Flash hider and baffle erosion (Surefire)

[021411]

Pertaining to the Surefire 212 suppressor and the FH556-212A flash hider, how many rounds are we looking at until you start to see baffle erosion? I plan on setting my MK18 project up with a suppressor but have no plans on running it full time so I prefer not to run it with a MB.
Am I over-thinking this?

[Sid Post]

You could also consider the loads you're running. Some have more unburnt powder sand blasting the baffle.

With an M-16 or rapid fire semi-auto you will get a lot of heat build up too which accelerates wear. My dealer has an AAC M4-2000 that was really abused at a bachelor party with an HK G-36 with a 9.5" barrel. There is obvious erosion but, it still works fine. It does look like hell though with all the finish burned off.

[021411]

You could also consider the loads you're running. Some have more unburnt powder sand blasting the baffle.

With an M-16 or rapid fire semi-auto you will get a lot of heat build up too which accelerates wear. My dealer has an AAC M4-2000 that was really abused at a bachelor party with an HK G-36 with a 9.5" barrel. There is obvious erosion but, it still works fine. It does look like hell though with all the finish burned off.

I'll more than likely use the "good" stuff for classes and bottom shelf stuff (ie Wolf, Prvi, Silver Bear, etc) for range work since it's cheaper and I can shoot lots of it without breaking the bank. I don't want to have to go out of my way for ammo just to use the suppressor.

[JodyH]

If you can afford to wear one out, you can afford to replace it.

[021411]

Touché. I doubt I'll be reaching that point but at what approximate round count would the device start changing from specifications? I know it's hard to put a solid number down due to variances.

[TehLlama]

The majority of the sound and flash reduction occurs in the later parts of the can, the first baffle is just subjected to significant sandblasting.
Omitting an entire baffle in a can really doesn't make that huge of a change - comparing the OPS 15th and 14th cans there's only a 2-3dB difference, and those differ in volume AND one baffle.

You'll have grown tired of buying ammunition to run through the can long before you really worry about how the first baffle is faring. Firing schedule is going to have a lot more to do with that as well - very hot ductile metal will display that much faster than if you keep it relatively cool.

[Sid Post]

You'll have grown tired of buying ammunition to run through the can long before you really worry about how the first baffle is faring. Firing schedule is going to have a lot more to do with that as well - very hot ductile metal will display that much faster than if you keep it relatively cool.

I will second that as noted in my first post. More heat and more unburned powder will wear the first baffle faster. Good quality normal length cans with lots of baffle erosion in the first baffle still seem to work fine in general.

If you don't abuse your can, by the time you wear it out you have spent so much money on ammunition that you can afford to have it rebuilt or buy a new one without too much financial pain. Some cans are easier to rebuild then others so, I can't speak specifically to a SureFire like you have.

At one time, I considered an AAC M-249 can for my M-16. With it's much thicker first baffle I would have a hard time wearing it out. However, at twice the cost it was just plain overkill. Like barrels, with enough rounds you are going to need to do maintenance. Most people will never ever honestly wear out a barrel or suppressor in normal use. If you do something abusive or have a bad round kaboom, maintenance will come sooner.