Critique my AK suppressor

[chuck417]

I am going to form one a suppressor specifically for AK's. I am going to have a 7.5 inch long tube at 1.5 inch diameter. It will have use two different adaptors that thread into the rear of the tube so that you can use both 24mmx1.5RH and the 14mmx1LH that will thread in place and be held in place with a lock ring threaded onto the outside to retain the thread adaptor.

The tube and endcaps will be made from .065 seamless 316L stainless tubing and the baffles .35 17-4 H900 hardened steel with the first blast baffle being .55 for erosion. I was thinking an expansion chamber around 1.5 inches long followed by five .75 inch length single clip 50 degree cone baffle, then four .5 inch baffles and the a single .25 inch baffle at the end of the stack. The baffles will be orbital fusion welded with a miller synchrowave Tig welder.

I was thinking having the first baffle aperture to be .375 of an inch then increase by a ten thousands over each baffle ending with the endcap having an aperture of .475 so that the suppressor can be used on most AK's without being to worried about concentricity.

Are there any glaring problems I am missing? I am open to any and all suggestions, tips, pointers etc.


I do not have a cad drawing yet as I am away from work as I have covid.

Thank you,
Chuck

[whiterussian1974]

Sounds good. You should probably double clip your cones. It adds turbulence and creates symmetrical pressure on the bullet's yaw.

Maybe you could use MS Paint to make a simple drawing? It would help us to visualize it. Or even draw on paper and then take a photo with your phone.

Pictures always help us visually-oriented people. Then we can incorporate the numbers in addition to the concept.

[chuck417]

I will try to get a drawing made up. Do you think I should just use .75 spacers all the way through? The spacer length is the only thing I am second guessing.

[whiterussian1974]

No, your first thought was correct. Diminish the spaces the further that you go down the tube.

As the gases get slower, they will spread laterally more easily. So tighter packing is the best idea.

[chuck417]

Here is a cad drawing I did of the suppressor, I am thinking about going tubeless, if so I will bump the thickness of the baffles up to .050-.065 depending on how I feel. The reason for the change is if I use 17-4 for the core and weld it there is no way to one get it reliably into the tube after welding outside of using a larger tube like silencerco does with the saker, so I could weld the core to the mount then the tube to the mount. My original plan was to weld the core and then turn it down to make it smooth and press it into the 316L tube and afterwards press fit the caps against the core and weld them in place. However unless I'm mistaken having the core "float" in the tubes not attached to the muzzle end cap defeats the purpose of welding it in the first place. I am open to any suggestions, this can will live on my 10.5 AK with sees a decent amount of rapid fire.

Thanks,
Chuck

https://imgur.com/a/kFUM6lb

[Capt. Link.]

Here is a cad drawing I did of the suppressor, I am thinking about going tubeless, if so I will bump the thickness of the baffles up to .050-.065 depending on how I feel. The reason for the change is if I use 17-4 for the core and weld it there is no way to one get it reliably into the tube after welding outside of using a larger tube like silencerco does with the saker, so I could weld the core to the mount then the tube to the mount. My original plan was to weld the core and then turn it down to make it smooth and press it into the 316L tube and afterwards press fit the caps against the core and weld them in place. However unless I'm mistaken having the core "float" in the tubes not attached to the muzzle end cap defeats the purpose of welding it in the first place. I am open to any suggestions, this can will live on my 10.5 AK with sees a decent amount of rapid fire.

Thanks,
Chuck

Lets talk about "SAG" welding, rapid fire and material choices.
SAG is the state of materials when close to melting. Redundant mechanical support built into blast baffles to prevent deformation is a must. Thicker than normal blast baffles or spines and ridge supports all help. Welding to other items like,welding spacers to baffles or into tubes aid support. A 10.5'' AK will be very hard on the suppressor and you need to address SAG and structural integrity. The heat you will see will be intense in rapid fire. You should think about Inconel for blast baffles and don't forget the blast chamber.
I don't see a reason to weld a core to the end caps. Using 17-4 for a welded core that is pressed into a tube sounds like a plan. You can add a inconel blast baffle module ahead of that. Pressing and welding end caps all sounds good if you can keep every thing inline.
-CL

[Capt. Link.]

Here is a cad drawing I did of the suppressor, I am thinking about going tubeless, if so I will bump the thickness of the baffles up to .050-.065 depending on how I feel. The reason for the change is if I use 17-4 for the core and weld it there is no way to one get it reliably into the tube after welding outside of using a larger tube like silencerco does with the saker, so I could weld the core to the mount then the tube to the mount. My original plan was to weld the core and then turn it down to make it smooth and press it into the 316L tube and afterwards press fit the caps against the core and weld them in place. However unless I'm mistaken having the core "float" in the tubes not attached to the muzzle end cap defeats the purpose of welding it in the first place. I am open to any suggestions, this can will live on my 10.5 AK with sees a decent amount of rapid fire.

