Originally Posted by
okie
Having now built several form 1 cans, I no longer see any advantage to welding, other than to perhaps lower costs and keep trade secrets. Regarding the trade secrets, though, I don't see much of that going on. The physics are pretty well understood, so there's not much happening in the suppressor market that could be described as revolutionary.
One thing to consider is that 24 tpi is a very strong connection, and it's more or less foolproof. Whereas welding is only as good as the machine and person doing it, and even then can have mixed results. The only logic I see in a welded can is if it's 3d printed by necessity, because the design won't allow it to be made any other way. Unfortunately, if you open up 3d printed cans there's nothing revolutionary going on inside of them. At this point, it seems like an answer to a question no one asked.
Another big advantage of threaded cans is that you can have a variety of materials. Blast baffle can be inconel, subsequent blast baffles stainless, followed by titanium, all within a titanium tube. Or to lower costs you can simply have all titanium baffles and just replace the blast baffle occasionally. The modularity is worth whatever very slight weight difference there might be, which seems to me to be pretty much nonexistent.
Another reason I really like modular cans is because I can use my 22 conversion then go straight to centerfire without having to switch cans. In other words, one silencer can live permanently on my AR as a fixed muzzle device, and only has to be removed occasionally to clean out the 22 schmoo. Which is rare, because a few rounds of 223 does a pretty good job of cleaning out most of the schmoo all on its own.