Journal · Collector’s Guide
SilencerCo Maxim 9: The Pistol Named for Maxim’s Son
The SilencerCo Maxim 9 looks like a prop from a science fiction movie: a square, slab-sided pistol with a front end that runs well past the trigger guard. That front end is the silencer. SilencerCo built it into the gun instead of threading a can onto a barrel, and only a short slide at the back moves. The name goes back much further. It honors Hiram Percy Maxim, who received a silencer patent in 1909, and whose father, Hiram Stevens Maxim, built the first fully automatic machine gun in 1884. The Maxim 9 in our video joined our own collection about two years ago.
Two Maxims: the machine gun and the silencer
Hiram Stevens Maxim was born in Maine in 1840 and later settled in Britain. In 1884 he began developing a recoil-operated machine gun in Hatton Garden, London, and the result is credited as the first fully automatic machine gun. The Maxim gun went into service in 1886, and its design carried on in the Vickers. He was later knighted, which is why American Rifleman calls him Sir Hiram S. Maxim.
His son, Hiram Percy Maxim, was born in 1869 and went in a different direction: quieter machines. From 1902 through 1909 he was largely focused on inventing, building and marketing firearm silencers, and he developed mufflers for gasoline engines using much the same technology. One of his patents, US 916,885 for a “Silent Firearm,” was filed on June 26, 1908, and granted on March 30, 1909. Google Patents lists the Maxim Silent Firearms Company on the application.
He called the product the Maxim Silencer, and American Rifleman traces the word silencer itself back to him. His Maxim Silencer Company was the first successful suppressor business, American Rifleman notes, though only partly a commercial success. The same article says that early issues of Arms and The Man and The American Rifleman carried its ads, and that Theodore Roosevelt had a Maxim Silencer on his Winchester Model 94. By the late 1920s, Maxim had moved on to silencing industrial machinery. He is also remembered outside the gun world: in 1914 he co-founded the American Radio Relay League, an organization of amateur radio operators.
American Rifleman says SilencerCo named its integrally suppressed pistol the Maxim 9 in homage to Hiram Percy.
Where the SilencerCo Maxim 9 fits
Building a silencer into a pistol was not a new idea. During the Second World War, Britain’s Inter-Services Research Bureau devised the Welrod, a bolt-action, magazine-fed pistol with an integrated suppressor for covert work. The Soviet PB, an integrally suppressed 9x18mm pistol, has been in service since 1967. Those were special-purpose guns for clandestine units.
The Maxim 9 was a modern striker-fired 9x19mm pistol designed around a suppressor from the start. According to Forgotten Weapons, SilencerCo announced it in late 2015 and released it at SHOT Show 2017, and production tapered off in early 2021. The pistol is out of production now, and SilencerCo lists it among its sunsetted products.
Maxim 9 markings on our pistol
The markings on our pistol are few and plain. The polymer frame, just behind the slide catch, is molded SILENCERCO MAXIM 9. The slide is engraved WEST VALLEY CITY, UTAH. Through the opening in the slide you can read SILENCERCO and 9MM on the barrel block, where the owner’s manual says the caliber designation is marked.
The front cap carries the SilencerCo logo in a circle, below the bore and the two bolt heads that hold the baffle stack together. The same logo appears near the bottom of the grip, and the front sight sits on top of the silencer housing.
How the integrally suppressed Maxim 9 works
On most suppressed pistols, the barrel sticks out past the slide and the can threads onto it. The Maxim 9 is laid out the other way. The barrel is fixed, 4.38 inches long with a 1:10 twist, according to the owner’s manual, and the silencer is built around and ahead of it as part of the gun. Forgotten Weapons describes the action as a proprietary delayed blowback system with all the moving parts in the back half of the slide, which leaves the front of the gun to the suppressor.
Racking the pistol shows the layout. Only the short slide at the back travels, and with it locked open a gap appears between the slide and the silencer section.
