JOHN HOLISTER
Sitting in the dimly lit lobby museum at Sig Sauer Headquarters in Pease, New Hampshire, is John Hollister — one of the best-known faces in the world of suppressors, the unofficial godfather of .300 Blackout, and known to many as the Yoda of silencers. His current home at Sig Sauer affords him the opportunity to travel the country as an educator and product manager, spreading the gospel of a quieter gun world, one suppressor at a time. With a gentle ease and self-confidence that only comes with a lifetime of experience, Hollister sits patiently, absently stroking his long, wizard-like, white beard.
His high-pitched voice has a hint of Southern affect that mixes equal parts self-deprecation and encyclopedic understanding of firearms. There’s a certain sparkle in his light brown eyes as he begins speaking about the technical aspects of suppressors, his life well lived, and the twisty road map that landed him at a company that, like him, shows no signs of slowing down.
RECOIL: Tell us about how you grew up.
John Hollister: My father’s from Texas, and my mother’s from Massachusetts — the original odd couple. My father was in the Air Force. I grew up on military bases around the world. I spent a number of years in the Middle East. I lived in Iran before the Shah abdicated. I lived in Turkey. I lived in Washington DC. I lived in Texas, Colorado, and Florida a couple of times. Just all over the world, all over the country.
So like most military kids, you moved around a lot.
