolt. I then finished with one shot on paper while the suppressor was still hot. The Tracker held the shots on paper within 1″. It is likely I could have held them tighter if I had not rushed the shots.

Once our testing was concluded it was clear that the Gemtech Tracker performed much better on the custom rifles. All three rifles had the same barrel profile, but the custom rifles had their muzzles threaded concentric to the bore with precision by a skilled rifle smith. When we looked closer, we found that the custom rifles had thread relief cuts. The factory Remington had a shoulder. The shoulder was slightly greater than the 0.050″ that Gemtech specifies.

With our production barreled Remington 700, we have to re-zero your rifle if we remove and replace the suppressor. Due to production tolerances, this may or may not be an issue on your rifle.

The sound suppression performance of the Gemtech Tracker was excellent. It is on par with suppressors costing twice the price. Gemtech states that the Tracker will reduce a 20″ .308 down to 134 dB at the shooter’s ear. This is sufficient to protect hunters or snipers from the occasional gunshot without hearing protection. Competition and target shooters should still wear ear pro when shooting supersonic rifles.

Overall the Gemtech Tracker offers an enormous amount of performance for the $599 M.S.R.P. If you do not need the rapid-fire capability and you are looking for a lightweight precision rifle suppressor, the Gemtech Tracker is an excellent option.

Thanks to Silencer Shop for loaning us the Gemtech Tracker for review.

Specifications:

Caliber: .300 WIN MAG
Sound Reduction: 27 dB (At the shooter)
Diameter: 1.5″
Length: 8″
Weight: 11.3 oz.
Mount: 5/8-24 (2A) Thread Mount
Material: Aluminum
Full Auto Rated: No
Finish: Hard Coat Black Anodized