Yes, it can be legal to make a silencer. For everything Form-1, from silencer designs that are easily made, to filing forms with the BATF, to 3D modeling. Remember, you must have an approved BATF Form-1 to make a silencer. All NFA laws apply.
cuban11182 wrote:So I'm looking at the exhaust tubing and find that 16 gauge 1 3/4 tubing is approximately 1.624 ID which should suffice for the 1 5/8 plugs. I've also found some DOM (drawn over mandrel) steel tubing that is 2" with a 1.624 ID and it's seemless. The 16 gauge walls are .065 thick and the DOM is .188.
I'm going to assume that the DOM is much sturdier and heavier, but is it overkill? Should I just go with the 16 gauge?
Also with the blast baffle, is it a better idea just to get a stainless 1 5/8 plug since I won't be welding it to the tube? I think the stainless would hold up to the blast much better than the hardened steel ones.
you can have the DOM turned down to whatever wall thickness you want.
I would like to know exactly what you mean when you say you reamed the holes in the baffle. The only part about the concept that I'm not getting is hole you get everything inline with the muzzle. I understand about the 2pt contact but Are you just eyballing the alignment or running a cleaing rod down the barrel. Please explain more on the reaming process. Thank you. Great sights and explanations..
I'll try explain how I did mine the baffles were drilled first slightly under size before fitting them into the tube once in I fitted the front attachment point basically a muzzle brake with three legs to fit in the tube. lining up with holes drilled to weld the end of the legs to the tube. now the reaming part just in case you don't know what a reamer is it looks like a straightened out drill bit and has a slight taper up to its size, so it fits in the under size hole. hss drills are not as accurate. but back to the how, by now twisting the reamer into the hole with a tap holder the reamer cuts a small amount off metal out to the correct size. but the benefit of using a hand reamer is that it has a taper from the under size to its stated size by reaming the muzzle brake with the first inch before putting it in the tube then going through all the baffles into the brake till it binds and leaving the reamer in place and welding the brake you end up with holes through the baffles all in line and getting bigger towards the front so if the threads aren't just perfect there's room for a little error. if you use a reamer that goes from your decided minimum clearance up as hand reamers (which is what I used) have a taper up to their size you get built in safety and alignment tool all in onehttp://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=5043 ... ONE_REAMER take a look at this to see a reamer hope this helps
I know it's old, but what a great thread! I've got a couple of .22 pistols, .22 rifles, couple of AR's, and a 308 gun for which I would like suppressors. The $200 for the tax stamp isn't bad, the $xxx for the suppressors isn't too bad, but when you put them together...it's bad.
I'd love to see pictures of any additional suppressors that have been built using this method!
Just use thicker tubes and thicker freeze plugs for 30-06.
A 1.5"-1.75" diameter tube should be plenty. And welding would be a better choice as there's no reason to clean a centerfire rifle round. - probably easier too.
In fact, if I were doing a .30 centerfire rifle caliber I'd probably want to machine the blast baffle out of solid stainless.
I reject your truths and substitute my own realities
I love this thread so sorry for bringing it back to life. This question is to sub, how did you keep the freeze plug from flaring out when pressed into shape? Also how did you remove the weld inside the exhaust tube or did you? Thanks.
Ander254 wrote:I love this thread so sorry for bringing it back to life. This question is to sub, how did you keep the freeze plug from flaring out when pressed into shape? Also how did you remove the weld inside the exhaust tube or did you? Thanks.
I know your question was directed as Subsonic, but I have a suggestion,two in fact. The first is DO NOT USE exhaust tube. Get DOM tube from onlinemetals.com other than having to pay $4 or so for shipping the material cost wont be but a couple of bucks more and the quality and choice of dimensions is far superior. Next is to go to the autoparts store and get a bearing race. Find a nice guy or gal behind the counter who will look a little for the right size. Essentially what you want to do is get a race that has an ID close or a little bigger than your expansion plug, put it inside, and then press. It will only flair a small amount anyway.
