I have read that coating suppressor baffles with silicon lubricant will make them easier to clean. Is there a particular brand that seems to work better than others?

Following for interest as I am curious about this as well.

I have not done this but most of the reports I have read about it suggest DOT 5 silicon brake fluid. which you can get anywhere and brand doesn't matter. Note the DOT 5.

1) clean baffles
2) wash with mineral spirits
3) heat baffles in toaster oven
4) immerse in pure silicon oil (Amazon)
5) put baffles into fine strainer to remove excess silicon oil
6) let dry for 24 hrs
7) reassemble, all threads get a coating of anti seize

I have not done this either, but the Silicone Oil treatment you're asking about has the greatest benefit for 22LR Rimfire Silencers, though it should be of benefit for any Suppressor, especially those that can be disassembled. Here's a link on the Wayback Machine to the article re: Silencer Cleaning by Rimfire Research & Development:

https://web.archive.org/web/20...lencer-cleaning.html

A .PDF of the document is available for download here --> https://www.snipershide.com/sh...elopment-pdf.7266372

The article goes through the methodology and testing of various treatments. Ultimately it recommends Pure Silicone Oil as providing the greatest benefit. That said, Dot 5 Brake Fluid performed almost as well as the Pure Silicone Oil, was less expensive, more readily available.

While it's cheaper than pure silicon oil, dot 5 is still much more expensive than dot 3. I don't even have my supressor yet, but I bought some to have on hand for when the ATF finally gets around to letting me have it. And then my kid dumped it into the reservoir on his scooter, when I had 2 quarts of dot3 on the shelf right next to it .

So if you do buy it, hide it from your friends and children!

DOT 3,4 and 5.1 are not based on the same silicon chemistry as DOT 5 and are not relevant to this discussion at least with respect to silicon. And the few tests I've read trying normal brake fluid say they suck (I think people have tried coating baffles with just about everything).

Edited to add, maybe you actually meant that the DOT 5 went in a DOT 3 brake system not that you intended to use DOT3 on your suppressor, in which case you need to fix that brake system.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hrcjon,

quote:

Edited to add, maybe you actually meant that the DOT 5 went in a DOT 3 brake system not that you intended to use DOT3 on your suppressor, in which case you need to fix that brake system.

I'm well aware of the differences.

I bought DOT5 for my supressor, which I don't have yet. I put the bottle of DOT5 on the "gun stuff" shelf in the garage to wait on the ATF to do whatever BS it is that they do that takes a year to get get done.

Meanwhile, my kid had a problem with the brakes on his scooter. Instead of using one of the multiple bottles of DOT3 that I have on the "car stuff" shelf in the garage, he poured my really expensive DOT5 into his crappy scooter. Now I have less DOT5, and he needs to flush the brakes on his scooter. Thankfully the resurvoir on that thing is really small, so he didn't use it all.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGfourme:
1) clean baffles
2) wash with mineral spirits
3) heat baffles in toaster oven
4) immerse in pure silicon oil (Amazon)
5) put baffles into fine strainer to remove excess silicon oil
6) let dry for 24 hrs
7) reassemble, all threads get a coating of anti seize

I have followed this exact process for my rimfire suppressors and the cleaning is significantly easier vs. no pre-treatment or the factory coating….

I used a picnic style plastic mustard/ketchup bottle for my immerse process. The opening is just large enough to allow the baffle system be inserted into the bottle full of silicon oil. This ensures the entire baffle system is completely immersed.

Since I have never done this I'm curious mostly. My process 1. Clean baffles (I use ultrasonic) and then step 7 that's all that's needed. So what exactly do you get from steps 2-6 that justify the time?

^^^Ease of cleaning? As an example, I've got a SilencerCo Sparrow, which has an Aluminum Monocore (NOT individual baffles) and that Monocore can't go in an ultrasonic cleaner. In that case, the Silicone Oil treatment has some benefits. YMMV

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

https://web.archive.org/web/20...lencer-cleaning.html

A .PDF of the document is available for download here --> https://www.snipershide.com/sh...elopment-pdf.7266372

Many thanks for posting the links to these two articles. I've found both to be very helpful and will make some adjustments to my rimfire cleaning process as well as adopting the cleaning/preventive maintenance system for suppressors because of them.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Since I have never done this I'm curious mostly. My process 1. Clean baffles (I use ultrasonic) and then step 7 that's all that's needed. So what exactly do you get from steps 2-6 that justify the time?