The silencer itself is a stack of baffles held by rods and bolts at the front cap. The pistol ships in its long configuration. According to the manual, removing two baffles and swapping to shorter rods takes 1.21 inches off the length, a trade between size and sound reduction. SilencerCo’s own figures put average muzzle levels at 136.3 to 138.3 dB in the long configuration, depending on bullet weight, and 139.9 dB in the short configuration with 147-grain loads. For the short configuration, the manual calls for subsonic ammunition of 147 grains or heavier to stay hearing safe. Movies make a silencer sound like a little cough. At the range we ran ours in the long configuration with ordinary commercial 9mm, not subsonic loads, and it still sounds like a gunshot. The video lets you hear it.
The rest of the pistol is familiar. It takes Glock 17 magazines, including aftermarket ones, and SilencerCo shipped it with two Magpul PMAG 17 GL9 magazines. The controls are ambidextrous. A cover plate on top of the pistol comes off for an optic adapter plate, and KeyMod slots under the silencer take a rail section for a light.
What the Maxim 9 is like to shoot
Our verdict in the video is short. It’s big, and the shape is just weird. We just don’t see it being practical. Still, it is one of the strangest pistols we’ve shot, and the question we closed the video with stands: future classic, or too much compromise?
Specifications
| Item | SilencerCo Maxim 9 |
|---|---|
| Maker | SilencerCo, West Valley City, Utah |
| Introduced | Announced late 2015, released at SHOT Show 2017 |
| Status | Out of production; production tapered off in early 2021 |
| Cartridge | 9x19mm |
| Action | Striker-fired, delayed blowback, fixed barrel |
| Barrel | 4.38 in, 1:10 twist |
| Length | 10.75 in long configuration, 9.54 in short configuration |
| Weight | 2 lb 7 oz long, 2 lb 5 oz short |
| Dimensions | 1.58 in by 5.41 in, as listed in the manual |
| Magazines | Glock 17 pattern; shipped with two Magpul PMAG 17 GL9 |
| Accessories | Optic cover plate on top, KeyMod slots under the silencer |
Dimensions and weights are from the owner’s manual.
On the floor at OSA
The Maxim 9 in our video and photos is part of our own collection. It is not on the floor. These pieces in our case connect to its story:
- Glock 17 Gen6 9mm: the Maxim 9 takes Glock 17 pattern magazines, the same magazine family this pistol uses.
- 1918 DWM P.08 Luger, Weimar police: Georg Luger designed the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge in 1901, the round the Maxim 9 fires.
- Trijicon Bright & Tough Suppressor Height Sights for Glock: taller sights for a pistol that wears a can on its muzzle. The Maxim 9 solves the same problem by putting its front sight on top of the silencer housing.
For another pistol built around quiet, see our article on the KAC snap-on suppressor and the slide-lock Beretta 92F.
The grid below updates by itself as pieces come and go.
Trijicon Bright & Tough Suppressor Height Sights – Glock 17/19/22/23/26/27/31-35/37-39, Green Front, Yellow RearAdd to cart to see price
Trijicon Bright & Tough Suppressor-Height Night Sights – S&W M&P C.O.R.E. and M2.0, Green 3-DotAdd to cart to see price
Trijicon Bright & Tough Night Sights – Desert Eagle, Green Tritium with White OutlineAdd to cart to see price
Trijicon Bright & Tough Night Sights – Glock Standard Frame Models, Green Tritium with White OutlineAdd to cart to see price
Trijicon Bright & Tough Night Sights – Glock 20/21 Large Frame, Green Tritium with White OutlineAdd to cart to see price
Trijicon Bright & Tough Night Sights – Smith & Wesson M&P Shield .40/9mm, Green OutlineAdd to cart to see priceThe short version is on our Instagram. Watch it on Instagram.
General information for collectors, not legal advice. History and specifications come from the published sources listed below and from SilencerCo’s owner’s manual.
Common Questions
Who is the SilencerCo Maxim 9 named after?
