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Thread: Do suppressor covers damage suppressors?

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Redsoxnation View Post
    I wouldn’t consider a Magpul anything aside from pro sights and mags and that’s with over 20 years military and Leo experience.
    *snort* It merely doesn't match your intended usage for such items, as seen from a background of two orgs types riddled with institutional inertia, tone-deafness, being 12ish years behind the state of the industry, and willing to fit themselves for a halo over it at the cultural level. That doesn't invalidate your experiences, but it DOES indicate a certain channelization of thought processes that's often to be defeated, not leveraged.

    From a materials and design standpoint, the Magpul is a dandy item that could only be made better by being made lighter...but it can't, so it ain't.

    -BREAK-

    Reframe the language of the assertion (emphasis mine) "....WILL damage..." to the more technically correct version, which is "...MAY damage..." "...WILL damage...," in this idiom, is functionally horseshit.

    Consider:

    EVERY machine is a smoke machine.....IF you operate it WRONG enough. Say that out loud, it *sounds* almost like wisdom instead of a joke... But, it applies here. -Don't operate these things wrong enough.-

    If all you're looking for is preventing burns (same as mine, for my getaway-sticks and the inside of my carbine case), then your biggest *single* worry is actually keeping the thing from sliding off under recoil (I use kevlar twine from CountyComm to tie mine to a hole in the rail, voila...), and understanding that if you get them to the point of smoking in the first place, your questions are "How do I keep track of throughput so I can let these things occasionally cool off?" and "Is it worth it to me to get a spendy one of these, OR instead consider it a somewhat consumable item I'll have to occasionally replace?"

    I can't for the life of me remember which ones I have, but I have two of them, and BBQ mitts, use one for the day, shoot with cooling times planned in, and swap to the unused one when I'm done. Mixture of material and procedural control measures.

    Can covers are NOT complicated meta-systems; despite some folks efforts to turn a mouse into an elephant, there's zero need to go full-retard on one when there's no organizational/operational requirement to do so.
    Contractor scum, PM Infantry Weapons

  2. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by JSantoro View Post
    *snort* It merely doesn't match your intended usage for such items, as seen from a background of two orgs types riddled with institutional inertia, tone-deafness, being 12ish years behind the state of the industry, and willing to fit themselves for a halo over it at the cultural level. That doesn't invalidate your experiences, but it DOES indicate a certain channelization of thought processes that's often to be defeated, not leveraged.

    From a materials and design standpoint, the Magpul is a dandy item that could only be made better by being made lighter...but it can't, so it ain't.

    -BREAK-

    Reframe the language of the assertion (emphasis mine) "....WILL damage..." to the more technically correct version, which is "...MAY damage..." "...WILL damage...," in this idiom, is functionally horseshit.

    Consider:

    EVERY machine is a smoke machine.....IF you operate it WRONG enough. Say that out loud, it *sounds* almost like wisdom instead of a joke... But, it applies here. -Don't operate these things wrong enough.-

    If all you're looking for is preventing burns (same as mine, for my getaway-sticks and the inside of my carbine case), then your biggest *single* worry is actually keeping the thing from sliding off under recoil (I use kevlar twine from CountyComm to tie mine to a hole in the rail, voila...), and understanding that if you get them to the point of smoking in the first place, your questions are "How do I keep track of throughput so I can let these things occasionally cool off?" and "Is it worth it to me to get a spendy one of these, OR instead consider it a somewhat consumable item I'll have to occasionally replace?"

    I can't for the life of me remember which ones I have, but I have two of them, and BBQ mitts, use one for the day, shoot with cooling times planned in, and swap to the unused one when I'm done. Mixture of material and procedural control measures.

    Can covers are NOT complicated meta-systems; despite some folks efforts to turn a mouse into an elephant, there's zero need to go full-retard on one when there's no organizational/operational requirement to do so.
    Thanks. I think that covers it. (no pun intended) My general philosophy has become to buy once and cry once, but I think I temporarily regressed to "just as good" with the purchase of the Mechanix covers. Will keep experimenting, but I imagine I'll end up purchasing something more durable in the near future. To reiterate my original concern, it's not so much the quality of the cover I was using as it was the longer term effect of not allowing the cans to cool as quickly.

    As you articulated, however, both concerns can easily be mitigated with the same mechanism.
    “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” -Augustine

  3. #33
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    There's no arguing that they don't insulate the can and therefore hinder its ability to dissipate heat. I imagine the effect is pretty efficient, too, since it covers the body's entire surface area, and the materials those are made from seem like they would be pretty effective insulators.

    To get exact answers it's going to depend on the can, the cover, ambient temperature, and more than anything the firing schedule.

    Can design is also going to play a big part, specifically how well the body conducts heat from the cones. If the cones are fully welded, the body might conduct heat from them fairly efficiently, but if they're just spot welded or modular you might see virtually no conductivity, practically speaking.

    In any case, my guess is that these covers would self destruct before being able to influence how hot the internals of the can are getting, possibly with the exception of Kevlar. So if you're melting your covers, that might be a warning sign to pay attention to. If the covers aren't being damaged, that might be a pretty good indicator that you're not accelerating damage to your internals. For their purpose of reducing mirage, I doubt they're harmful. On high volume guns like you're describing, might not be the best idea.

