Do suppressor covers damage suppressors?

[georgeib]

I understand that one of the main purposes of suppressor covers is to mitigate mirage, but my primary concern is to prevent nasty burns. I use suppressors on a couple pretty high volume ARs, and am not beyond dumping a mag or 2. I had purchased a handful of the Mechanix suppressor covers as they were really inexpensive, and was able to get one of them smoking pretty well last week, in addition to some discoloration and melting some of the thread on the inside of the cover to the can itself.

I started looking for better covers, and in my search discovered several posts from people warning that covers will damage the suppressor because they trap heat, in a similar way to header wrap. This does make sense to me, but wanted to hear from you all to see how I should proceed.

[markm]

I suppose in the hands of an imbecile, anything is possible. We don't blast ammo at a volume that would cause this to be a concern.

[caporider]

I suppose in the hands of an imbecile, anything is possible. We don't blast ammo at a volume that would cause this to be a concern.

Agreed. I personally only use full-contact suppressor covers to mitigate mirage on my bolt gun.

If you need something for a high rate of fire, maybe look at the Magpul covers that use a metal standoff to allow air to circulate between the cover and the can.

[Twilk73]

Some do, some don’t. Magpul has a cover you can use under heavy use. Most can’t take more than two mags at a generous pace before they start to cook. I know from personal experience. So I keep mine in for benched target shooting and I take it off for drills which sucks because I actually want it to not burn my legs. With that said it does help with mirage but it still can get hot and effect the scope image. I haven’t tried to silicon covers or the fire proof material. Id like to try the fireproof material next. I believe tire silicon is only good up to 500 degrees.

[georgeib]

Some do, some don’t. Magpul has a cover you can use under heavy use. Most can’t take more than two mags at a generous pace before they start to cook. I know from personal experience. So I keep mine in for benched target shooting and I take it off for drills which sucks because I actually want it to not burn my legs. With that said it does help with mirage but it still can get hot and effect the scope image. I haven’t tried to silicon covers or the fire proof material. Id like to try the fireproof material next. I believe tire silicon is only good up to 500 degrees.

As mentioned in the previous post, the Magpul is just too heavy for my purposes. It is true though, that silicone suppressor covers are the best at mitigating mirage, and from what I've read will stand up to 2 or even 3 mag dumps. My concern is how much trapping the heat by using a suppressor cover negatively affects the longevity of the suppressor.

At this point, I'm leaving towards leaving the can naked for high volume shooting, and just wearing a Nomex suit and gloves to avoid burns. /s

[Defaultmp3]

ModTac Suppressor Shields also are offset like the Magpul ones, but are half the weight. No experience with them myself, as I'm using the Liberty Defense covers, but the Shields definitely caught my eye when I was looking for a replacement for my Warcomp Suppressor Socks.

[georgeib]

Agreed. I personally only use full-contact suppressor covers to mitigate mirage on my bolt gun.

If you need something for a high rate of fire, maybe look at the Magpul covers that use a metal standoff to allow air to circulate between the cover and the can.

Looks aside, I don't see myself doubling the weight of my suppressor to add the Magpul cover. I like the idea of it a lot, but it's just too darn heavy for my taste.

[SteyrAUG]

Agreed. I personally only use full-contact suppressor covers to mitigate mirage on my bolt gun.

If you need something for a high rate of fire, maybe look at the Magpul covers that use a metal standoff to allow air to circulate between the cover and the can.

Saved me some typing. If full auto rated cans were intended to have covers, they would come with covers.

The lone exception is suppressors on things like M10s where walk off is a real issue. But in those applications suppressors were kinda disposable. On M4s and MP5s the main thing you need to know is "just don't touch it."

[georgeib]

Saved me some typing. If full auto rated cans were intended to have covers, they would come with covers.

The lone exception is suppressors on things like M10s where walk off is a real issue. But in those applications suppressors were kinda disposable. On M4s and MP5s the main thing you need to know is "just don't touch it."

Yeah, roger that. The clear conclusion I was fighting, but yeah that's what I'm doing going forward.

[SteyrAUG]

Yeah, roger that. The clear conclusion I was fighting, but yeah that's what I'm doing going forward.

And if you didn't already know this, the other important thing is, when you are done shooting pull the mag and lock the bolt back so you can air cool the can and barrel faster. Also at these temps, cook offs are a very real thing. I found that one out personally running a HK21 and when we stopped shooting and were kind of BSing a round went downrange.

Heat insulated gloves beat covers every day, just in case you ever have to grab a can or a barrel for some reason, like maybe you caught your AK hand guards on fire. A friend of mine might have done that running drums on a bipod right next to me. He knew he was smoking his barrel but didn't realize he had an actual fire yet. Get that damn thing cleared was a little challenging because it was seriously toasty. I was afraid rounds in the drum were gonna start cooking off.