Foamed up suppressors

[fyrewall]

I just saw an ad in a gun mag that offered foam to squirt in a suppressor to mute the "crack" like first shot. Reading further shaving cream was first used but it ran down the bore and being water based it caused rust, then petroleum based foams were used but were messy. Then vegetable oil based foams finally gave good results.

I don't know much about suppressors but I would guess the foam absorbed muzzle blast to some extent. I never heard the first shot would be a sharper crack than subsequent shots and don't have a clue why this is.

I would fear in freezing temps the foam would solidify and make for some type of suppressor destruction event.

Any body out there that might have some info on this

 

[Dans40X]

Wet suppressors work well until heated & the water turns to steam & evaporates.
(US Agencies have been using them for decades)

 

[Geno C]

The reason the first shot is almost always louder is the oxygen in the can in pretty sure. I've never used foam but I have used a couple cc of water in my 22 pistol can and it is a very noticeable difference. If I need the first shot to be really quiet; I squirt a little water in it.

After the first shot the water is pretty much all gone and I've never had a rust problem

 

[people]

Wet/dry cans were very common a decade ago for handguns. I have really stopped looking at them in the last few years so I am not sure if that is still the case.

What the water is supposed to do is very quickly evaporate cooling the gasses from the fired round. Pulling gel also works but I found water is just so much easier. I made a piece of pipe that is just shorter than my can. Then let the water drain as I pull it. I just dip the whole thing and fire a few rounds.

I have tried doing the wet thing with rifles but the added weight caused more issues than any noise reduction I ever got. With that being said most rifle cans are not to be ran wet.

A suppressor should stop all the sparks from coming out and hitting stuff from the muzzle. Almost always they kind of do just that. Running wet does stop all the sparks from the muzzle from what I have seen.

 

[fyrewall]

Many thanks - it seems like the flash and muzzle blast is caused by super heated gas being suddenly exposed to air/oxygen and the foam would displace the stagnant air in the suppressor causing first shot flash effect and blast. In any event this stuff is pricy - I think about $20 for a little can and does not contain water.

 

[Twitchy]

Something that may or may not work for you, but has worked in the past for first round pop, was using canned air or some other similar product. Basically shoot some canned air (upside down) in the can/barrel before the first shot.


As mentioned above, a little bit of water or pulling gel (aka KY jelly) works pretty good for a limited number of shots. But, check with the manufacturer to see if they allow/recommend liquid. Some are absolutely against it.

 

[FatBoy]

unless you're using a can operationally, why do you care? I get a sight first round pop from my cans when they are fully cooled. Seems to be more pronounced when it's really cold out. I have always attributed it to cold air in the can being displaced, but the POI is the same inside 600y (the furthest I've checked) and nothing I have every shot with one on the rifle cared.

Just wonder what I'm missing for the recreational shooter using supersonic ammo?

 

[ebb]

I read somewhere that Vietnam era snipers used to shoot one shot before leaving camp and real quick put a piece of tape over the muzzle end of the can to keep the oxygen out.

 

[orbitup]

I bought some wire pulling gel and a long syringe before my 45 can got out of NFA jail but it's pretty damn quiet without it so I never bothered squirting it in there.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Dip it in a bucket of water muzzle down then shake it out and shoot. Works wonders

 

[fyrewall]

Folks seem to be disturbed about the sound of gun-fire. Living in a nice golf course community near a rifle range on a Sunday AM, especially near hunting season, can be disturbing to some folks.

Thinking about wet suppressors, would it be possible that the water in the suppressor would be converted to steam or atomized by a blast of hot muzzle gas. The expansion ratio of water converted to steam (gas) is huge and possibly the flood of the steam or water droplets would displace the air/oxygen removing the blast/gas air interaction.

I hope to have a suppressor(can) screwed onto the muzzle of my .20P or .204R to avoid disturbing farmers or ranchers and to save our needed oxygen from the rodents.