Suppressors have a lot of practical value. They’re great tools for protecting a shooter’s hearing. They’re also just kind of cool. I have to admit that watching spy movies, and reading Ian Flemming books has absolutely influenced my suppressor purchases. Now, we know movie suppressors are usually unrealistically quiet, and unrealistically small too much of the time. Or are they? The Bowers Bitty suppressor is tiny enough to be movie worthy, but still very functional and practical.
Meet The Bitty
The Bowers Bitty isn’t the smallest suppressor on the market, but its close. It is the smallest dry, wipeless suppressor available. It’s only 2.8 inches long, and 1-inch in diameter. Weight is a feathery 2.8 ounces. Despite its small size, it’s rated for .17 rimfires, .17 WSM, .22 LR, .22 Magnum, .22 Hornet, 22 TCM, and even FN 5.7×28 mm. It’s also rated for use with full-auto .22’s, something I’d love to test out some day. It uses a standard 1/2×28 direct thread mount. The Bitty is made from aluminum and stainless steel, and is user serviceable. MSRP on the Bitty is only $390.00, which I think is pretty good considering its unique size and capabilities.
Bower says that it performs like many other companies full sized suppressors. It brings down .22 pistols, as well as .22 Magnum rifles, to hearing safe levels. There are no barrel length restrictions with the Bitty, so you can use it from anything from pocket pistols to rifles. It will drop a 4 inch .22 LR pistol to around 135 decibels with standard velocity loads. OSHA considers sound levels over 140 decibels capable of causing hearing damage.
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My local NFA dealer didn’t have a Bitty in stock, but he ordered one for me. When it arrived and was approved, I went to pick it up. He went into his safe and handed me what at first looked like a 50 round box of .22 LR rounds. That’s how tiny the Bitty is. It really is shockingly small.
Bitty Test Platforms
To me the perfect matchup for the Bowers Bitty was the Beretta 21A Bobcat in .22 LR. You can’t get a much more compact set up than that. If I were a spy, that combo would definitely be a tool in my toolbox. I’m not, but I still wanted it. The only real downside is that the suppressor does obscure the dinky, almost nonexistent sights on a 21A. Right as I was getting my Bitty though Beretta discontinued the 21A in lieu of the new 20X. I ended up picking one of those up instead and, in addition to a number of other updates, it came with usable, suppressor height sights.
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In addition to the 20X I also had a few other options to work with. I have an ex Israeli Beretta Model 71 in .22 LR, a Taurus TX22 in .22LR, a Ruger American Rimfire .22 LR rifle, my S&W M&P 15-22, and a PSA Rock in 5.7mm.
Range Time
I’ve had my Bowers Bitty for about a year and half now so it’s seen a lot of range time on all of the above platforms, plus a few more along the way. I’ve run a pretty wide variety of ammo through it over that time in standard, high velocity and subsonic formats. Amongst the loads were CCI’s Clean-22’s in both high velocity and sub sonic loads. The Clean loads are my load of choice for use with suppressors. They use special polymer coated bullets designed to reduce fouling, particularly when used in conjunction with a suppressor.
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I started with the Beretta 71 and shot it with the SureFire Ryder, and then the Bitty using the CCI high velocity Clean-22, then the subsonic load. While Bowers tests with standard velocity loads, both cans produce hearing safe levels with the high velocity loads and the subsonics were down right quiet. While neither are movie quiet, you still get a crack, the sound of the .22 rounds ringingsteel targets overwhelmed the report of the sub sonic loads. The Beretta cycled the high velocity and sub sonic loads fine with both suppressors.
Ryder Vs Bitty
The Surefire has a slight advantage to the ear, but that’s offset by the compactness of the Bitty unit. The Ryder is 5.4 inches long versus the 2.8 inches overall of the Bitty and weighs almost twice as much at 5 ounces compared to the Bitty’s 2.6 ounce weight. Not that the Ryder is heavy by any means, but there is a definite weight, and length advantage to the Bitty and you’re still getting hearing safe decibel levels.
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Moving on to the TX22 produced similar results. While the Bitty works nicely on a smaller gun like the Model 71, it seemed to really fit the TX22. With the full sized frame of the TX22 the addition of the 2.8 inches for the Bitty was hardly noticeable. It handled well and you could easily forget the Bitty was installed.
While the other pistols worked well, the Bitty the Beretta 20X has a definite vibe to it. You don’t much classier than a Beretta with a compact can like the Bitty. It’s straight up spy novel material. The 20X did not cycle subsonic loads, but it did well with Federal American Eagle Standard velocity loads, which is one of the rounds Beretta recommends.
The 5.7 Route
Last but not least on the handgun front is the 5.7 Rock. Keep in mind that although the Bitty is rated for rounds other than .22 LR that doesn’t mean it’s always hearing safe. Bowers notes that it will make .22 Magnum hearing safe from a rifle, but otherwise all it does is knock down muzzle blast and reduce the noise. So why would you want that? Well, if you’ve ever shot a 5.7x28mm pistol unsuppressed you know that it has quite a bit of blast and report.
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The Bitty did do a good job of taming that. It was still loud, but it cut back on the concussion of launching those bottlenecked rounds through a pistol. If you’re using a 5.7 for defense, especially inside the home, or around a vehicle, taming that blast to any degree is a bonus. The Bitty is small and light enough to not affect handling too.
Hushing The Rifles
While you might not think about putting such a compact can on a rifle, it actually worked out really well. I was pleasantly surprised when I first used the Bitty on my Ruger American Rimfire.
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When mounted on a rifle the Bitty’s length was truly negligible. You couldn’t tell any obvious difference in weight or balance. High Velocity loads were pleasant to shoot, and subs were down right quiet. They may actually have been movie quiet.
The CCI Quiet load fired through the suppressor actually exceeded movie quiet. These rounds sound like an airgun pop, even with an unsuppressed .22 rifle. With the Bitty you literally could hear the firing pin click and the round impact the dirt down range. CCI Quiets are great choice for garden pest control to begin with, and with the suppressor added to the equation your neighbors will never even know that you’ve fired a shot.
The Bitty performed similarly on the S&W with its 16 inch barrel as it did on the Ruger with its 18 inch barrel. Being a semi auto though I didn’t try the Quiet rounds through it and it definitely preferred standard or high velocity rounds. The Smith sounded more like an airgun than a .22 with the Bitty installed. I have a Franklin Armory binary trigger installed in my M&P (which I’ll concede they don’t advise due to the polymer lower) but had no concerns running it since the Bitty is full auto rated. Dumping suppressed .22’s on a steel plate rack is good clean fun.
Is the Bitty for You?
If you want the quietest .22 suppressor in the world, the Bitty is not that. It’s quite effective, especially for its size, but there are quieter suppressors, even in just .22LR. For instance Bowers own Icon suppressor. But the Icon is over twice the size and a bit more expensive. If you want a truly compact suppressor though, it’s hard to beat the Bitty. Even if you don’t have dreams of espionage floating through your head, it’s nice to have a suppressor that’s so small and light that you forget that it’s even installed.
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