Hiram Percy Maxim, who received a silencer patent in 1909. He was the son of Hiram Stevens Maxim, who built the first fully automatic machine gun in 1884. American Rifleman says SilencerCo chose the name in homage to the son.Is the Maxim 9 suppressor built in or threaded on?
Built in. The silencer is the front section of the pistol, not a can that threads onto a barrel. Its baffles come out for cleaning, and removing two of them shortens the pistol by 1.21 inches, according to the owner’s manual.Does the Maxim 9 barrel move?
No. The owner’s manual describes a fixed 4.38-inch barrel. Only the short slide at the back of the pistol moves when it cycles or is racked by hand.What magazines does the Maxim 9 use?
Glock 17 magazines, including aftermarket ones. SilencerCo shipped the pistol with two Magpul PMAG 17 GL9 magazines.Is the SilencerCo Maxim 9 still made?
No. According to Forgotten Weapons, it was released at SHOT Show 2017 and production tapered off in early 2021. SilencerCo lists it among its sunsetted products.Was the Maxim 9 the first integrally suppressed pistol?
No. The British Welrod of the Second World War and the Soviet PB, in service since 1967, both had silencers built in. The Maxim 9 is a modern striker-fired 9mm built around the same idea.How loud is the SilencerCo Maxim 9?
SilencerCo’s own figures give average muzzle levels of 136.3 to 138.3 dB in the long configuration, depending on bullet weight, and 139.9 dB in the shorter configuration with 147-grain subsonic loads. That is still a real gunshot, not a movie cough.Sources
- SilencerCo, “Maxim 9 Owner’s Manual” — https://cdn.amplifi.pattern.com/1133cbc0-1fc5-4e11-a663-1f2841ac15d8 (fixed 4.38 in barrel, 1:10 twist, lengths, weights, dimensions, dB figures, 1.21 in shorter by removing two baffles, 147 gr or heavier subsonic to stay hearing safe in the short configuration, Glock 17 magazines, two PMAG 17 GL9, ambidextrous controls, optic cover plate, KeyMod, barrel block caliber marking, front sight, baffles cleaned during full cleaning)
- SilencerCo, “Sunsetted Products” — https://silencerco.com/sunsetted-products/ (Maxim 9 listed as sunsetted)
- American Rifleman, “Keefe Report: Is It a Suppressor or a Silencer?” — https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/keefe-report-is-it-a-suppressor-or-a-silencer/ (Sir Hiram S. Maxim, the word silencer in his 1909 patent, first successful suppressor business but only partly commercially successful, ads, Theodore Roosevelt’s Winchester Model 94, late 1920s industrial silencing, Maxim 9 named in homage to Hiram Percy)
- Ian McCollum, Forgotten Weapons, “A Modern Integrally Suppressed Pistol for Everyone: The SilencerCo Maxim 9” — https://www.forgottenweapons.com/a-modern-integrally-suppressed-pistol-for-everyone-the-silencerco-maxim-9/ (announced late 2015, released SHOT Show 2017, delayed blowback with moving parts in the back half, production tapered off early 2021)
- Wikipedia, “Hiram Percy Maxim” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Percy_Maxim (born 1869, silencers 1902 to 1909, mufflers, patent March 30, 1909, Maxim Silencer name, ARRL 1914)
- Google Patents, “US916885A Silent firearm” — https://patents.google.com/patent/US916885A/en (filed June 26, 1908, granted March 30, 1909, Maxim Silent Firearms Co)
- Wikipedia, “Maxim gun” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_gun (recoil operated, 1884, first fully automatic machine gun, Hatton Garden, in service 1886, Vickers)
- Wikipedia, “Hiram Maxim” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Maxim (born 1840 in Maine, American-born British inventor, knighthood)
- Wikipedia, “Welrod” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welrod (WWII, Inter-Services Research Bureau, bolt action, integrated suppressor)
- Wikipedia, “PB pistol” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PB_pistol (in service 1967 to present)
- Wikipedia, “9×19mm Parabellum” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9%C3%9719mm_Parabellum (designed by Georg Luger in 1901)