Surefire SOCOM 300 SPS

[JPB]

So I bought one of these cans. Looking at the manual, which is a SOCOM 556/762 manual (not 300 SPS), the only mention I see of barrel length limitations is a non caliber specific reference to the cans only being warrantied on guns with 10" barrels or greater. While I understand this limitation on 5.56 and 7.62x51 guns, the .300 BO, which the can is designed around and for, is ideally suited for 8-9" barrel! Does this limitation only apply the the cans that this specific manual is addressing (SOCOM 556/762)? Does this mean that if I use this can on my Noveske 8.5" 300 BO SBR I'll void my warranty? Every other manufacturer seems to list barrel restrictions per caliber and I thought I had seen a similar data set for this can. Can't find it now. It would seem silly to release a can for this round that isn't rated for the most prolific barrel length.

[domestique]

I'm sure Kudu (Garin from SF) will step in, but I'm willing to bet that is referring to 5.56.

I believe the 300 SPS is rated to 8", maybe 7". The SF promo video has Barry shooting the Genesis (direct thread version of the 300 SPS) on either a 7" or 8" barrel under a not in production LMT handguard.


ETA: I really hope LMT releases that handguard at Shot Show 2016. It would serve excellent for a dual purpose SPR length rail, and a 300blk SBR with the suppressor tucked under.

[Sensei]

I just got off the phone with Steve at Surefire. He said that it is best to use barrels no less than 10" but acknowledged that barrels as low as 8" will probably be fine in 300 blk. This only applies to 300 blk and not any other caliber. He also acknowledged that Surefire has done no durability testing in 300 blk using sub-10" barrels, nor is Surefire going to confront this question on a more public basis. The concern is an increased number of baffle strikes from people send barrels off for after-market chop jobs to lengths less than 8". He said there should be no warranty issues should you go down to 8" in 300 blk.

[domestique]

I just got off the phone with Steve at Surefire. He said that it is best to use barrels no less than 10" but acknowledged that barrels as low as 8" will probably be fine in 300 blk. This only applies to 300 blk and not any other caliber. He also acknowledged that Surefire has done no durability testing in 300 blk using sub-10" barrels, nor is Surefire going to confront this question on a more public basis. The concern is an increased number of baffle strikes from people send barrels off for after-market chop jobs to lengths less than 8". He said there should be no warranty issues should you go down to 8" in 300 blk.

I have no fears using my factory AAC 9", especially since they tested the 300 SPS on a16" 300 win mag.

Here is the data you guys were wanting.

SOCOM300-SPS
20.3 oz
8.0"
1.5" dia
MSRP $1075

5.56 16" Mk262 134dB
300 10" 208gr 120dB
.308 24" 175gr SMK 129dB
300 WM 16" Mk248 137dB...Yep a 16" 300WM

[JPB]

Thanks guys. Not really happy with what I'm hearing. It's a poorly written constraint. I guess they're saying that the 300 SPS is .300 WM rated and the barrel length limitation in the manual is 10", I suppose I'm well within my warrantee rights to put it on a 10" .300 WM. Maybe I'll skip the 13" SCAR 17 barrel all together and get the 10" one! This is one tough can, I won't worry about 8.5"/300 BO subs at all.

My Saker762 is only rated down to 12"/7.62 and it's full stellite! Seems to me it would be in SF's best interest to flesh out the "corner of the envelope" cases rather than just throwing a blanket 10" limit out there (though that limit might be adequate for the military). Especially on a can catering to this specialized of an application.

Barrel induced instabilities causing baffle strikes shouldn't be a warrantee issue at all. That's a bad barrel. It may be that the can imparts some instabilities due to the asymmetry of the baffle orifices.

[domestique]

I won't speak for Sensei, but I don't think they were taking about 10" 308 and 300 win mag barrel lengths.

I'll send Kudu22 a PM and hopefully he can shed some light on this thread. I would be shocked if SF warrantees 300 win mag at 10".

[JPB]

I won't speak for Sensei, but I don't think they were taking about 10" 308 and 300 win mag barrel lengths.

I'll send Kudu22 a PM and hopefully he can shed some light on this thread. I would be shocked if SF warrantees 300 win mag at 10".

I would be shocked too. Little bit of sarcasm in my post, but that's kinda my point.

A can that's rated for multiple calibers should have min barrel lengths for each caliber, not just a blanket rating regardless of caliber.

[Sensei]

Just to be clear, I only discussed 300 blk in the context of sub-10" barrels. I never asked Steve about 300 win mag. In addition, Steve did say that we should be fine going down to 8" in 300 blk.

[Kudu22]

On the SPS and Genesis you can use it as short as you want on 300 BO, 10" on 5.56, 18" on .308 and 22" on 300 WM. FA with 300 BO is no issue but it is not designed for mag after mag after mag dumps with 5.56 or .308.

[domestique]

On the SPS and Genesis you can use it as short as you want on 300 BO, 10" on 5.56, 18" on .308 and 22" on 300 WM. FA with 300 BO is no issue but it is not designed for mag after mag after mag dumps with 5.56 or .308.

Thanks Garin. I'm a little surprised it's only rated to 18" with 7.62x51, I was hoping for 16". That makes me question my buddies AAC Cyclone that he uses on a 16" AR10.



Thanks again Garin. I appreciate the industry presence.