Suppressed shooting at night and smoke issues

[BigLarge]

I have a DD MK18 with a SF 556-RC-SOCOM. Mounted flush with the front of the rail is a SF M600U. Yesterday was the first time I had shot this setup at night, and it was about 40 degrees. I was doing some slow to moderate paced shooting in 30 rounds strings. After about 10 rounds the smoke coming off the supressor was pretty heavy; so bad, in fact, that once I illuminated the target the smoke completely obscured my sight picture to the point I was unable to identify or see targets 50 yards away, let alone take an accurate shot.

I'm looking for ways to mitigate the smoke coming off the supressor, if there is one. I had considered purchase a Cole-Tac suppressor cover just for heat and mirage reasons, but i'm now wondering if a cover will help with smoke as well?

Any input or suggestions is appreciated.

[thei3ug]

smoke or water vapor?

[BigLarge]

smoke or water vapor?

Well the supressor wasnt wet - so I guess smoke

[foxtrotx1]

Could also be oil/lube/solvent burning off in addition to the smoke. If you reload, you can play with powders that might not generate as much smoke.

[ace4059]

If it was smoke coming off the outside of the suppressor then my guess is you either recently painted the suppressor or oiled it. Could it have been smoke contained inside the suppressor and then started venting out the end and the upper?

[taliv]

since suppressors don't 'burn' at the temps associated with shooting, i'd say there's a 99% chance it's not smoke from your suppressor, it is the hot gas coming out of the barrel that happens when you burn gunpowder. that is normal and my recommendation would be to learn to move and shoot. that's what i do

btw, that gas is still there in the daytime, and you're still breathing it. you just see it better at night because of the types of lights. it's way way more noticeable with night vision


edit: some powders may be worse than others, so if you are shooting reloads, try a different one

[daniel87]

Could be water vapor in the air, being cold its flashing and condensing causing fogging

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[Eurodriver]

Could be water vapor in the air, being cold its flashing and condensing causing fogging

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Correct.

Some of the replies here are Have any of you gotten your gun stupid hot? They all smoke from the outside when you start tossing large amount of lead down range. Whether it's oil, water vapor, or burning the factory coating off; it doesn't change the fact that the OP has a smoke issue.

Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about this OP. Your best bet is to get an IR Laser and NVGs. It won't eliminate the smoke but it will allow you to keep firing and you eliminate those stupid white lights too.

[taliv]

Correct.

Some of the replies here are Have any of you gotten your gun stupid hot? They all smoke from the outside when you start tossing large amount of lead down range. Whether it's oil, water vapor, or burning the factory coating off; it doesn't change the fact that the OP has a smoke issue.

Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about this OP. Your best bet is to get an IR Laser and NVGs. It won't eliminate the smoke but it will allow you to keep firing and you eliminate those stupid white lights too.

on the contrary, as I said, it only gets worse with IR laser and NVGs. I do most of my shooting at night, especially in the winter when it is already dark at 4:30 by the time I get done working and ready to shoot.

The source of the smoke is important. If he's just burning off the factory coating or oil on his suppressor, it implies the problem will be short-lived, as once he burns that coating off, it will stop smoking. If his gear is brand new, that could be the case, but they really don't smoke enough to be a problem. (I've owned multiple suppressed machine guns and have burnt the paint off of several suppressors)

However, after a few rounds, a high-lumen light from the muzzle will reflect off the propellant gasses and begin to obstruct your view of the target. So that is not a problem you can solve with a mirage cover for your suppressor.

[BigLarge]

since suppressors don't 'burn' at the temps associated with shooting, i'd say there's a 99% chance it's not smoke from your suppressor, it is the hot gas coming out of the barrel that happens when you burn gunpowder. that is normal and my recommendation would be to learn to move and shoot. that's what i do

btw, that gas is still there in the daytime, and you're still breathing it. you just see it better at night because of the types of lights. it's way way more noticeable with night vision


edit: some powders may be worse than others, so if you are shooting reloads, try a different one

After about 20 rounds I sat there for a good 15 seconds before shooting again while I observed smoke coming from the suppressor body. I don't reload, usually just purchase mid-grade stuff (on this day I was shooting AE M193).

If it was smoke coming off the outside of the suppressor then my guess is you either recently painted the suppressor or oiled it. Could it have been smoke contained inside the suppressor and then started venting out the end and the upper?

I actually forgot to oil the mount that day, which made it a lot of fun to remove after it cooled! I've never painted this supressor - I purchased it new and it has ~750 rounds through it.