Baffle strikes

[eastern_hunter]

Was reading the thread on the AK47 baffle strikes. Oh my! What a nightmare!

Am a newbie to suppressors (but not NFA weapons), so please excuse the dummy questions:

1. How often does this sort of thing happen?

2. Is it common with good quality (ARP, WOA, BHW, etc) factory threaded AR barrels?

Thanks!

[JasonAAC]

Was reading the thread on the AK47 baffle strikes. Oh my! What a nightmare!

Am a newbie to suppressors (but not NFA weapons), so please excuse the dummy questions:

1. How often does this sort of thing happen?

2. Is it common with good quality (ARP, WOA, BHW, etc) factory threaded AR barrels?

Thanks!

1. Not very often at all compared to the number of cans out there. AKs are notoriously badly threaded and difficult to suppress.

2. It is not common at all, and less so with QUALITY barrels. That said, EVERY company can produce a stinker, so you ALWAYS need to check out concentricity/alignment on a new can and each host you want to use it on. The easiest way is to unload and pull the bolt from the gun, mount the can tight, and look through the barrel from the breach end... move your eye around and confirm that the can is centered on the bore (not overlapping more on any side). basically, if you look straight through, and see a quarter-moon-shaped shadow you could be in trouble and it's best to have it checked by a smith or a manufacturer.

[Wakko]

Not common when things are done properly. If the items are manufactured correctly, installed correctly, and maintained correctly, it shouldn't happen at all. On my AR, the Halo damaged in the other thread cleared just fine, and it was clamped over the factory style birdcage. In that situation, I should have a lifetime of typical use without a problem.

What caused the problem with the AK is that the spacer was a bit too short, and the can was a little bit loose. Considering the loose tolerances on the AKs in the first place, it was just too far out of center and caused the strike. With VLTOR's repair of the mount, I should have no further issues on that rifle either.

[Wicked]

Call me crazy if you want, but I carefully check every pre-threaded barrel that will ever get fired with a can on it. I don't care who made it. Not just a cursory visual down-the-bore inspection either, but we put the barrel between centers and measure run-out and shoulder squareness using an indicator. If you don't have the equipment, any reputable machine shop or gunsmith should be able to do it for a small fee. Time and effort well spent; cans are just too expensive to risk a strike.

[JasonAAC]

Call me crazy if you want, but I carefully check every pre-threaded barrel that will ever get fired with a can on it. I don't care who made it. Not just a cursory visual down-the-bore inspection either, but we put the barrel between centers and measure run-out and shoulder squareness using an indicator. If you don't have the equipment, any reputable machine shop or gunsmith should be able to do it for a small fee. Time and effort well spent; cans are just too expensive to risk a strike.

Not crazy, that is the way to be sure.

[Wakko]

One of the guys was saying he had an aluminum rod that was the same OD as the ID of a barrels lands, but every so slightly tapered. He'd slide that in the muzzle for fitment. Neat idea. I sure as hell am not going to take for granted that the threads are correct on any of my weapons.