I prefer 17-4, easy to machine and one step heat treating. Titanium or chrome moly tubing.

The only way to know if you damaged them is to test the hardness.

Heating a metal to about x temperature for a while really does nothing you can rely on. And 17-4 is NOT water quenching material. You need to control temperatures to plus or minus 15 to 25 degrees for heat treating for the specified amount of time.

This is how I have done it. Drill .02-.03 undersize. Rough bore id of cone. Finish bore id of cone and bore. Rough and finish od of cone. Part off cone. The advantage of doing it this way is everything is done in one set up, guaranteeing that concentricity is maintained. Every set up you make adds t...

422 is nice to machine. Hit your speeds and feeds and go to town.

I used to make turbine bolts for power plants out of 422. I would use 316 out of what you mentioned because or corrosion resistance. If strength is more important then use 422. My go to is 17-4 because I can heat treat into the 40's Rc and make it thinner.

Where did you get your welding rod, and is it 630?

I recently saw a picture of a stepped cone baffle and the inside was smooth. I had always assumed the inside was done in matching steps, is this not the normal configuration?

The Machinery's Handbook shows 50 sfm down to 20 sfm depending on hardness. I have used carbide end mills in lathes to get past hard spots in parts. It only works if your setup is extremely rigid. Drill presses and end mills are not compatible in my opinion. Moly D is great stuff for SS, however it ...

Also, get some real cutting oil not wd40. What is the material? As stated if it is 300 series stainless it is now work hardened. Get some135 degree split point cobalt drill bits. As Yondering suggested go up in steps. If you search surface feet per minute for your material, you can plug that number ...

Some recent discussion on secondary baffles/chambers caused me to rethink my design before I started. I was reminded of how I used to make pistol compensators. I sized the chambers so the shoulder of the bullet would reach the next baffle as the base cleared the last baffle. In theory this did not a...

I am making my baffles .312 apart, which means there will be about 12-14 in the suppressor. I measured the length of the body diameter on the bullets I plan to shoot. The .22 LR's run around .28" to .29". My cast bullets run from .3" to .375". And 55 grain fmj run about .4"....

The more I reflect on this here are my thoughts. The blast chamber has an inverse relationship between FRP and back pressure (applicable only to semi-autos). Volume helps, but at what point do you see diminishing returns? Baffle spacing, that seems to be the real conundrum. Wider spacing, in the mid...

When I machined my cones I did it entirely before parting it off. Then I had a finished product at that point aside from any clipping that may take place. Kind of like this □<. They were 60* cones with an integral skirt. Food for thought.

I think it was Speer's 13th edition loading manual that had a very nice picture of gasses surrounding a bullet a short distance from the muzzle. This picture along with others I have seen influenced the way I made pistol compensators over twenty years ago. The base of the bullet does impead the flow...

I'll throw a few more questions out. I made my blast chamber walls .050" thick with 17-4. My spacers and cones are one piece with spacer walls at .020" thick. Couple this with .065" wall ti tubing. Could this be why the blast chambers don't show the heat as much as later in the stack?...

The problem with many today is they think you can buy experience. They are willing to spend great amounts of money on the latest, fill in the blank, yet reticent to spend the hours and even years to hone their skills. Buying a Stradivarius does not make you a virtuoso any more than buying a Bridgepo...

Historian you are too kind. I have just learned more ways not to do things than most people. My lathe is a 13 inch Jet, and the mill is also a Jet benchtop knee mill. I used carbide tooling for turning and threading. To anyone hesitant to machine titanium or 17-4, don't be, it cuts easier than many ...

One more, all heat treated to 42.1 Rc.

The cones have not been clipped. The point of aim did not shift when it was installed, so I am hesitant to clip.

Thank you on the machine work. I've been machining for about 40 years now. All the machining was done with manual machines. If this is what you referenced I did the hex on a super spacer and the blends on the lathe. http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l341/jnjproto1/20170503_113353_zpsmcnin9pt.jpg Th...

[img][URL=http://s328.photobucket.com/user/jnjproto1/media/20170504_174138_zps8cznhdsc.jpg.html][IMG]http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l341/jnjproto1/20170504_174138_zps8cznhdsc.jpg[/img][/URL[/img] Finally done after many iterations and valuable input from other members on the board. Here are some...

You are correct Canadian. I cut a small 30 degree angle leading into the 60 degree cone. The can displayed zero point of impact shift when I tested it last weekend. I dont think I will clip any cones, it shoots too good to risk any changes.

http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l341/jnjproto1/20170505_181921_zpshtnqq94i.jpg On the rear face of my blast baffle I have a flat that is about .100" wide. Would it increase the efficiency to cut an angle on the face of about 30deg and leave around a .020" flat? The baffles are 17-4 and ...

I think I will try one baffle to start. Then check for warpage. I've always heard 17-4 is very stable in heat treating. All my baffles except the blast baffle are .050 on the cone and .020 for the skirt. I think the most I would do to heat it up would be 4 or 5 shots at a running coyote with the M-4.