Turbo Archives

Introduction

My first 5.56 can was a Yankee Hill Machine Turbo, and having used it heavily over the last few years I have become quite fond of it. Working across various rifle platforms and even various calibers it has earned a safe place in my suppressor lineup. So today I bring you a new version of the Turbo, the Yankee Hill Machine Turbo T3. To see if this new unit stands up the great performance of its predecessor.

desert tech Quattro 15, eotech vudu, yhm turbo t2

The YHM Turbo T3

The Turbo T3 is a the latest in the development of the Turbo line of suppressors. Preceded by the T2, with which it shares a great deal of features. With an upgrade in baffle design, the T3 added some additional porting to the internal baffles that reduced backpressure to the host firearm. Other than that the T2 and T3 are about the same thing.

Both use the same hub mounting system, which allows the user to change the mounting configuration. You can use either a direct thread cap of various different thread pitches, or other options. I really like using the Phantom QD system, as I have a variety of muzzle devices that my various YHM suppressors can mount to. Both models also use inconel for a blast baffle which is significantly more resistant to erosion.

desert tech wlvrn, us optics txh, yhm turbo t3 suppressor — the YHM Turbo in the wild, seen here shooting prairie dogs on my **Desert Tech WLVRN**

The muzzle of the T3 has a couple port facets that I assume are made to add additional turbulence as gas escapes. Together with several other tiny scallop cuts it gives a handsome finished look to the Turbos. At the breach end of the suppressor you will also find some tool engagement cuts to allow you to tighten or loosen the mounting hub of your choice. Turbos come with a couple tools as well that allow you to do this service.

The whole thing is finished with a black Cerakote finish for durability and a non-reflective finish. My older Turbo has been repainted at least once, not because the finish isn’t durable but because I am a little hard on them. So in an act of some vanity I repaint them every so often to keep up my drip.

Specifications

Caliber: 5.56mm
Weight: 12.8 oz. w/adapter
Length: 5.59”/6.5” w/adapter
Diameter: 1.5625”
Construction: 17-4 Ph SS/Inconel 718 Blast Baffle
Mount: Phantom 1/2” x 28 Q.D. HUB adapter
Decibel Rating: 134 dB
Minimum Barrel Lengths:
5.56 NATO: 10” Minimum barrel length.
Full Auto Rated

Shooting the Turbo T3

Both the T2 and T3 models fit snugly to my mounts, which made it easy to run back and forth between a few different rifles. One of the rifles I tested it on was a pretty standard Aero Precision 16″ direct impingement rifle, as well as my Desert Tech WLVRN which is a 20″ piston gun.

quattro 15 AR15 yhm turbo t3 — the YHM Turbo did great on this **Aero Precision** concoction, **read more about it here**

The larger AR rifle ran like a champ, and sounded fantastic. Accuracy from the rifle suffered no degradation while suppressed, in fact it might have been better. Dedicated 5.56 cans like this one seem to always sound so good to me. The sharpness of the report removed entirely leaving only a pleasant hiss. On the downside however, I did notice a larger gas exhaust from the ejection port. This was expected as it is pretty stereotypical when shooting suppressed, and as long as its done outside it doesn’t bother me at all. For the record most of my shooting is done outside.

When shooting the new Turbo on my WLVRN rifle, I was able to use the adjustable gas valve to lower the flow of gas coming back. Additionally, since this little bullpup uses a piston there is less gas coming out of the ejection port, which is nice since it’s next to your face. While it was a little better than on my AR, it was still a touch more noticeable gas than unsuppressed. Again I’ll stress the point, this is pretty common with suppressed shooting. Some designs have improved gas flow designs to reduce backpressure, and they are somewhat better in my opinion but still its not perfect.

desert tech wlvrn, yankee hill machine Turbo T3 — the Turbo made an excellent match with my Desert Tech WLVRN, read more about the rifle here

I took the Turbo along for a prairie dog hunt a few weeks ago, attached to the WLVRN. It definitely seemed to help the accuracy during that hunt, as we scattered the little varmints all over the desert. Shooting my rifle next to my buddies we all got an earful from each can. The noise from the Turbo T3 compared to a YHM Turbo K and a SiCo Omega 30 was excellent. We were all shooting .223 rifles, and it was hard to tell which was the better sounding can, at least without professional testing equipment.