Sorry Hrcjon for my delayed reply. As others have said utilizing this process allows the cleaning of the baffles to be completed with Hopes #9 and a brass wire brush (for me). I utilized this process before I ever shot a round through my rimfire suppressors. That was done once (have not done it again) about 5 years ago and the baffles are still very easy to clean…

Am I to understand that this is a 'one and done' activity rather than you do it everytime you clean?

I read somewhere about the silicon oil thing on aluminum baffles, and that’s what I have. Short of bead blasting them, they were very difficult to clean.

I cleaned them down to bare AL and then cleaned with brake cleaner and just drizzled DOT5 on the baffles. Put it together and shot it the next day putting 100 rounds thru it.

Took it home and literally wiped off the carbon. Sprayed them with break cleaner and re-applied the DOT5.

It definitely makes cleaning the little 22 suppressor easier.

Been doing this for awhile with my .22s.
I bought a toaster oven specifically for this since the misses didnt want me using the oven.

I finally got my YHM Phantom out of jail this week. I degreased the baffles and tossed them in the toaster oven on 250 and then dunked them in Dot5 before taking them to the range. I put about 300 rounds of Federal Automatch through it, and you guys weren't kidding...these things get filthy.

The buildup did not wipe off. I scrubbed with a wire brush for a long time and got a lot of it, but they still weren't what I called clean. Several hours in the tumbler with walnut media did absolutely nothing. I ended up scraping with a pick and screwdriver for another 30-45 minutes and got almost everything off. It seems like this is going to be pretty hard on the baffles long-term, and it's also no way to live.

I did the silicon oil treatment again, heating them to 450 for 20 minutes this time. I'm going to take it back out this week and we'll see what happens.

I did have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's a good one or not. Is anybody here a bullet caster? Have you ever tried dumping the stainless steel baffles in a molten pot of lead and just letting the lead and dross melt off into the pot? From what I understand about the temperatures involved, it shouldn't be enough to damage the temper of stainless, but I'd like input from somebody more knowledgeable before I try it.

92fs--tumble with stainless steel pins rather than walnut media.
After silicon oil--treat the 1st baffle with anti seize--light coating.

And ultrasonic does a pretty decent job with literally no work.

The thing is, I currently have a dry tumbler, and a casting pot. I do not have a wet tumbler, or an ultrasonic, and those things cost money and take up space. I almost bought a wet tumbler a few months ago when my current unit stopped working, but I took it apart and lubed it and it started working again, so I didn't end up getting one. That may changeif the old FA dry tubler ever completely gives up the ghost.

I've used ultrasonics for other purposes in the past (admittedly, never for cleaning supressor baffles) and have never been really impressed with the results. The gun-specific ones like Hornady seem to be the most affordable, but they also have stupid limitations on how long you can set the timer for. Maybe I need to shop around and give it another shot.

I appreciate the suggestions, and may end up trying one or the other or both at some point.

I did e-mail YHM directly about my question, and got a timely response with some suggestions, but it was pretty much a non-answer to my question. They didn't tell me NOT to do it, but they also didn't say it was OK, either. I take that to mean that they have no technical reason why it wouldn't be ok, but don't want to take responsibility for it, either.

Here's my E-mail exchange with YHM:

"I recently purchased a Phantom .22, and am very happy with the suppressor, but have found the baffles and blast chamber to be a pain to clean. I was thinking through cleaning options, and has considered dunking them in molten lead in a bullet casting pot to get the lead residue to melt off. I know this works great for melting lead cores out of jacketed bullets and leaves the jackets completely clean. I figured the outcome would be the same from a fouled baffle. I wasn't sure if this would harm the steel baffles, though, and figured I should ask before trying it. From what I understand, the casting pot heats to between 650-720 degrees Fahrenheit."

"Hello,

Thank you for your email.

We would suggest soaking for a few days in a Simple Green and water solution, 50/50. If you have an ultra-sonic cleaner that would also help. A nylon brush to help get off stubborn carbon.

Blow out dry with compressed air to complete.

Please let us know if you have any other questions."

I do have some Simple Green in the back of my squad car that I use for getting the stink out of the cage...I could easily give that suggestion a shot.