Airgun silencers, moderators or suppressors – whatever you prefer to call them – usually fall into one of two categories: the ones that are made to effectively reduce noise and the ones that are made to look good. After testing 3 Legged Thing (or 3LT as you may know them) airgun silencers for a few weeks, I am pleased to say that they do both. There is no denying that these stylish moderators will enhance your airgun’s aesthetics but, most importantly, they will also do a very effective job of making it quieter.
I was hoping to visit the 3 Legged Thing stand at The British Shooting Show back in February. However, it was so busy throughout all the three days I was there that I never had a chance to get past the crowd. That level of interest suggested to me that they must be making some rather good products.
Fast forward to the start of the summer, and the team at Range Right mentioned that they had taken on distribution of 3 Legged Thing shooting products and asked if I would like to put some of the silencers to the test. I jumped at the chance to find out if these eye-catching moderators actually have performance to match their looks.
3 Legged Thing has actually been around since 2010. Based in Great Britain, Bedfordshire to be precise, they started out designing and making high-quality camera tripods – hence the name. They recently moved into airgun accessories, starting out with silencers, and it is clear to see that these are made with the same commitment to quality, performance and style. The range also includes rifle bags and gun saddles, and is being extended to includes tripods, bipods and much more. The silencers featured in this review are covered by a five-year warranty and their packaging is absolutely stunning – it’s eye-catching and also very informative.
Below: 3 Legged Thing sound suppressors look great before you even get them out of the box
First out of the box was the Reservoir Mods airgun moderator, which costs £69.99. This silencer is airgun-specific for .177 and .22 calibres and has a half-inch UNF thread. They come in a variety of colours – check out the 3 Legged Thing website to see them all – and are available in either wavy or chamfered finish. They’re just over 13cm long, which is pretty compact, and weigh around 136g.
The Reservoir Mods design features a neat modular construction incorporating five chambers, each containing a carefully designed gasket which is made from a blend of compressed wool and polyester. Those gaskets are four times the density of an acoustic panel, which makes them highly effective when it comes to sound suppression. The chambers don’t just strip out noise though, they also strip out turbulent air, which sets the pellet off on a smoother flightpath to improve downrange accuracy.
To test sound suppression, I conducted a simple test on the range. It was nothing too technical; I just used the Decibel Meter app on my phone to measure noise levels. With no moderator on the sub-12ft/lb airgun I used for testing, and with my phone positioned just in front of the muzzle, I got a 105 dB reading. I then used a proven Huggett moderator, which is a decent piece of kit, as a control and got a 101 dB reading. With the more compact Reservoir Mods moderator on, I got an even lower 99 dB reading. That is very impressive, especially as it’s 4cm shorter than the Huggett.
Below: Reservoir Mods airgun silencers pack a lot of sound suppressing technology into their small frame
If you want something a bit bigger and even quieter, check out the Reservoir Mods XL, which costs £89.99. You get the same precision airgun moderator with the same choice of colours and wavy or chamfered finish, but it has eight of those modular chambers instead of five. That makes it a bit longer at around 20cm, and increases weight to just under 200g, but it makes it even better at stifling muzzle report. In my not-very-scientific test, it gave a reading of 97, quieter than the standard model and 4 dB quieter than the Huggett. And of course, its modular design means you could always shorten it by one or two chambers if you wanted to.
Below: Reservoir Mods XL airgun moderators offer a longer option with additional chambers for sound suppression and air stripping
Ok then, next up is the Modfather. This is a great looking thing, with a name to suggest that is the Daddy of moderators. The Modfather is available in loads of different colour schemes – again, check out the website to see them all – and also has an interchangeable exoskeleton in a choice of three different designs. The Slotted design retails for £129.99, the Chevron design is £139.99 and the intricate Spiderweb design is £149.99.
Below: The 3LT Modfather is an extremely stylish airgun moderator and comes in three main design options with a choice of colours
Again, the emphasis with the Modfather is very much on quality and performance. It is pretty short at just 12cm long, but it has a chunky 45mm diameter to boost its volume, and it weighs in at just under 220g so it’s not too heavy. The Modfather’s chambers contain studio-grade acoustic foam, which is washable and, as you would imagine, does a very effective job of soaking up sound.
The Modfather samples I was sent had a half-inch UNF thread and are suitable for .177 and .22 calibres – I believe other configurations are available. You can add an extension tube to make it even quieter and it’s even possible to stack these moderators together. I just used it as standard, straight out of the box, and got a reading of 97 dB – the same as the 20cm Reservoir Mod XL and significantly quieter than the Huggett, which is 5cm longer than the Modfather. That is brilliant performance from such a short airgun silencer.
Below: Although comparatively short in its standard guise, the Modfather sound suppressor is a big performer when it comes to keeping airgun quiet
Suffice to say, I was really impressed with the 3 Legged Thing airgun moderators that Range Right sent me to test. In terms of aesthetics, they offer everything from subtle black for low-key hunting to serious bling that's guaranteed to turn heads on the range. The build quality of these precision-made British silencers is awesome and, most importantly, they are highly effective when it comes to sound suppression. Whether you want to keep your airgun quiet on the range or hush it down for stealthy hunting, these offerings from 3 Legged Thing provide a solution that really does work.
Article first published 10th August 2026