yhm turbo t3 suppressor — the Turbo is easy on and easy off with the QD mounting system

My Recommendation

If you are looking to get into a 5.56 suppressor, there are a million options to choose from at this point. In my opinion, the YHM Turbo series is a great line of suppressors. They provide excellent sound suppression, and quality construction for a very affordable price. Whether you choose to go with the Turbo T2, the Turbo T3, or the shorter Turbo K, I think you will be happy with your purchase. These suppressors are built for durability, I have not been easy on them. I have even shot limited amounts of full-auto through them, limited because I am not a rich man. And I expect unless you are a rich guy with pallets of ammo and machine guns, these suppressors will last you a lifetime.

-CBM

Introduction

It was SHOT Show 2017 And I found myself wandering through the many booths, filled with eye candy and toys. Being a dedicated poser, I knew I had to find something to upgrade my humble arsenal in the upcoming year. With all the places I could have found that something, who would of thought it would have only been steps away. The Yankee Hill Machine booth is ripe with all kinds of black little goodies. Everything from AR15 parts, suppressors, to complete rifles. My first visit to the NFA club came via YHM, the first suppressor I bought was a YHM Phantom. My experience with it has always been a good one, which has led me to take a peek at some of their new products. Today we are looking at the Yankee Hill Machine Turbo 5.56 suppressor.

the Turbo 5.56 mounted on my **Desert Tech MDRX**

The new YHM Turbo 5.56 caught my eye, since I didn’t have a 5.56 can and I was in desperate need of a reason to build a host. Much to my favor, the Desert Tech MDRX beat me to it, and made a perfect host for the Turbo. Click Here If you’d like to know more about the MDRX.

The Turbo was made to fill a void in the rapidly expanding suppressor market. It’s stainless steel construction and design keep the cost down, opening ownership to a whole new crowd. It uses an inconel blast baffle, and a QD muzzle brake. With a size, price, and weight advantage it stands to leave much of the competition holding their forms at the door. The street price is under 500$, which is well below average when compared to other brands.
YHM has often been considered a economic choice in sound suppression, but I wanted to see if it would stand up to the cans I was used to.

The 1/2-28 threaded brake that comes with the Turbo, I found it very effective as a brake, and very quick to attach the Turbo to.

I tested the Turbo on two different guns, the aforementioned MDR, and also on a 10.5 inch AR15 pistol. Both guns ran perfect with the Turbo installed, there was a noticeable abundance of gas exiting the receivers of both rifles. That was no surprise to anyone, a host firearm with an adjustable gas system would easily take care of that. The excess gas coming into the receiver, did cause a little bit of extra crud build up in the rifles. But again, that is hard to avoid without cutting back on the gas volume.

Both myself and my brother were impressed with how quiet the Turbo made both of these rifles, well into the range of safe for ears. At least for my deaf ears anyways.
I wanted to see if the suppressor affected the rifle in other ways, so I fired a few groups with the Turbo installed. I was very impressed as the Turbo almost seemed to enhance accuracy, or maybe it was just the increased weight and stability. Either way, the Turbo made no harmful effect to accuracy, as the rifle shot proverbial “lights out”.

Turbo 556 Specifications:
Weight:………………………….13.5oz
Diameter:………………………1.562”
Length:…………………………….6.5”
Construction:…………………17-4 Ph SS / Inconel
Mount:…………………………..Q.D. Muzzle Brake
Decibel Rating:……………….134 dB

Conclusion

Rapid fire, on and off, gun to gun, the Turbo seemed to keep up with whatever we needed it to. The only problem I had at all with the can seemed to be self inflicted. I may Have overtightened it at one point, which caused the brake to come off with it one time. Requiring some excess work to get it apart, but that was my fault.
My initial impressions of this suppressor is that Yankee Hill knocked it out of the park. If you are in the market for a QD 556 can that won’t leave you broke, I don’t think you could go wrong with the Turbo 556.

-CBM