KAC snap-on wipes thicknes

[ninoslavt]

Hey guys! Yesterday I had conversation with an old buddy of mine about some old suppressors, like KAC snap-on and AWC HP9. He noticed that all of them use .25 inch wipes but in different configuration. As you probably know, KAC version use 8 of them, stacked with two spacers (3+3+2). And then my friend asked simple question, but I had no good answer. Is it possible to use thicker wipes, like .75 and .5? Common sense tells me that answer is yes. But than again, somehow I don't think it's correct one... Any thoughts?

[ninoslavt]

Anyone?

[T-Rex]

You could make the entire suppressor from wipe material. Is it going to be efficient or accurate, no.
Wipes are used to do a better job at sealing the previous chamber, from escaping gas. A thicker wipe isn't going to do a better job, it's just going to influence the flight path of the projectile more (negatively).

[ninoslavt]

Now, I do understand what wipes are for. And for sure, they are capable to make some troubles. But, my question is, does stacks of two or three .25" wipes are doing better job than one that is .5" or 0.75" thick? 'Cause, that is what Reed Knight used for his version of "hush puppy".
Even Gemtech Aurora used four wipe stacks, each consisted of two .25" wipes. I'm sure, there's good reason for such practice than just using half of the number, but twice as thick. Just don't know what's the reason.
P.S. Personally, I'm not big fan of wet or wipe cans. But like most things , they got their place on this world. Like small boobs or alcohol free beer...

[gunny50]

I do think that its done because one can have one material in stock.
instead of all kind of white material end stamping / cutting 0,25" is a lot easier than cutting 0,75" obviously.

Now you just have one box of wipes, easy, fast, simple.

Gunny

[ninoslavt]

Well, that thought did cross my mind, and for sure, sounds very possible. Anyway, thanks for your answers!

[ctm]

The KAC XM-9 and the Gemtech Aurora do not use .25" thick wipes they use 1/8" thick wipes. They both use 8 wipes. I have never seen or read about a can that has ever used a wipe that was more than .25" in thickness. While the KAC XM-9 has you shooting through 3/8th's of thickness at one time I think they keep them thinner for two reasons. Material is cheaper and easier to punch out clean wipes.

I do not believe you could shoot through one large stack of wipes or one solid piece of wiped material without running a serious risk of an end cap strike etc. Example the XM-9 has a total of one inch of material but I think you would have a real problem shooting through one inch of solid material.

[doubloon]

... does stacks of two or three .25" wipes are doing better job than one that is .5" or 0.75" thick?[/i] ...

I'm sure you're aware but just in case.

Wipe hardness varies even within the same material selection so don't just look at thickness, look at durometer rating as well.

[a_canadian]

For some reason I'd expect a can to explode if wipes of much greater than 1/4" thickness were used. Just a gut feeling, no engineering background to back that up. Seems that urethane 3/4" thick of just about any durometer rating would jam up the projectile for just a bit too long, causing gas pressure to split the tube or tear out the end cap threads. At least on a bolt action. Maybe you'd just get massively excessive blowback with such thick wipes in a pistol can. Or maybe none of the above, heck, I don't know. Wouldn't catch me trying it though.

[ninoslavt]

@ctm, Thanks, for the correction. My buddy found that .25" info somewhere, but didn't do any checking. Obviously, taking anything from Internet as granted is stupid idea. (I know, that smiley that's banging his head against a wall would be a more appropriate.) In that case, the whole thing is clear to me now. Using such thick wipes (.25" and .75") seemed so wrong to me for all the reasons that you and a_canadian mentioned in your comments. That's a main reason for asking that question. I've seen so many 9 mm bullets stopped by rubber curtains in a local indoor range. And thickness of those was always less than one inch, rather about .75". Now, they normally use that stuff that's used in mines for transportation because it's much cheaper than some special ballistic rubber. And talking about hardness, it's not that particularly hard, just about A 65.

[T-Rex]

1/4" polyurethane @ 80A is what I use. Never more than 1 thick. I buy McMaster p/n 8789K41.