suppressors, dampness and barrels

[Borisserge]

After a few suppressor threads, an inopportune moment arrive for one of my buddy's after being working away for some weeks happened.

We always try to remind each other to remove suppressors after day out hunting or at the range.
6 weeks passed after a day out hunting deer, to come home to find difficulty in chambering a (factory) round. On closer inspection he found out why - bits of barrel weren't where they were supposed to be!

When a suppressor is in a damp/humid environment, you will eventually be able to smell the ammonia from the burn powder.
This when stored on the rifle for any length of time will cause problems

This rifle is a Tikka T3 with 60 rounds from new.....

 

[Shawnba67]

Yikes!

 

[JMayo]

Hummm, on a regular day as in no rain or high humidity I've not cleaned. But on rainy/wet days it is mandatory to put at the least a coat of oil throughout.
Suppressor or not.

I suppose the high humidity trapped in the can migrated down the barrel when rifle was stood on its butt.
Good PSA to the wave of new can operators.
Responsibilities ...come to those that have ...

 

[garandman]

Holy ammoniated corrosive degradation, Batman !

Lesson lurnt !

 

[Borisserge]

We have seen many good custom barrels trashed over the years from suppressors, with them being left on.
If not attended to, they can rot the threads, and muzzle to the point that they're "rotted together" and will not come off.
Last year a buddy had his barrel bore scoped only to find 8" of rifling gone, in the middle of the barrel, and the crown was well......more than pitted.


The big thing really is remove your suppressor after using it, and a quick dry patch through the barrel as a minimum.

Suppressors come in various materials, some more resilient to corrosion than others.

 

[Borisserge]

These were taken midway down a barrel...

 

[Riesel]

Scary Stuff

 

[maxscm]

I've had suppressors for over 17 years and have never seen such .
You must live in a Very High Humid, Polluted Air City.

 

[Texas10]

Leaves me wondering if certain powders are more prone to contributing to corrosion. Water is a byproduct of any combustion where carbon is a component.

 

[Knotwild]

He's right. I have a pieced together AR that is a working rifle. The longest I leave it on is from Monday till Sat. If I fired the rifle, it is with Benchmark and Federal primers and when I empty the chamber at the end of the week the unfired case will be starting to turn green. I am on the coast of SC, so it is also humid.

 

[Bc'z]

And salty

 

[boltfluter]

Good info here. The worst I have seen is carbon falling out of the can into the chamber. Not good, but not a total disaster. For this reason, I always store suppressed rifles muzzle down. Learned this the hard way, but it does work.

Paul

 

[Borisserge]

Good info here. The worst I have seen is carbon falling out of the can into the chamber. Not good, but not a total disaster. For this reason, I always store suppressed rifles muzzle down. Learned this the hard way, but it does work.

Paul

Carbon falling out a can is "normal" as it fills inside the can from being fired.
You can give them a dunt on a work surface and it falls out.
A can with carbon does help with suppression, but can make stripping them a bit of a bother with the ones that are in sections.
The cans which are "90° click on" on a spiggot (which screws on to your muzzle) are great for no reason to remove after use.

One thing to look at is the amount of carbon build up on your muzzle after even 20 rounds. It comes off easy enough with a soaking of solvent, just be careful of the crown.

 

[garandman]

I always remove the can immediately after the range session. Sometimes I dont clean right away on my precision rifles. I rarely clean right away on my PDW rifles. Ive never experienced this type of corrosion.

 

[232]

I wonder how those integral silencers fare?? I have never heard of any such problems with them. Mine fell out of the boat before I looked for that type problem, though I would never have taken it down just because I shot it.