Titanium Suppressors - Do they All Spark?

Joeg26er

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Jul 26, 2018
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Titanium Suppressors - Do they All Spark? Looking at the Nomad LT or a TBAC and wondering how they control flash and spark in low-no light conditions.
I want minimal light signature. Should I just look for only non titanium cans?
 
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I'm no expert but titanium has zero to do with flash mitigation. Same thing with any other metal.

The design of the suppressor has everything to do with it, not the materials it's made out of.
 
As far as which cans have the absolute best flash suppression the guys at silencer shop think it's surefire.

That said "90% of all suppressor shoppers could care less". Their words not mine.
 
Titanium Suppressors - Do they All Spark? Looking at the Nomad LT or a TBAC and wondering how they control flash and spark in low-no light conditions.
I want minimal light signature. Should I just look for only non titanium cans?

I'm no expert but titanium has zero to do with flash mitigation. Same thing with any other metal.

The design of the suppressor has everything to do with it, not the materials it's made out of.
The Ti will absolutely flash if it gets hot enough. Or if you have a baffle strike. Many, many cans are built using Ti, and never have this problem. Sometimes it can be the ammo.

This was a large concern for me when I built a couple FM1 cans. One was for a 10.5" 5.56. Super flashy from the jump, because of the short barrel. I used a diffusion wall and all 17-4 SS internals. Zero muzzle flash, even with m193/855.
 
I've built a few Ti suppressors and they all throw some sparks at the beginning due to shavings and remnants that remain in the can after putting it together. Once those burn/shoot out (like just a few shots) I've never seen sparks from the cans even in low light or dark conditions.
 
The Ti will absolutely flash if it gets hot enough. Or if you have a baffle strike. Many, many cans are built using Ti, and never have this problem. Sometimes it can be the ammo.

This was a large concern for me when I built a couple FM1 cans. One was for a 10.5" 5.56. Super flashy from the jump, because of the short barrel. I used a diffusion wall and all 17-4 SS internals. Zero muzzle flash, even with m193/855.
I was under the impression that the OP was asking about regular old flash suppression. Beyond that anything I might have said is outside of my wheelhouse or something I have zero experience with.
 
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Yes, titanium silencer will spark. Our (CGS) rifle silencers are internally coated with hexagonal boron nitride which further limits/eliminates sparking. In general the amount of sparking is barrel length and cartridge dependent. Titanium silencers will spark more when new. Sparking is separate from flash and isn't controlled with a flash hider.
 
I've built a few Ti suppressors and they all throw some sparks at the beginning due to shavings and remnants that remain in the can after putting it together. Once those burn/shoot out (like just a few shots) I've never seen sparks from the cans even in low light or dark conditions.
This, except that it’s not loose shavings that spark (unless the builder is really sloppy), it’s just the sharp edges eroding.

Titanium sparks when being blast eroded; you can see it happen if you bead blast or sand blast it in the dark. Interesting and sometimes impressive phenomenon. Titanium rod inserted into rifle bullets makes neat “incendiary” rounds too, with lots of sparks thrown off when shooting hard surfaces.
 
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I'll third that sentiment. Used to blast my baffles to clean them and it was a purple fireworks show. Have also seen the sparking die off after the internals get a good carbon coating.