    I use one as stupidity insurance when doing transition drills, but I'm not doing mag dumps. Typically I'm only loading one to three rounds, and my back and arms usually give out before I can get the can hot enough to melt my covers. I've used the silicone type, and right now I'm using a cloth one that I think is made by a company called Armageddon Gear, that seems to offer more burn protection than the silicone variety.

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by okie View Post
    There's no arguing that they don't insulate the can and therefore hinder its ability to dissipate heat. I imagine the effect is pretty efficient, too, since it covers the body's entire surface area, and the materials those are made from seem like they would be pretty effective insulators.

    To get exact answers it's going to depend on the can, the cover, ambient temperature, and more than anything the firing schedule.

    Can design is also going to play a big part, specifically how well the body conducts heat from the cones. If the cones are fully welded, the body might conduct heat from them fairly efficiently, but if they're just spot welded or modular you might see virtually no conductivity, practically speaking.

    In any case, my guess is that these covers would self destruct before being able to influence how hot the internals of the can are getting, possibly with the exception of Kevlar. So if you're melting your covers, that might be a warning sign to pay attention to. If the covers aren't being damaged, that might be a pretty good indicator that you're not accelerating damage to your internals. For their purpose of reducing mirage, I doubt they're harmful. On high volume guns like you're describing, might not be the best idea.

    I use one as stupidity insurance when doing transition drills, but I'm not doing mag dumps. Typically I'm only loading one to three rounds, and my back and arms usually give out before I can get the can hot enough to melt my covers. I've used the silicone type, and right now I'm using a cloth one that I think is made by a company called Armageddon Gear, that seems to offer more burn protection than the silicone variety.
    Thanks, bro. I don't always do mag dumps, but when I do, that's when I most need a cover. My precision 308's can gets a cover too, but as you mentioned, it's primarily for mirage mitigation so I'm not really concerned there. After reading JSantoro's post, the conclusion I came to is that I will just need to keep heat controlled when I'm doing high volume drills. And the best way to do that will likely be to split my drills between 2 identical setups I have, albeit with different suppressors on them.
    “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” -Augustine

  5. #35
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    I was shooting a K can on a shorty at a match and a fella offered me a cover for free. I said "sure, as long as it doesn't hurt your feelings if you see me not using it later".

    A K can on a 20"er is freaking sweet and I figured it would help with low volume mirage.

    Still haven't used the cover. Just don't see the need. It adds at least 3/8" of girth, is just something else to keep up with and is one more thing to possibly distract from the situation at hand.
    Last edited by Leaveammoforme; 07-25-22 at 02:05.

  6. #36
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    I only use covers on low volume rifles for mirage mitigation. Think an SPR that will shot a 12 round stage once every 20-45 mins.

    I have tried all of the "heat" suppressor covers from the likes of places like Cole-Tac and they ALL melt if you do even a remotely quick course of fire.

    But they do not damage the suppressor.
    Why do the loudest do the least?

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eurodriver View Post
    I only use covers on low volume rifles for mirage mitigation. Think an SPR that will shot a 12 round stage once every 20-45 mins.

    I have tried all of the "heat" suppressor covers from the likes of places like Cole-Tac and they ALL melt if you do even a remotely quick course of fire.

    But they do not damage the suppressor.
    I think the disconnect here is the word "damage" when we should be better describing it as "accelerated wear." Can/do they accelerate wear? I don't know, but it's an interesting question, and one that wouldn't be easy to answer. I think the potential is definitely there, especially for certain types of cans. Any can with fully welded baffles is going to naturally dissipate a lot of heat from the baffle through the outer body, and wrapping the body in an insulative material is definitely going to have an impact on that. Whether it's significant or not is the question, and I would say some caution is warranted until someone does comprehensive testing.

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eurodriver View Post
    I only use covers on low volume rifles for mirage mitigation. Think an SPR that will shot a 12 round stage once every 20-45 mins.

    I have tried all of the "heat" suppressor covers from the likes of places like Cole-Tac and they ALL melt if you do even a remotely quick course of fire.

    But they do not damage the suppressor.
    I think the disconnect here is the word "damage" when we should be better describing it as "accelerated wear." Can/do they accelerate wear? I don't know, but it's an interesting question, and one that wouldn't be easy to answer. I think the potential is definitely there, especially for certain types of cans. Any can with fully welded baffles is going to naturally dissipate a lot of heat from the baffle through the outer body, and wrapping the body in an insulative material is definitely going to have an impact on that. Whether it's significant or not is the question, and I would say some caution is warranted until someone does comprehensive testing.

  9. #39
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    Do suppressor covers damage suppressors?

    No.

    The damaging heat happens during firing, not during cooling. Being held at a moderate temperature for a nominally longer duration won't do anything to a decent suppressor.
    I blow up cans in about 2 minutes, without a cover when doing destructive tests. Putting a cover on them for that would no nothing other than burn the cover off.
    Jack Leuba
    Director of Sales
    Knight's Armament Company
    jleuba@knightarmco.com

  10. #40
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    Cant say 'mirage' ever has been an issue for me, but they (cans) may need an occasional 'tightening', that and the occasional spastic hand going places that are just too fu#*ing hot, I don't like blisters so yeah covers are good, they will keep you safe when stupid.
    Per Ardua ad Astra.
    STS - gone but not forgotten.

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