GEMTECH'S INTEGRA: A Practical Approach to Save a Stamp!

OK, suppressors are cool, but they do add length, even on a carbine. Starting with a 16-inch barrel, adding a suppressor makes it as long as a full-sized AR-15 rifle. The usual “solution” is to put a suppressor on an SBR. Except, that means two tax stamps. “Grrrrr.” Well, there’s one way around that. That is to go the “pin and weld” route. You get your barrel shortened to the needed length, and then you permanently attach your suppressor to it, making the finished length 16-plus inch of barrel. Or, you just go to Gemtech and get the Integra.

They have done the work for you, taking a 10.5-inch barrel, and permanently attaching a suppressor that brings it up to 16-plus inches of barrel length. But they don’t just leave it at that. Gemtech also plugs the barrel and suppressor into a Gemtech-marked flat-top AR-15 upper (VLTOR modular, which is Type III anodized black, of course) and then installing a Seekins Precision free-float aluminum handguard, which has M-LOK slots at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. The top is a full-length rail, so you have plenty of options to mount whatever optics and accessories you desire. The receiver internals are a Ballistic Advantage carrier and bolt, and a BCM charging handle.

The suppressor itself is a titanium tube with a titanium monocore, the Gemtech G-Core Technology. So, in assembling a kick-butt integrally suppressed upper, Gemtech went to top-tier suppliers for the items that they themselves do not make. Good call. However, the goodness doesn’t stop there. The monocore is removable. Yes, an integrally suppressed 5.56 with a removable baffle stack. The trick is easy: The Integra comes with a disassembly tool, but the front port is a square 3/8-inch hole, perfect for a socket wrench. Now, removing a really carbon-welded monocore from its tube could work, but Gemtech has done its homework here as well. The sides of the monocore that are solid (It can’t all be baffles) are machined with crud-scouring/scraping slots. The slots are almost full-length, and they scrape out carbon buildup, so you can get the Integra really clean.

Still, you have to do your part. I didn’t bother to take the Integra apart after each of the first few range sessions, and when I did, I had to shove the upper onto a reaction rod and get both hands on the socket wrench handle to break the monocore loose. So, strip and clean after every range date. The monocore is not long enough to bottom out against the inside rear face of the tube. No, it threads onto the barrel muzzle, leaving a blast chamber space. The resulting gap at the back produces a really large blast chamber, a place for a lot of gas to not go out and produce noise. That makes the Integra quiet, really quiet.

You’re thinking “gas is slow going out, that means gas-face.” Nope. Gemtech builds a bore evacuator into the Integra, the same principle as is used on tank guns. The evacuator uses the flow of gas to push the build-up out the muzzle. It just does it slowly enough to not build noise, but fast enough to not create gas-face. It was the work on the Integra that led to the gas block on the Gemtech GVAC 
upper. That gas block is both gas block and bore evacuator.

Since it is all one product, there’s no worry about the gas port being the proper diameter. The gas system is a pistol-length one, but since it all was built as a single item, Gemtech has made sure the system is properly balanced. The VLTOR upper is intended to fit onto any mil-spec dimensioned lower, and while I did not try it on every lower in the shop, all those I tried it on worked just fine. There was some wobble with some lowers, but considering the variance of dimensions even today (and in the past, the dimensions were really wide) they do a good job. The Integra, as well-spec’d as it is, does not come with sights. That you’ll have to provide for yourself, which is not a big deal. We all have our own ideas about what is right, proper and tactical, correct? So, I looked over the optics shelf and grabbed a spare EOTech sight and bolted it on. (Woo-hoo, green reticle!)

I took a spare BCM lower lying around and made sure the Integra fit, and with that it was easy enough to head to the range. The initial testing was your basic “Ho-hum, a day at the range” shooting. Then, I noticed that the hearing protection I was wearing didn’t seem to be needed much, so I took them off. (I usually wear earpro even when shooting suppressed. Even a few thousand rounds a year can take a toll even with a suppressor on.) Wow. This is quiet! OK, to give you a perspective on this, the listed decibel level for the Integra is 131 db. The simple crashing of the bolt home on an empty chamber is 115–120 dB. So, the action cycling is most of the noise you hear when using the Integra, and there’s nothing you can do about that. But the muzzle blast? Almost not there. Oh, there’s the supersonic crack, for sure. But again, there’s nothing Gemtech or anyone else can do about that. Then another club member started shooting on the range next to mine, and on went the earpro again. (Rats!)

Once I had done some preliminary work with the Integra, I figured I’d try it on paper. Only at 50 yards, because I’m using a red-dot, right? (Oh, a holographic display, sorry.) The results were so encouraging (I figured it not to be as good as it was, only a 10.5-inch barrel, right?) I packed up once I was done for the day, planning to come back. For the second trip I put a Leupold 3-9X on top, in a LaRue mount, and went to work at 100 yards. We’re all accustomed to sub-MOA rifles these days, so just barely doing MOA is not the cause for excitement it would have been back in the 20th century. But for an integrally-suppressed upper, with a 10.5-inch barrel, to do MOA is pretty darned good. Are there drawbacks? Sure, there are with everything.

First up, the Integra is portly. I mean, adding 80 ounces to your lower, five whole pounds before you do any optics, makes a difference, but an SBR, with a free-float handguard and suppressor on it, would come close to the weight of the Integra by itself. If you used a suppressor as big and 
effective as the Integra, you’d match the weight, so portly, yes, but with cause. Second, making the handguard large enough to cover a suppressor makes the entire package a bit wide. Not bad, but it isn’t the slimline competition handguard you might be familiar with. Also, the tight fit of handguard to suppressor tube means you have to be careful with bolt-on accessories and make sure the screws or mounts don’t contact the suppressor tube. And last, the handguard is going to get hot — wear a glove.

The short barrel takes some steam off of any load, but every SBR does that. And the price? At first glance, it seems a bit much, but total up the prices if you did it yourself: an upper with BCG and charging handle. Barrel. Gas system. Suppressor. Then the cost of a gunsmith to shorten the barrel, pin and weld, and assemble the handguard. I’m not sure you could duplicate the Integra for less than its listed cost. One last detail, in case you want to be even quieter; Gemtech offers the Integra in .300 Blackout. (Yes, a test on it will be coming up in the future.) If you want truly “Hollywood” quiet, then the Integra in .300 Blackout and fed subsonic ammunition will be the closest thing to it you can lay hands on. If the .300 is just too specialized for you, and you are fully invested in things .223/5.56, then the Integra in 5.56 is something that should be on your list. 

GEMTECH INTEGRA SPECS:

• Manufacturer: Gemtech.com
• OAL: 22.375 in. (10.5 in. barrel)
• Net Added Length: N/A
• Diameter: 1.5 in. (handguard 1.75 in.)
• Material: Titanium, aluminum, steel (monocore is 6AL4V)
• Weight: 80 oz.
• Finish: Anodized aluminum,black Cerakote
• Calibers Available: 5.56 & 300 Blackout
• Full-Auto Rated: Yes*
• Mount System Available: N/A
• MSRP: $2,009
• Full-Auto Rated: Full-auto rating is 4-8 round bursts every 4-8 seconds.

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