"Linear Compensator" vs. "Silencer"

[Bimmer]

I think what he wants is just a bigger linear comp.

The thing is, without baffles or routes like OSS I think he would hit a point of diminishing returns rather quickly. And that would be a silencer.

But only testing would tell

Yeah, this is it. I do most of my shooting inside a range house that's open on the front. Diminishing/Redirecting noise and blast is a priority...

So, a bigger chamber seems better, and baffles are a big no-no.

Diminishing returns: I don't think I'm there yet. From my perspective, "in for a penny... " and if I'm going to spring for a linear comp and deal with the added length and weight, then an empty can isn't thaaaat much longer/heavier/pricier.

Is it worth toeing the line of constructing a silencer instead of just getting commercially available linear comps?

Maybe. I'm thinking at the keyboard...


JoeBob sells KVP's XL comps for less than $40. Even the steel "magnum" comp is less than $50.


A 6" long and 1" diameter tube ($30) and the end caps ($20 each) from QuietBore costs $70:

https://www.quietbore.com/product-ca...-2/22lr-parts/


A 7"x1.25" tube with end caps would be about $100:

https://www.quietbore.com/product-ca...s-2/9mm-parts/


A 9"x1.5" steel tube would be about $100-120 (for whatever reason QuietBore doesn't list the entrance caps separately), but that seems like too much for anything except a semi-auto 5.56mm...

https://www.quietbore.com/product-ca...-30-cal-parts/


My 14-year-old is doing non-stop PSAT practice tests these days, so I'll put her to work calculating the approximate volumes of these chambers...

I think the coolest thing he could try is try to get a 3D model of a linear comp and scale it up in some CAD software and find somebody with a DMLS printer who will make a gun part.

I know that it's possible to print 3D metal parts, but I don't think I would trust it not to go to pieces...

Have you seen the Griffin Arms XM177 linear comp?

Here in California, I run my featureless carbines with either the Griffin M4SD linear comp or the BRT covert comp.

FWIW, the KVP "magnum" comp is kind of a scaled up BRT Covert Comp or Griffen M4SD.

It's steel and heavy (6oz), and I would only consider it for a "precision" upper (a gun that wouldn't handle all that well, anyway).

[Leaveammoforme]

Maybe I missed it somewhere but, if you install both end caps... you just created a suppressor.

[Bimmer]

Maybe I missed it somewhere but, if you install both end caps... you just created a suppressor.

This goes back to my original question...

Is it a silencer, if there are no baffles in the middle?

How is an empty can different than a "linear compensator," which is also just one big empty chamber?

Would I need to drill more holes in the end cap, so that it looks like a KVP comp or a Griffen M4SD, so that it would NOT be a silencer?

[Leaveammoforme]

You know as well as I how the ATF make determinations on 'feels' and rewrites definitions of words to fit however they see fit.

I seem to remember a faux 22 suppressor (threaded/adaptive cap to attach to barrel, empty tube, caliber specific sized hole in end cap) being classified a suppressor by the ATF. I believe it was a .22lr MP5 clone. The end cap became a "baffle".

If I remember correctly, to meet ATF's recommendation the fix was to install an intact caliber specific tube down the middle of the main tube.

I don't know how many holes in an end cap would satisfy the ATF's random and often varying determinations. The whole "if it reduces the report" garbage is subjective. Maybe remove more than 50% of the end cap surface area and add a couple of "Muzzle Brake" holes in the side of the tube near the end cap.

Sub-caliber inserts for shotguns are pretty quiet. But, we don't see the ATF claiming Uncle Joes double barrel is a suppressor.

[Bimmer]

The end cap became a "baffle".

I don't know how many holes in an end cap would satisfy the ATF's random and often varying determinations...

Maybe remove more than 50% of the end cap surface area and add a couple of "Muzzle Brake" holes in the side of the tube near the end cap.

Sub-caliber inserts for shotguns are pretty quiet. But, we don't see the ATF claiming Uncle Joes double barrel is a suppressor.

Yeah, this is my big question: Is the difference between a "linear comp" (essentially one big chamber) and a "silencer" that the "linear comp" has multiple/bigger holes in the end cap?

That works for me... Once I have the drill press running, it's no big deal to put a bigger hole (or more holes) in an aluminum end cap.

(NB: most of the "linear comps" that I've seen do NOT have holes around the outside of the tube.)


As for sub-caliber inserts in shotguns, I was going to say that a shotgun barrel has no "end cap," but then it occured to me that a full choke could be construed as an end cap...

[mig1nc]

Yeah, this is it. I do most of my shooting inside a range house that's open on the front. Diminishing/Redirecting noise and blast is a priority...

So, a bigger chamber seems better, and baffles are a big no-no.

Diminishing returns: I don't think I'm there yet. From my perspective, "in for a penny... " and if I'm going to spring for a linear comp and deal with the added length and weight, then an empty can isn't thaaaat much longer/heavier/pricier.




Maybe. I'm thinking at the keyboard...


JoeBob sells KVP's XL comps for less than $40. Even the steel "magnum" comp is less than $50.


A 6" long and 1" diameter tube ($30) and the end caps ($20 each) from QuietBore costs $70:

https://www.quietbore.com/product-ca...-2/22lr-parts/


A 7"x1.25" tube with end caps would be about $100:

https://www.quietbore.com/product-ca...s-2/9mm-parts/


A 9"x1.5" steel tube would be about $100-120 (for whatever reason QuietBore doesn't list the entrance caps separately), but that seems like too much for anything except a semi-auto 5.56mm...

https://www.quietbore.com/product-ca...-30-cal-parts/


My 14-year-old is doing non-stop PSAT practice tests these days, so I'll put her to work calculating the approximate volumes of these chambers...




I know that it's possible to print 3D metal parts, but I don't think I would trust it not to go to pieces...




FWIW, the KVP "magnum" comp is kind of a scaled up BRT Covert Comp or Griffen M4SD.

It's steel and heavy (6oz), and I would only consider it for a "precision" upper (a gun that wouldn't handle all that well, anyway).

Sig, Delta-P, Daniel Defense, and others make hard use 3D printed silencers.

Sig ones may not be out on the civilian market yet though.

3D printing with the right printing technology is very tough.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bimmer]

Sig, Delta-P, Daniel Defense, and others make hard use 3D printed silencers...

3D printing with the right printing technology is very tough.

I'm afraid that I'm nowhere near that high-tech...

I'm a lot more comfortable buying endcaps and a tube, and drilling an end cap, as necessary!

[Bimmer]

Update...

I hate crows. Generally they're smart enough to stay away, but this afternoon one landed in my backyard.

I took the shot from inside my home office, through the open window, using a bolt-action (Ruger American) .22lr, shooting CCI SV, with a KVP XL linear comp on it.

It was definitely "loud" inside the room (like popping a balloon), but not so loud that my wife or daughter even noticed it upstairs.

An hour later... "What's that black thing lying in the yard?"