"The only day that doesn't end in "day" is tomorrow"...Sandra Willoughby
Ander254 wrote:I love this thread so sorry for bringing it back to life. This question is to sub, how did you keep the freeze plug from flaring out when pressed into shape? Also how did you remove the weld inside the exhaust tube or did you? Thanks.
I did not have any flaring that would cause any trouble.
on the first one I built I spent alot of time grinding down the weld but I decided on the next one to leave the weld and slot the baffle and that was alot easier and worked well
thanks
I have over 6k of full power military SS109 out of the first one I made for 5.56 and 2K of subsonics and 600 full power military from the second one I made for the sks and the 7.62x39 carcano and 4k from the one on my 22 pistol
I have two hobbies. Shooting and reloading. The more I do of one the more I can do of the other.
I'm new to the site and want to say I've really enjoyed reading and researching all the articles. I've been experimenting with silecersmithing for years and the freeze plug idea is the best and cheapest I've ever used.
I've tried out a 6 freeze plug baffle inside a 6 inch mag light tube (1 3/8 ID) and it does an Ok job for a can that cost less than $30. I think the baffle through hole is too large though. Any suggestions on size of hole that would be good on a remake of the same setup?
Also, has any one tried a suppressor on a M4 style rifle with a .22lr conversion? The few times I've tried, it doesnt seem to work, like theres too much sound coming from the upper reciever and or ejection port to even bother trying to mask the sound at the end of the rifle.
Thanks for the advice if any, and the many great ideas.
Action noise is always present,unless you disable it and shoot it "single shot". A suppressor does not truly "mask" the sound at the end of the muzzle. It protects the shooter's hearing and camouflages the directionality of the shot.
"The only day that doesn't end in "day" is tomorrow"...Sandra Willoughby
So I was doing the math on a freeze plug build. According to Subs post his was 10.5" long with a 2.5" expansion chamber and 11 baffles. This works out to roughly .72" tall baffle. I measured my plugs (which were described as high wall at napa) and they are roughly 1/2 tall. Sounds like his high wall are higher than my high wall. would this put the baffles too close together or would I be fine without a spacer. If it mattes, the id of my tube is 1 5/8. I am planning on a 8" overall length with a flashhider used for my mounting point with two plugs welded to it forming my blast chamber.
I'm so glad someone resurrected this thread! I saw it a couple years ago, and I've been searching for it for quite a while now. I couldn't even remember for sure which forum it was on. I only joined this forum so that I could use the "search" function to try to find it.
Thanks to all who have contributed to this one. This is exciting as I'm getting ready to send in my paperwork so I can build one.
Thank you for the info Sub. I have a full machine shop and 27+ years experience and I couldn't better your results. I understand the principles involved, but I'm still very 'green' when it comes to the tech involved in building an effective can (blast chamber size, can ID, length, etc...). But I'm a fast learner and this type of post really helps. Thanks again.
I have read all 9 pages and have learned a lot from what sub-sonic has written. I cannot wait to start working on mine when my paper work is all done.
sub-sonic - I might have missed this but how did you connect your can to your sks? I also have a sks I would like a can for. Did you get a pipe collar and pipe that fits it for the same 2 point attachment like you did on the AR?
Sweetfish89 wrote:I have read all 9 pages and have learned a lot from what sub-sonic has written. I cannot wait to start working on mine when my paper work is all done.
sub-sonic - I might have missed this but how did you connect your can to your sks? I also have a sks I would like a can for. Did you get a pipe collar and pipe that fits it for the same 2 point attachment like you did on the AR?
I made a different mount for the sks I did not show it on here
the barrel on the sks is threaded 9/16-24 and I used a flash hider for the L1A1 rifle as the mount
I use that silencer on my L1A1 more than on the sks
the problem with the sks is the front sight is in the way
Last edited by sub-sonic on Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I have two hobbies. Shooting and reloading. The more I do of one the more I can do of the other.
