SILENCER SATURDAY #328: Thinking Back To... My First Suppressor – The Liberty Mystic

Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the brand new YHM 338 Bad Larry Suppressor. Last week we Ran through all the available YHM mounting solutions. This week we go back in time to take a look at my first suppressor – a first-generation Liberty Mystic 9mm suppressor that now lives on a Ruger 77/357 bolt action SBR. It’s been a few years since I shot this silencer/host combination, so let’s take a look.

My first order of business when I moved from a “restricted” state to a free state was to jump head first into the silencer world. Before telephone service, a cable hookup, or vehicle registrations, I placed an order with an FFL in my neighborhood that would later provide me with the ability to review suppressors while I waited for my forms to be approved. My first suppressor, a Liberty Mystic, arrived at the dealer before I moved into my house in unoccupied territory. The rest, as they say, is history.

My motivations behind buying the Liberty Mystic were mainly focused on budget. At the time I was fairly cash poor and I thought that buying a multi-caliber suppressor would mean I that I could suppress all of my guns with one purchase and one tax stamp. I was both under educated and naive.

Not that the Liberty Mystic was an underperforming silencer; it suppressed 9mm carbines relatively well and was adequate on 9mm pistols. However, it is a long and heavy suppressor, especially when using the fixed barrel adapter. And while it is rated for rimfire rounds (it can be disassembled easily) it was a poor choice as a rimfire suppressor. Two weeks later I broke my budget projections and purchased a real rimfire silencer.

As it’s a longer/heavier can, I decided to dedicate the Mystic to a rifle platform, settling on the Ruger 77/357. In those initial years, I was adamantly against this 300 Blackout “trend” that the cool kids were jumping into for subsonic shooting. In reality, I was sitting on a good supply of subsonic .38 Special rounds and didn’t have the funds for buying a new rifle and ammunition.

The Mystic is a monocore design with 15 baffles and chambers. With a single piece stainless steel core, it is easy to maintain but can suffer from first round pop with the right ammo and host. Luckily, the Ruger 77/357 with subsonic .38 Special wadcutters was the perfect match for the Mystic and I decided to formalize their relationship with a permanent mating of stock inletting and color matching.

• Manufacturer’s Page:  https://ruger.com/products/77Series77357/specSheets/7419.html
• MSRP: $1239.00
• Thread Pattern: 1/2″-28
• Finish: Brushed Stainless
• Weight: 5.5 lbs.
• Twist: 1:16″ RH
• Stock: Black Synthetic
• Front Sight: Gold Bead
• Rear Sight: Adjustable
• Barrel Length: 18.50″
• Material: Stainless Steel
• Overall Length: 38.50″
• Length of Pull: 13.50″
• Grooves: 8
• Magazine Capacity: 5
• UPC7-36676-07419-8

On this perfect spring Saturday afternoon, I sat on a bench in the backyard with the Mystic/Ruger 77 combination and a box of .38 Special ammo and leisurely clicked off rounds at my standard target setup. Maybe it was the .38 Special rounds or the ultra quiet report from a bolt action rifle host, but I drifted off into a daydream, thinking about all the good times I have had with suppressed firearms. There really is nothing like shooting a quality can on a good host with the right ammo. And sometimes it takes going back to those first experiences to truly appreciate it all.