Thanks,
Chuck

Lets talk about "SAG" welding, rapid fire and material choices.
SAG is the state of materials when close to melting. Redundant mechanical support built into blast baffles to prevent deformation is a must. Thicker than normal blast baffles or spines and ridge supports all help. Welding to other items like,welding spacers to baffles or into tubes aid support. A 10.5'' AK will be very hard on the suppressor and you need to address SAG and structural integrity. The heat you will see will be intense in rapid fire. You should think about Inconel for blast baffles and don't forget the blast chamber.
I don't see a reason to weld a core to the end caps. Using 17-4 for a welded core that is pressed into a tube sounds like a plan. You can add a inconel blast baffle module ahead of that. Pressing and welding end caps all sounds good if you can keep every thing inline.
-CL

[chuck417]

Hello,

The first baffle is going to be thicker than the rest to be a blast baffle it isn’t represented in the cad file there. I just drew that up to show to layout of the suppressor. As far as welding the stack I am worried once I weld it heat distortion will not allow it to be pressed into the tube. Any ideas on what to do?

[chuck417]

Here is a cad drawing I did of the suppressor, I am thinking about going tubeless, if so I will bump the thickness of the baffles up to .050-.065 depending on how I feel. The reason for the change is if I use 17-4 for the core and weld it there is no way to one get it reliably into the tube after welding outside of using a larger tube like silencerco does with the saker, so I could weld the core to the mount then the tube to the mount. My original plan was to weld the core and then turn it down to make it smooth and press it into the 316L tube and afterwards press fit the caps against the core and weld them in place. However unless I'm mistaken having the core "float" in the tubes not attached to the muzzle end cap defeats the purpose of welding it in the first place. I am open to any suggestions, this can will live on my 10.5 AK with sees a decent amount of rapid fire.

Thanks,
Chuck

Lets talk about "SAG" welding, rapid fire and material choices.
SAG is the state of materials when close to melting. Redundant mechanical support built into blast baffles to prevent deformation is a must. Thicker than normal blast baffles or spines and ridge supports all help. Welding to other items like,welding spacers to baffles or into tubes aid support. A 10.5'' AK will be very hard on the suppressor and you need to address SAG and structural integrity. The heat you will see will be intense in rapid fire. You should think about Inconel for blast baffles and don't forget the blast chamber.
I don't see a reason to weld a core to the end caps. Using 17-4 for a welded core that is pressed into a tube sounds like a plan. You can add a inconel blast baffle module ahead of that. Pressing and welding end caps all sounds good if you can keep every thing inline.
-CL

Meant to reply to your post.

[T-Rex]

2.25-2.5 Blast length
I'd go .08 for the Blast Baffle. Weight increase is negligible, but life expectancy is prolonged.
When you say 50* baffle, how are you measuring it? It's based off the included angle, across the centerline, when looking at a cross section. You can also calculate it by subtracting the slope angle from 90 and doubling the result. 50* would be the correct angle, using this method.

Do not bring the Cone's slant wall to the Tube wall. Leave a square face. Like this:


I'd do a spacing like (starting at the Blast Baffle and moving distal): 2.5<.75<.7<.65<.6<.5<.45<.55 End Cap = ~6.7

If you want to vary the bore dia, do it the opposite way Large--->small. This will reduce the amount of back-pressure. And finish with the End Cap ~.4.

[chuck417]

The bore taper is to account for eccentric AK threads if I taper Large to small wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of increasing bore diameter to prevent strikes from eccentric threading? What is the benefit of using cones with a flat section over just straight cones? I have never done a rifle suppressor before, only pistols so I am open to any suggestions.

[T-Rex]

The bore taper is to account for eccentric AK threads if I taper Large to small wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of increasing bore diameter to prevent strikes from eccentric threading?
No. You can account for this in the dia of your end baffle and work backwards. Designing your way defeats the efficiency of a suppressor.
What is the benefit of using cones with a flat section over just straight cones?
More volume away from the centerline.
I have never done a rifle suppressor before, only pistols so I am open to any suggestions.

[chuck417]

Thanks for the reply!

I will go with you suggestions, I’ve decided instead of working in a taper bore for my first rifle suppressor I will just do the whole bore around .400-.410 so I am not getting to ahead of myself. I can always file more form ones if I don’t like the way it sounds. I will weld the whole can together instead of using a Tube like you did with you 556 build.