MikeMcCasland
Team Texas F-T/R
Gents,
I know there aren't a lot of suppressed shooters here, but figured I'd post for anyone interested.
For background, I've had a Silencerco Omega for ~2.5 years now, and it's probably got close to ~10,000 rounds though it without a major issue. I typically mount it to slow-fire bolt guns, shooting ~40+ gr of powder each round; I'm told this pattern of shooting will cause the suppressors to cake with carbon and other crap much faster than say, mag dumping ARs (I guess the theory is the debris from the round has time to cool/adhere more than it would with fast fire?). Suffice to say, this thing had gobs of carbon in it from both the front/rear portions where you could get a good look. I'd guesstimate the added carbon constituted a ~15-20% reduction in overall volume from what I could visibly see (easily 4-5mm thick around the edges; thicker in some of the recessed areas towards the rear).
I had the outer sleeve of my SiCo Omega separate from the baffle stack this afternoon; not an uncommon thing if you look online. It was a direct result of me submerging the can in boiling water last week to help free the ASR adapter that had been "carbon glued" into the back of the can. By submerging the "rear" side of the can I had unknowingly 'deactivated' the rocksett holding the outer tube on.
For those wonder, with the outer sleeve removed, the Omega baffle stack looks like this:
I don't have any rocksett on-hand, so while I wait for some to be delivered, I figured I would try an experiment. I had been reading some threads regarding folks using SS/wet tumblers to clean brass without using any media. Apparently they were getting results that were better than you might expect. I figured since I have the baffle stack separated from the outer sleeve, it might be worth tossing it in the tumbler to see what happens.
I removed all the pins from my tumbler drum, and put the usual amount of dawn/lemishine in, and gave it a test run for ~15 minutes in the other room; in the tumbler the thing sounds like a middle school kid who found his first playboy. Upon pulling it out, it was obvious that it was removing carbon from the baffles; it was no longer that hard caked on carbon, but a very thick sludge....similar to what you'd find in a motor that had it's oil grossly neglected. I closely inspected for damage and didn't see anything on the threads/edges of the baffle stack. I put it back in for another hour or so and pulled it back out. Holy crap, I can see bare metal for portions of this thing; it's actually working!
I changed out the water/dawn/lemishine and put it back in for another hour, it doesn't look 100% brand new all over, but it looks way better than it did. The baffle stack is also noticeably lighter than it was before tossing it in the tumbler; I would guess several ounces of carbon (maybe 6-8ozs) have been removed from inside the can. I don't know what affect it will have in terms of the sound profile of the suppressor, but I do suspect it will help prevent the can from "carbon freezing" the mounts as easily; it'll basically have to build all that crap back up again before it starts approaching the threads.
I didn't take any before pictures of the suppressor, because I honestly didn't expect the results to be this dramatic. I mean, what can the usual tumbling mix do without any pins right?
The most representative picture I could find was from TFB; it looked heavily caked like the portion in the top right corner, except it was caked all the way around; not just a high spot in one area.
After pulling the suppressor out after hour 2, it looks like this (these are my pics)
Blast Baffles:
I'd searched the web and couldn't really find anyone trying this without pins, so figured I'd pass this along for an easy way to clean a sealed baffle stack that doesn't involve harsh chemicals, and doesn't put you at risk for peening threads or baffles.
Front Baffles:
Benefits:
I know there aren't a lot of suppressed shooters here, but figured I'd post for anyone interested.
For background, I've had a Silencerco Omega for ~2.5 years now, and it's probably got close to ~10,000 rounds though it without a major issue. I typically mount it to slow-fire bolt guns, shooting ~40+ gr of powder each round; I'm told this pattern of shooting will cause the suppressors to cake with carbon and other crap much faster than say, mag dumping ARs (I guess the theory is the debris from the round has time to cool/adhere more than it would with fast fire?). Suffice to say, this thing had gobs of carbon in it from both the front/rear portions where you could get a good look. I'd guesstimate the added carbon constituted a ~15-20% reduction in overall volume from what I could visibly see (easily 4-5mm thick around the edges; thicker in some of the recessed areas towards the rear).
I had the outer sleeve of my SiCo Omega separate from the baffle stack this afternoon; not an uncommon thing if you look online. It was a direct result of me submerging the can in boiling water last week to help free the ASR adapter that had been "carbon glued" into the back of the can. By submerging the "rear" side of the can I had unknowingly 'deactivated' the rocksett holding the outer tube on.
For those wonder, with the outer sleeve removed, the Omega baffle stack looks like this:
I don't have any rocksett on-hand, so while I wait for some to be delivered, I figured I would try an experiment. I had been reading some threads regarding folks using SS/wet tumblers to clean brass without using any media. Apparently they were getting results that were better than you might expect. I figured since I have the baffle stack separated from the outer sleeve, it might be worth tossing it in the tumbler to see what happens.
I removed all the pins from my tumbler drum, and put the usual amount of dawn/lemishine in, and gave it a test run for ~15 minutes in the other room; in the tumbler the thing sounds like a middle school kid who found his first playboy. Upon pulling it out, it was obvious that it was removing carbon from the baffles; it was no longer that hard caked on carbon, but a very thick sludge....similar to what you'd find in a motor that had it's oil grossly neglected. I closely inspected for damage and didn't see anything on the threads/edges of the baffle stack. I put it back in for another hour or so and pulled it back out. Holy crap, I can see bare metal for portions of this thing; it's actually working!
I changed out the water/dawn/lemishine and put it back in for another hour, it doesn't look 100% brand new all over, but it looks way better than it did. The baffle stack is also noticeably lighter than it was before tossing it in the tumbler; I would guess several ounces of carbon (maybe 6-8ozs) have been removed from inside the can. I don't know what affect it will have in terms of the sound profile of the suppressor, but I do suspect it will help prevent the can from "carbon freezing" the mounts as easily; it'll basically have to build all that crap back up again before it starts approaching the threads.
I didn't take any before pictures of the suppressor, because I honestly didn't expect the results to be this dramatic. I mean, what can the usual tumbling mix do without any pins right?
The most representative picture I could find was from TFB; it looked heavily caked like the portion in the top right corner, except it was caked all the way around; not just a high spot in one area.
After pulling the suppressor out after hour 2, it looks like this (these are my pics)
Blast Baffles:
I'd searched the web and couldn't really find anyone trying this without pins, so figured I'd pass this along for an easy way to clean a sealed baffle stack that doesn't involve harsh chemicals, and doesn't put you at risk for peening threads or baffles.
Front Baffles:
Benefits:
- Doesn't require any harsh chemicals or the hassle of disposal.
- Doesn't require an higher end ultrasonic (required due to suppressor weight)
- Won't peen the threads like you'd get using media
