Finally did it.

ajridgedell · Mar 31, 2015

Finally mailed off two form ones this morning! Been wanting to do that for a few years. I'll be making a 308 and a 556 silencer. I plan to use the 308 can on my 243, 308 fnar, and 300rum. Hopefully it holds up to the last, lol.

LaBelle · Mar 31, 2015

Congrats! Did you do your own design or will you be going off other plans?

Steel? Ti?

Enquiring minds want to know!

ajridgedell · Mar 31, 2015

My own design, 4130 outer tubing, aluminum tubing for baffle spacers, on 556 first baffle is 1018 steel and on 308 first two baffles are 1018. Remaining baffles are stainless washers basically. End caps are 1018 tig welded to tube. Everything will press fit together before being welded up and final threading with be done after welding.

LaBelle · Mar 31, 2015

Make sure to post "in progress" and "finished" pix!

'Cause we like pretty pictures!

ajridgedell · Apr 13, 2015

Well they charged my card on the 4th, so looks like it's moving on along...

Ijaw · Apr 13, 2015

Congrats !

ajridgedell · Aug 8, 2015

YEAH!!! Finally got stamps in mail today. Approved July 31st. So about 4 months. I'll post some pics of different things I've done and tools I used.

ajridgedell · Aug 8, 2015

7x14 mini lathe. I was able to do all the machining operations on this little lathe.

This cheap little tig welder does great for welding in my end caps.

4130 round tubing 1.5 od .065 wall.

1018 round bar 1.375 od. I used this for my end caps and the first two baffle in my 308 can and the first baffle in my 223 can. All my baffles are flat, so I am interested in comparing it to other designs.

Aluminum 6061 round tube 1.375 od .049 wall. this is used to space my baffles (washers) inside the tube.

stainless washers for the remaining baffles in both cans, brass tool i made so I could turn down the outside of the washers to fit inside the tube.

not secured to tool yet but you get the idea.

Sorry forgot to take pictures while I was making stuff, but I post some of the end caps welding in after a while.

ajridgedell · Aug 10, 2015

Welded end caps

ajridgedell · Aug 10, 2015

Finished product
...and no I don't care that my s/n's are visible.

Tried to do the white crayon thing but turned out kinda sloppy but I'm still happy with it.

tallwalker · Aug 10, 2015

Nice job! I have one of those little lathes and they are great for handling jobs up to a certain size. I've used mine way more than I ever thought I would. Not sure I understand your brass tool. Does it screw in and tighten to something enough to be able to actually turn the stack of washers? Be sure and let us know how the range test goes.

ajridgedell · Aug 10, 2015

tallwalker said:
Nice job! I have one of those little lathes and they are great for handling jobs up to a certain size. I've used mine way more than I ever thought I would. Not sure I understand your brass tool. Does it screw in and tighten to something enough to be able to actually turn the stack of washers? Be sure and let us know how the range test goes.

Yes a 1/4" nut secures the stack of washer to the tool so I can turn the stack of washers. I don't know if that grade of stainless has poor machinability or the fact that it's not a very powerful lathe but I only felt comfortable taking .002 to .003" at a time on the washers. Took a while. lol

Harrisracing · Aug 10, 2015

I'm really liking the welded can...especially on centerfire setups. Even some of the "best" store-boughts are going to non-serviceable so I don't think you are losing anything there. Would have been nice to form your washers into shape though. May have been as easy as ramming a dead or live center into your washers. while they are chucked up. But i know what is done is done.

I think they will work just fine. How many baffles did you do with and what spacing did you use (especially in the blast chamber)?

noob · Aug 11, 2015

Interesting..... Post of vids of it in action when you can, and possibly poi shifts when using the can

Harrisracing · Aug 11, 2015

My findings on POI:
There is almost ALWAYS POI drop at 100 yds when going from flash hider to suppressor. You'd have to have a pretty stiff and short (TWSS) barrel to keep that from happening. Even my .22 LR cans that are Ti and weigh near nothing make somewhat of a difference on my .22's at long ranges. but...the groups are almost ALWAYS tighter. I have yet to add a suppressor to a rifle and have it actually lose accuracy. I even think I made a post here about it.

ajridgedell · Aug 11, 2015

Harrisracing said:
I'm really liking the welded can...especially on centerfire setups. Even some of the "best" store-boughts are going to non-serviceable so I don't think you are losing anything there. Would have been nice to form your washers into shape though. May have been as easy as ramming a dead or live center into your washers. while they are chucked up. But i know what is done is done.

I think they will work just fine. How many baffles did you do with and what spacing did you use (especially in the blast chamber)?

On the 308 silencer the first baffle is 2 inches and the second baffle is another 2 inches (did that much space for the 300 rum), then there are six more washers spaced from 1.25 down to .5 getting smaller towards the end of the silencer. The 5.56 silencer is 2 inches to the first baffle then 4 more washers 1.25 down to .5 spacing again. If I have time tonight I will shoot both some on video. Probably won't have time to check poi shift, but we shall see.

calcagno45 · Aug 11, 2015

Materials cost all in?

ajridgedell · Aug 11, 2015

calcagno45 said:
Materials cost all in?

Ordered metal from onlinemetals.com. I bought everything several months back but off the top of my head I'm guessing a little less than 100$ for both of them. Time is the killer though, prolly 20 hours for both and it's a very simple design.

ajridgedell · Aug 11, 2015

I'll try to weigh them again tomorrow but they are heavier than what other manufactures list for their cans I'm pretty sure.

ajridgedell · Aug 11, 2015

Shot the 5.56 can today. YouTube video with and without can and also shows poi shift.

Finally did it.

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