Suppressors Suppressor Cleaning
- Thread starter kurtispalu
- Start date
What are you using to plug the end?
With regards to endurance and fouling, what we have more often seen is that the effectiveness ( flash, sound and in some rarer cases accuracy ) is starting to be affected more, than what the actual erosion or wear is ie. more dirty than worn to a point than a suppressor cannot be used.
Estimated increase in weight is 1 gram per 100 rounds from several tests done here, so potentially the suppressor weight is c. 60-80 grams if fired for 6000-8000 rounds without any cleaning.
But this is just an average/example figure, it does appear from some of our more recent .300 BLK specific use and testing that the cartridges burn quite clean.
Example pictures attached of one of our SL8i-BL .300 BLK suppressors that has several hundreds of rounds through it already ( both super and sub sonic )
Note first baffle cleanliness between new and used, definitely the least accumulation we have seen starting to gather.
So far the most effective cleaning method has been ultra sonic washing, smart to perhaps starting to do it between for example 1000 – 3000 round intervals, to remove hopefully all or most of the fouling put in that round count.
But, people can also check themselves on how the weight is accumulating for their particular system, as manufacturers cannot know all calibre, ammunition type etc. combinations and how they affect this.
A simple way is just to weigh the suppressor on a small digital scale to see how the weight is accumulating.
Maybe they want to clean more frequently than other users, maybe their cleaning period can be longer.
Or maybe they don’t want to clean at all if the rifle gets fired for example a maximum of some hundreds of rounds a year.
Accuracy can be in some cases be affected if the rounds / load are quite dirty and fouling gathers on the edges of the bullet channel.
This can be easily brushed clean or in absolute worst cases drilled with the right size drill bit.
With regards to affecting the sound suppression. We have had an AUG rifle platform military customer send us an older generation jet-Z CQBS-QM suppressor back for examination and the suppressor had over 11,000 rounds through it without any maintenance.
The test cycle to that round count was very harsh, done in mixed semi and full auto cycles of 250 rounds, so I believe that testing cycle increased the fouling rate as well.
When tested on a 16" M16 type rifle, the net sound suppression was c. 9 dB less at 1 m left of the muzzle, than with a new sound suppression. Meaning a c. 38% reduction in sound suppression ability.
At the shooters left ear, the net sound suppression was c. 7 dB less than with a new suppressor, meaning a c. 33% reduction in the sound suppression ability
Picture attached of a cutaway suppressor from the same testing batch, with c. 13500 rounds of M193 through it.
Barrel length was 16” in this case.
Note that this particular suppressor is not dirty at all in the bullet channel edges and the customer reported still very good accuracy, but the issue was the weight increase and effect on sound/flash performance.
So to sum up, there is a lot variables involved and you may or may not need to clean your suppressors.
The primary criteria is the round count, if you know you will be shooting thousands of rounds a year, expect that you may need / want to clean the suppressor.
Best Regards!
Tuukka Jokinen
Sales and Marketing Manager
Ase Utra sound suppressors
Estimated increase in weight is 1 gram per 100 rounds from several tests done here, so potentially the suppressor weight is c. 60-80 grams if fired for 6000-8000 rounds without any cleaning.
But this is just an average/example figure, it does appear from some of our more recent .300 BLK specific use and testing that the cartridges burn quite clean.
Example pictures attached of one of our SL8i-BL .300 BLK suppressors that has several hundreds of rounds through it already ( both super and sub sonic )
Note first baffle cleanliness between new and used, definitely the least accumulation we have seen starting to gather.
So far the most effective cleaning method has been ultra sonic washing, smart to perhaps starting to do it between for example 1000 – 3000 round intervals, to remove hopefully all or most of the fouling put in that round count.
But, people can also check themselves on how the weight is accumulating for their particular system, as manufacturers cannot know all calibre, ammunition type etc. combinations and how they affect this.
A simple way is just to weigh the suppressor on a small digital scale to see how the weight is accumulating.
Maybe they want to clean more frequently than other users, maybe their cleaning period can be longer.
Or maybe they don’t want to clean at all if the rifle gets fired for example a maximum of some hundreds of rounds a year.
Accuracy can be in some cases be affected if the rounds / load are quite dirty and fouling gathers on the edges of the bullet channel.
This can be easily brushed clean or in absolute worst cases drilled with the right size drill bit.
With regards to affecting the sound suppression. We have had an AUG rifle platform military customer send us an older generation jet-Z CQBS-QM suppressor back for examination and the suppressor had over 11,000 rounds through it without any maintenance.
The test cycle to that round count was very harsh, done in mixed semi and full auto cycles of 250 rounds, so I believe that testing cycle increased the fouling rate as well.
When tested on a 16" M16 type rifle, the net sound suppression was c. 9 dB less at 1 m left of the muzzle, than with a new sound suppression. Meaning a c. 38% reduction in sound suppression ability.
At the shooters left ear, the net sound suppression was c. 7 dB less than with a new suppressor, meaning a c. 33% reduction in the sound suppression ability
Picture attached of a cutaway suppressor from the same testing batch, with c. 13500 rounds of M193 through it.
Barrel length was 16” in this case.
Note that this particular suppressor is not dirty at all in the bullet channel edges and the customer reported still very good accuracy, but the issue was the weight increase and effect on sound/flash performance.
So to sum up, there is a lot variables involved and you may or may not need to clean your suppressors.
The primary criteria is the round count, if you know you will be shooting thousands of rounds a year, expect that you may need / want to clean the suppressor.
Best Regards!
Tuukka Jokinen
Sales and Marketing Manager
Ase Utra sound suppressors
Wow. Look at all that copper fouling! I would think a straight ammonia soak after the CLR.
I wonder if one of those electronic bore cleaners would remove all that copper? It would probably have to run for a long time, but it would be worth a shot
This is some good info, things I wonder about, answered. Thanks for sharing
