Suppressors Brake install and TOMB cans?

[PFG]

I'm seeing more and more muzzle brakes hit the market that allow for hand threading - like the Insite Arms Heathen and Area 419 Hellfire. No wrench or thread locker required.

When it comes to TOMB cans like the TBAC Ultra - why do the brakes need to be timed on with peel washers, locked on with peels, and torqued on with a wrench? Is this a CYA measure for baffle strikes, or is something else at play here? Would love to see a brake I could hand install and hand remove, allowing a TOMB brake to be easily and quickly swapped between guns with 1 brake, 1 can.

 

[EXTREMEPREJUDICE]

The brakes are timed to best mitigate recoil, semi-permanently installed so that they do not shift/unscrew when installing and removing the suppressor. If you are moving between rifles and are using one brake and suppressor you would be best served with just using a direct thread can. The real functionality comes in to play with using one can with several rifles each with a TOMB.

 

[PFG]

semi-permanently installed so that they do not shift/unscrew when installing and removing the suppressor

That makes sense...but can't the suppressor be threaded in the opposite direction so this can't happen?

Left hand thread the brake
Right hand thread the can

 

[BurnOut]

That makes sense...but can't the suppressor be threaded in the opposite direction so this can't happen?

Left hand thread the brake
Right hand thread the can

I suppose they could. I suppose that the only risk would be loosening the brake as you installed the can, but you're going to take that risk either installing or removing the can anyhow... and most people tend to have to put more oomph into removing a (stuck/carbon'd up) can than installing one.

 

[PFG]

I suppose they could. I suppose that the only risk would be loosening the brake as you installed the can, but you're going to take that risk either installing or removing the can anyhow... and most people tend to have to put more oomph into removing a (stuck/carbon'd up) can than installing one.

Yes - thats what I'm getting at.

Maybe we can get some input from one of the posters here that work on the inside.

 

[PFG]

Bump to see if anyone else has some input on this. Thanks for reading.

 

[vh20]

I'll tell you my interpretation of what TBAC told me regarding their Compact Brake mounting system for their suppressors. They highly recommend their Compact Brake-mount version suppressors over their direct-thread versions. Technically, you only "have to" time the brake if you are going to shoot it without the suppressor attached (to keep the ports horizontal to the barrel and keep the blast horizontal). If the suppressor is attached, it doesn't really matter if it's timed because the blast is all contained within the suppressor.

So, if you want the option to shoot brake-only, you need to time it, and the peel washers are used for that purpose. TBAC recommends high-strength red Loctite to semi-permanently mount the brake. They also have you tighten the brake to the barrel significantly tighter (i.e with a wrench, but not super-torqued) than you would be hand-tightening a direct-thread suppressor. This, plus the Loctite, takes all the tolerances and play out of the barrel thread interface. With a direct thread suppressor, you are limited to only being hand tight, and you only have a very small barrel shoulder for the suppressor to seat on. Alignment and tolerances/play in the threads are not as well accounted for.

Now look at the shoulder and threads on the brake where the suppressor mounts to it, and on the brake-mount version of the suppressor. They use a very large, conical shoulder and larger diameter threads with a finer pitch than the barrel threads. This results in a much better (more solid, better aligned, tighter tolerances) mounting surface for the suppressor to seat on. The conical shoulder is self aligning, and also works better to keep the suppressor from loosening under recoil.