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Silencer tuning loads,... Grrrr!

My cold shots always throw a bit with the suppressor. But I’m lucky the rifle I use it with has a good tune and similar POI with or without it.

Anyway if you’re giving the rifle lots of time between shots expect the poi to wander. Mine only groups it’s best without long (>1 min) breaks between shots.

I agree it’s probably best to develop a tune without it first. Haven’t needed to do the shim thing but it seems like an accessory I should have in my bag.
 
I would develop a load with out the can. Then after finding the best load, put the can on and tweak the load.
Working on that now, tried some "known good" BR loads last night and it dont look too good on paper. Going back tonight with different powder and bullets to see if it will tighten up. Generally if it wont shoot under an inch at 200 yards I kinda think it's a lost cause and will quit wasting supplies with it. We will see...
 
Sorry to hear it is frustrating you. With a 1:8, you should be able to find something that bbl likes.

Cans are more than enough weight to affect POI and tuning, so you already know that removing it will check a bone off your troubleshooting chart, if at least temporarily.

The bullet and blow-by gases are still well above sonic in this instance. Some cans and recipes just don’t get along and a switch to a different can or change in a recipe can bring a rig to life just as often as not. Some of those often repeated concepts about boat tails and flat base are outdated or may even be confused as the root cause when it was just bad luck. Flat base bullets can and do work with cans, and just like the boat tails, sometimes they do not.

I suspect something else is going on, since tuning a rig destined to use a can all the time shouldn’t necessitate the work be done twice, once without and then again with the can. We always used the weight of the can as a barrel tuning weight.

Taking a can off after tuning for accuracy is easy as a test where you just check the POI shift and such, but I have never seen it where that didn’t affect the tune. In my opinion that would be like hitting the lottery. Hypothetically it can happen, I have just never seen it or heard of anyone who was discussing serious accuracy say it. In theory, it would mean that pulling the can off hits a perfect harmonic of the tuning node.

If you had pet loads from your 6 BR experience, you should give one a try without the can and get a feel for how far to drop back on your troubleshooting list. Since everything is new on this outing, you may have to drop back and check all the fundamentals.
 
I'm sure that there is some science here - but experience has shown that some barrels don't like some silencers! Some barrels don't like any silencers and some barrels shoot as well, if not better with a silencer.
My 17 Hornet doesn't care - but shoots a tad higher ( a Tad being the ISO nomenclature for "a bit", as defined in "rule of thumb") with similar group sizes. My offsiders FTR rifle goes from a 1/4 MOA gun to 12 gauge with a can fitted - and no, it's not striking the baffle.

So try another make of silencer on the rifle - and even a larger calibre. I use a 22 can on the 17 and a 308 can on the 6mm. Which should be the subject of a study by someone with too much time on their hands ( or a silencer manufacturer)
 
I'm understanding that this is a brand new barrel? So the whole build is completely untested and the first thing that comes to mind is the silencer is messing it up?

My cans are all direct thread so I can't help with the quick detach. I can vouch for the importance of barrel thread to can fit. I have a 243 with factory threaded barrel that was giving me fits last year. It seemed like it wanted to shoot but was inconsistent, going between 1/2 and 1 moa or a bit larger at 200. This is a hunting rifle and 3 shot groups are what I'm talking here. The silencer threaded on very sloppy and would even back off slightly. One day I started experimenting with white teflon tape, the kind plumbers use. Don't laugh, I found that 3 perfect wraps, gave me very consistent 3/4" groups at 200, time after time. As this is a DPMS G2, I think that is exceptional accuracy and I took it an ran. With this experiment I found that unthreading and rethreading changed poi and accuracy unless you took all the tape off and retaped. So since my silencer is a silencer co with the threaded insert I leave one insert installed on that barrel all the time.


FWIW I do have YHM cans also, but direct thread. My 223 can produces very accurate results on my varmint guns.
 
Following this thread and I do shoot with a suppressor - actually a QD YHM. The very first thing to do is get your rifle shooting like you want without the suppressor. Then add the suppressor and adjust for elevation as it will likely shoot low - then do some fine tuning with your components and you should be fine. My last project was a .223 and I use a 7.62 suppressor. No problem.
 
Update: after my last range trip with known "good" loads for my 6BR I figure the BRA should at least be pretty darn close without the silencer. Well I was wrong and it's actually getting worse. Barrel has been sent back for inspection, with only 182 rounds fired it should be doing way better than it is.
 

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