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Suppressors

nakneker

Gold $$ Contributor
This past June I went to South Africa for the first time. Loads of fun. Me, my wife and one of our daughters took a bunch of stuff and had enough fun we plan on doing it again.

One of the fun aspects of the trip was hunting with suppressors. I took my rifle but the girls were using the guide’s rifles for some of the hunts. One was a 280 CZ and the other was an old Sako 7 mag. They were both suppressed and loads of fun to shoot. The loads were factory, nothing hand loaded or sub sonic. They tamed both rifles considerably and my wife and daughter really enjoyed them, the reduction of noise and taming of recoil was a hit. Probably made a mistake letting them put their hand suppressors. The wife cuddled up this weekend and asked what I thought if we got one for her 25-06 and 6.5x47, she’ll want one for her 222 next.

Fast forward to today. I formed an LLC with my brother and partner and we filled out the required paperwork for four suppressors. A couple thunderbeasts and a couple dead air were the brands. I know next to nothing about suppressors. I gathered there is many makes, wide price ranges and so forth. What I’d like to know is where is a good place to get a crash course. It would be nice to know a little bit about values, longevity, effectiveness, maintenance etc.

Any recommended you tube videos, web sites, even one a book heaven forbid.

Any advice welcomed.
 
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you did good. I have thunder beast and dead air... you will like them no doubt. havent cleaned mine yet... they are quieter once they get some carbon fowling in them. reduce the recoil too.

I hunt with them.. but its legal here in tx
 
you did good. I have thunder beast and dead air... you will like them no doubt. havent cleaned mine yet... they are quieter once they get some carbon fowling in them. reduce the recoil too.

I hunt with them.. but its legal here in tx
Thank goodness for firearm friendly states, it’s legal here in Arizona too. I appreciate the feedback 338!
 
I use them on and off, depending on where I hunt. Love 'em. little to no maintenance. Just keep the threads clean and a good anti-seize and make sure whomever does your threads on the barrels does a good job indexing the barrel.

Good 30 cal can will work on everything from 300wm (maybe bigger but you're pushing it) down to 223 and the noise signature isn't much different.

Make sure if you zero with the can you index it and pit it back on before you hunt . The zero shift is minimal with heavier barrels but sporters can change quite a bit. If I plan on using a can, I do my final load development and get my come ups with it on.

I think you'll all enjoy them . Hopefully you turned onto these before your ears ring as bad as mine .
 
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I know on the thunder beast 30cal can if you run it on a 7mag or 300 mag there’s a charge limit on the load so don’t exceed it.You can call Zac and he can inform you on everything.
 
I know on the thunder beast 30cal can if you run it on a 7mag or 300 mag there’s a charge limit on the load so don’t exceed it.You can call Zac and he can inform you on everything.
Good to know, my brother and I both got the .30 cal Thunderbeast to use on a Saum and a 6.5x47. That’s the kind of info I’m clueless about.
 
I use them on and off, depending on where I hunt. Love 'em. little to no maintenance. Just keep the threads clean and a good anti-seize and make sure whomever does your threads on the barrels does a good job indexing the barrel.

Good 30 cal can will work on everything from 300wm (maybe bigger but you're pushing it) down to 223 and the noise signature isn't much different.

Make sure if you zero with the can you index it and pit it back on.before you hunt . The zero shift is minimal with heavier barrels but spotters can change quite a bit. If I plan on using a can, I do my final load development and get my come ups with it on.

I think you'll all enjoy them . Hopefully you turned onto these before your ears ring as bad as mine .


Good info, much appreciated.
 
I threw my 30 cal thunder beast on my 284 win XP100 specialty pistol the other day... Phenomenal... not only in noise, but in recoil too, not that its bad... but it made it even sweeter.
 
I’m jealous, suppressors are cool, except when they’re hot.

With multiple different people wanting to use them on different rifles you may want to learn more about some of the modular ones before you buy any more. These are kits that have different adapters for different muzzle threads and different body segments for different calibers and some types allow using a different number of segments for different lengths also, to trade off suppression capability vs. length and weight issues. I think the kits just have one set of end caps (but multiple thread adapters to fit on one of them) so you can only assemble one suppressor at a time. You only pay for one NFA stamp but you can adapt the suppressor to use on multiple different rifles at different times. You only need one per shooter instead of per rifle. Example, the LaRue Tranquilo adapts to 1/2x28 or 5/8x24 threads. Google “modular suppressor” to find others. Most are pricey now because you are saving on extra tax stamps, but these may really be cheap later when they become non-NFA. Apparently the BATF was about to issue a legal opinion on modular suppressors last fall — I don’t know what happened there.

