Supressor Recore!!

[davet]

About ten years ago or so, I bought a suppressor for shooting 22LR. The 22LR suppressors usually have aluminum baffles in them, along with an aluminum "blast shield". The nice thing is they can be easily taken apart for cleaning....as 22LR ammo is dirty as all get out.

So, I've read about upgrading mine to stainless steel baffles which will allow me to shoot my .17 Hornet with it. Now, I realize I cannot load down the .17 Hornet without a severe compromise in the bullet being lethal. But, it would allow me to at least cut out the blast part of the noise.

The plus of spending $325 for a Recoring is I don't need to spend $500-$700 for a new suppressor.....plus the $200 for the Federal BAFT stamp....plus wait the 4-6 months for "approval".

I've been reading on handloading for the .223 using TrailBoss for sub-sonic loads. I'm going to dabble with that using bullet weights from 55gr up to 77gr. If I get consistent loads and good accuracy out to 100 yards then I'll load up some of those for my Savage M10.

Oh....and I can still use it for 22LR. The company that made my suppressor went outta business so a company in Ohio does Recores on my brand all the time.

I'll keep ya posted!!

[davet]

I got my re-cored suppressor back. The guy did a class A job. Nice 'n shiny 'n strong stainless steel!! Now, in addition to using it on my Buckmark 22LR pistol for plinking, a bolt action 22LR, I can now use it on my 17 Hornet (no sub-sonic ammo with the 17, but it DOES cut the report in half!) and finally my bolt action Savage carbine .223.

I had to adjust a bit the red dot on my 22 Buckmark, but it's shooting great using a new sub-sonic CCI polymer coated bullets. Not only accurate, quiet, but it cycles the semi-auto every time!!

As I said on my Savage 17 Hornet, it cuts the report in half and my accuracy is spot on!!

Now...for the "what happen here" part. I worked up some "heavy bullet" sub-sonic loads using 6gr. TrailBoss under the Speer 70gr RNSP bullet. I seat the bullet 20-thousands off the lands and when I shoot this without the suppressor, the accuracy is excellent!! But when I screw on the suppressor.....I can't tell where the bullet goes!! At 50 yards without the suppressor I'm getting MOA. With the suppressor it doesn't hit the 4'x4' piece of paper! Yes....four foot by four foot target.....not a mark!!

I've looked at my suppressor and there is no damage to the baffles from a "bullet hit". Today I'm going to put a bore rod in the barrel and see if the suppressor is not concentric with the bore. I believe this is the issue....and if so I'll take it to my Gunsmith to either fix the existing threads, or cut them off and do it right. My "gun guy" has threaded the barrel of my Buckmark and the Long Rifle and they both work great.

Don't ask me where those flyer bullets went....but if you felt something hit the back of your neck......wasn't me!!

I thought of looking down the bore when firing the next shot just to see what the bullet does when it meets the suppressor.....but something tells me that may not be a good thing to do.  

[timberdoodle]

speak up can't hear ya

[davet]

I was chatting with the guy I use for GUNSMITHING and he may have stumbled onto the 223 issue. Both my 22LR & my 17 Hornet threaded barrels are .400 deep. But the 223 is .620 deep.

So the 223 muzzle is .220 deeper into the suppressor and perhaps causing this apparent vortex issue.

Besides…I think “Vortex” is just a way cool word. 😎

[davet]

Here's pic's of what I sent to my 'Smitty. He's going to lathe me a spacer for my 223.....my crude pic's below:

[davet]

I've read a few post on "Suppressor specific" forums about shooting the .223 subsonic load. The "constant" comment I read is the .223 subsonic is the same as a 22LR subsonic. Not so. My load of the 70gr. Speer at 1125fps provides a 100 yard energy of 157ft\lb. The 22LR 40gr subsonic at 1150fps provides a 100 yard energy of 77ft\lbs.

In addition, the 22MAG 30gr at 2,250fps (not subsonic) provides a downrange 100yd energy of 151ft\lbs. This is the only one close to my .223 subsonic....and this one is NOT quiet!!

The big plus of a 223 heavy bullet subsonic is the fact that it has the downrange energy of a 22mag, but it's quiet. In some places, shooting quiet is important!!

[davet]

Just an update......I worked up a good load for shooting my 17 Hornet. A 20gr Nosler Varmigetten using the max load of L'il Gun....10.1gr. At 100 yards I'm getting a .75" 4 shot group.

My gunsmith made me a spacer for my Savage .223 carbine. It's making the shooting much better. I'm loading up a 70gr. Speer .224 bullet using 6.0gr. of Trail Boss powder. Now, I found that using SR Mag primers works much better than standard primers. It seems to provide a much more consistent grouping of the bullet.

The .223 is giving me a 3.5" 100 yard group with 4 shots, and the 5th shot "flyer" opened it up to 5" at 100 yards. Quiet as a church mouse! So, if nothing else it's been interesting just working up the .223 load.

FIWI

[Loggy]

Sounds like fun tweeking out those loads.  Least your shoulder isn't getting hammered too bad!!