Suppressors Please forgive my stupid questions.

[45ACP_Marine]

I have no real experience with suppressors unfortunately and it is in my plans to get a couple. After talking to my local shop, I walked away with a few questions.

1. I thought suppressors were caliber specific. He is saying they work up to such and such caliber, meaning that one suppressor works for multiple calibers. So I could use the same one for my ar-10 and ar-15

2. I thought baffles and other internal parts wore out, he is saying that they don't.


Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a few months before I can afford it, but it would be nice to know if I should trust him or not.

 

[slowkota]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

A larger caliber suppressor can be used on a smaller caliber gun, but obviously not the other way around.

Baffles do wear some, but it takes ALOT of rounds to wear them down to anything noticable. Follow the manufacters recommendations as far as fire rating, and it will last damn near forever!

If on a high rate of fire weapon, a muzzle device with a sacrifical baffle will take the brunt of blast, and prolong the life of the actual suppressor baffles.

 

[45ACP_Marine]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

Good to go, I appreciate the reply. For some reason I thought wipes and baffles had to be replaced periodically. This makes me feel better.

 

[Stalking_Rhino]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 45ACP_Marine</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have no real experience with suppressors unfortunately and it is in my plans to get a couple. After talking to my local shop, I walked away with a few questions.

1. I thought suppressors were caliber specific. He is saying they work up to such and such caliber, meaning that one suppressor works for multiple calibers. So I could use the same one for my ar-10 and ar-15

2. I thought baffles and other internal parts wore out, he is saying that they don't.


Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a few months before I can afford it, but it would be nice to know if I should trust him or not. </div></div>

Supppressors will work optimally for thei designed and designated caliber, you can always throw a small bullet through it. In most cases the smaller caliber won't suppress as well but helps on the fiscal side of ownership.

Yes, baffles do wear out, depending on what material will determine how fast they wear out. They last eons longer than wipes though. Some baffles will wear out in the matter of a few thousand rounds before sound reduction is affected, nd others will take 10+K depending on the fire schedule.

There are tons of pictures out there showing baffle wear that proves they DO wear out. Rimfire, Centerfire Pistol and Centerfire Rifle, no suppressor is immune, just a matter of how long until it starts being a problem.

 

[45ACP_Marine]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StalkingRhino</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 45ACP_Marine</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have no real experience with suppressors unfortunately and it is in my plans to get a couple. After talking to my local shop, I walked away with a few questions.

1. I thought suppressors were caliber specific. He is saying they work up to such and such caliber, meaning that one suppressor works for multiple calibers. So I could use the same one for my ar-10 and ar-15

2. I thought baffles and other internal parts wore out, he is saying that they don't.


Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a few months before I can afford it, but it would be nice to know if I should trust him or not. </div></div>

Supppressors will work optimally for thei designed and designated caliber, you can always throw a small bullet through it. In most cases the smaller caliber won't suppress as well but helps on the fiscal side of ownership.

Yes, baffles do wear out, depending on what material will determine how fast they wear out. They last eons longer than wipes though. Some baffles will wear out in the matter of a few thousand rounds before sound reduction is affected, nd others will take 10+K depending on the fire schedule.

There are tons of pictures out there showing baffle wear that proves they DO wear out. Rimfire, Centerfire Pistol and Centerfire Rifle, no suppressor is immune, just a matter of how long until it starts being a problem. </div></div>

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[biffj]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

Wipes aren't used much anymore for anything but extra small suppressors that are intended for just a shot or two. They used to be used on all sorts of stuff because they allowed you to have less complex baffle designs. Now baffle designs have become more efficient and the need for wipes is reduced. The need for accuracy has become more important as well since the useable range with suppressed firearms has increased to the point where its important. Because of that wipes are now a bad thing due the fact that the bullet will actually touch a wipe and that generally reduces the accuracy. As the others noted there can be wear on the baffles but normally just the blast baffle is affected much. Sometimes they erode and other times they peen over. Either can create issues but not for a long time. My .338 Lapua suppressor has about 1000rds through it now and its starting to peen over a little leaving a burr on the inside of the blast baffle. I don't think it will be an issue for another 1000rds and if so it can be deburred.

Hope that helps

Frank

 

[45ACP_Marine]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

It does actually. This is great information.

 

[Stalking_Rhino]

Re: Please forgive my stupid questions.

Actually all the baffles are damaged through either peening or erosion along the bore.

Blast baffle takes the brunt of that trauma and lessens as you get further away from the muzzle though.

If I can find some of my pictures I will post them if you like.