Continued use Effectivness

[tan689]

When shooting with a silencer with prolonged shooting does the effectiveness of the silencer decrease? If so how many rounds do you have to shoot before it starts to decrease in effectiveness?

[a_canadian]

There is no single answer for that question. If you're asking about a .22lr device, then there is definitely a need to dismantle and clean it quite regularly, those cartridges being quite dirty with the sand and powder and lead deposits building up significantly even after a few hundred rounds. If it's a centerfire setup then as I understand it, they are usually self-cleaning, the intensity of pressure flushing out residues for the most part. But those are generalizations. You'll need to offer specifics of your situation before more knowledgeable people can step in with more exact answers.

[doubloon]

Everything wears out eventually.

Construction material, ammo choice, shooting habits and maintenance regimen will make the biggest difference in how long yours lasts.

Define "prolonged".

A suppressor that will last 300,000 rounds at a moderate rate of fire over a period of years might not last 300 rounds fired under 30 seconds.

[aries14482]

There are two things that decrease suppressor performance, 1. erosion opening up the baffle apertures, and 2. volume reduction caused by the buildup of carbon and etc.

A standard US industry rifle silencer will last 10's of thousands of rounds, mainly dependent on avoiding exposing the suppressor to abuse it wasn't intended to handle. i.e. don't take a stainless or titanium suppressor intended for semi-auto fire, mount it on a beltfed, and proceed to belt dump until the suppressor reaches heat failure and explodes.

Pistol and .22 silencers will last even longer using normal ammunition and powders. There are some powders that have shown themselves to be extraordinarily abrasive, like that used in the "Winclean" ammunition.

Regarding carbon buildup, this is a larger issue than most realize as it goes mostly unnoticed. Carbon takes thousands of rounds to build up and the first notable change is an increase in suppressor weight. Decreased suppressor sound performance typically takes many tens of thousands of rounds to be noticed in US industry standard centerfire suppressors, either from buildup or erosion.

My AAC Ranger 2 5.56 suppressor has seen around 8000 rounds of my 55gr Hornady FMJ reloads using 24.6grs of AA2460 powder. It started off weighing 15.5oz and now weighs 18.5oz.