Although I don’t have a trust yet, I looked into it before they started talking about making suppressors non-NFA items. In Texas and maybe some other places you can have your trust papers drawn up with the suppressors listed on an attachment schedule to the trust document. Updating the attachment schedule is apparently pretty simple as opposed to updating the body of the trust document, which simplifies and reduces cost of the legal process to update your trust when you buy more suppressors. If memory serves, the members of the trust named in the document can update the schedule without the attorney getting involved. An attorney would have to explain more about how that works, or if it is even possible in AZ.

Magpul just announced new suppressor covers at SHOT that may save some of your trust members from accidentally burning their hands.
 
did you bother to ask on the safari how much suppressors cost over there ?




maybe 300 installed

yeah, we are WAY behind many other countries on suppressors. Only reason they are NFA is becuase Uncle Sam was worried about people poaching game during the great depression. Had nothing to do with violent crime (though deer may disagree) .
 
I have Thunderbeast 30P1 direct thread suppressors, as well as Deadair Sandman S and L 30cal suppressors with interchangeable end caps. You made fantastic choices.

THunderbeast has a good reputation in the industry for producing some outstanding suppressors, specifically their direct thread models. Performing with minimal impact on accuracy and POI shift. The experience with them on my 300winmags has been similar.

DeadAir was founded by one of the original owners of SilencerCo....who wasn't happy with the direction Silencerco was going. Deadair makes one of, if not, the BEST quick attach designs in the industry. Not only are their muzzle brakes extremely efficient with a well though out design...they offer extremely consistent and repeatable lockup. My quick attach DeadAir suppressors are just as accurate as my direct thread Thunderbeasts...with the added benefit of going on and off the rifles faster.

The other cool thing about the DeadAir suppressors is the interchangeable end caps. I have caps for 30cal and 264. SO when I swap my 30cal suppressor from my 300winmag onto my 6.5x47 I can just swap out the end cap as well, make for an extremely efficient 264cal suppressor with massive internal volume.
 
Got my 1st one last fall late into deer season but it is an absolute joy to shoot out of a hard blind now. No more muzzle brake blowback. Only difference that I have seen is that my impact is slightly lower with the can.
 
You & your partners did a good job of researching before the purchase of those cans. I own three TBAC 30 cal cans, and have one of their 22TD cans in 'jail' awaiting the receiving of a tax stamp for it. My 1st TBAC was a 30BA, and compared to the AAC SCAR-H that preceded it (and which was later traded for a SF SOCOM 762), use of the 30BA on several of my custom rifles resulted in increased accuracy, and only minor POI shift compared to shooting without it. I've yet to have used any of the three TBACs on any rifle and seen any decrease in accuracy - it's always been at least as good as it was w/o a can attached. As far as there being any advantage to using a direct attachment can vs. one that uses a brake/mount, I'm highly skeptical of that opinion, based on personal experience with these three TBAC cans. The BA was great, but I always thought the BA mount/brake was really - well - fugly, so when they announced their CB series, I ordered a 30CB9, which has been a great can. TBAC announced the release of their Ultra titanium cans just after I got the stamp for the 30CB9, so I bought an Ultra 7. The POI shift with the Ultra 7 is very minor compared to using one of the heavier 9" cans, and it's a bit more quiet than either of them. The 30BA had turned into a bit of a 'safe queen' after I got the Ultra 7, as I'd changed out most of the 'fugly' BA mounts for CB brake/mounts, so when TBAC announced their re-core program - where an owner could send in an older can to have the previous mount & baffle stack removed & replaced by the new CB Ultra baffle stack - I decided to send the old 30BA in & essentially have it converted into an Ultra 9. That took a couple of weeks, and cost almost $900, but it was money well-spent, and now the good old 30CB9 is the safe queen of the lot. With the CB brake/mounts, I can shoot a group at 600 with any of my rifles, remove the can to let it cool while I'm downrange painting steel, then put it back on, shoot another group, and not see even the slightest POI shift compared to the 1st group. So, IMHO, there's no advantage to going direct mount, in fact, there are more liabilities - like, what are you going to do if you get a direct mount can cross-threaded on a barrel? And what about wear & tear on muzzle threads from continually mounting & removing a can? Buy a brake/mount for each bbl you're going to shoot the can on, and forget about screwing up bbl threads.

I've bought a couple of TAB Gear suppressor covers, and had good results with them, although they begin to slide off more easily as they age. Went with Armageddon Gear covers on the Ultra 7 & re-cored Ultra 9, and have been very pleased with them. Not only do these covers make it possible to remove a can while it's still too hot to touch, it reduces the mirage produced by the heat coming off the can.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Dead Air Sandman cans, but have no personal experience with them. Enjoy!
 

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