I went to the range the other day to play with my two SBRs. Both are suppressed but while the 300blk stayed nice and cool, the 5.56 got hot FAST!!! The barrels on both rifles are around the same length, so I was pretty surprised at the difference. I'm guessing the difference was subsonic 300 vs supersonic 5.56? The suppressors were SiCo Omega 9K and Saker 556K, respectively.

Bullet velocity affects how hot a barrel gets and how quickly. There are other factors that can affect it as well, such as the amount of gun powder in the cartridge being turned into hot gas, but that's a primary cause.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
Both are suppressed but while the 300blk stayed nice and cool, the 5.56 got hot FAST!!!

Compare the amount of powder burned in a supersonic 223 vs a subsonic 300. Many of the blackout subsonic loads use a powder with a different burn rate, but there is often twice as much powder by grain weight in a 223 load. More stuff burning, more heat generated.

They do get hot. I used to take my kids to an outdoor range and when it was time to go, the suppressors and barrels were still hot but our time was up. I started bringing some oven pans and putting the sbrs/cans in those when we left.

Now we just shoot at work and if stuff is too hot, I'll just leave it there till the next day.

i didn't read the manual on one of my 5.56 suppressors where it said limited full-auto use and coworkers and i were just testing mag dumps and the suppressor turned white. i had to leave it overnight.

Suppressors really turn up the heat an extra couple of notches. Hot gas that would normally immediately flow out the end of the barrel gets hold a relatively long time inside the suppressor. This gives that gas a lot more time to transfer heat to both the suppressor and the barrel.


Even my 9mm suppressed SBR gets uncomfortable to hold if you fire 3 or 4 30rd mags extremely quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
Suppressors really turn up the heat an extra couple of notches.

Good point. Five rounds of 308 Win through a TBAC suppressor makes it too hot to hold, and some of that heat will be transferred to the barrel.

Ran some bills on my 11.5 with suppressor yesterday. Between the drills and the Florida heat, that gun was SCORCHING yesterday.

What do y'all do to mitigate that? My Magpul covers did not do much.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
What do y'all do to mitigate that? My Magpul covers did not do much.

Wear good gloves and get a big handguard with rail covers. There’s little you can do about the heat itself. A short barrel 5.56 is going to get hot very quickly, and a suppressor make it much worse.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
What do y'all do to mitigate that? My Magpul covers did not do much.

I find they help while shooting unsuppressed for a long duration or while shooting suppressed for a short period of time. But when I take a 2 day class, I never shoot suppressed, the gun just gets too hot. Longer gas system helps by way of having a little more real estate on the rail.

Rail covers and gloves are about as good as it gets if you're shooting a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
What do y'all do to mitigate that? My Magpul covers did not do much.

After my last session with my 9mm that has the barrel and can shrouded by the HG, I'm planning to add a VFG to get my hand off of the HG.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
What do y'all do to mitigate that? My Magpul covers did not do much.

As stated already, there isn't a hell of a lot you can do to mitigate it when shooting because short, suppressed 5.56's just get hot. You can keep your firing schedule low, you can wear good gloves, and in between strings, you can bench the gun with a fan on it. That's really about it.

I have one of these I bought on someone's suggestion last year:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092...t_b_fed_asin_title_8

For $13, I didn't expect much, but it's been incredibly useful and holds a charge a long time. I just set whatever rifle on the bench with the fan blowing directly on the can and it makes a major difference. From heat mirage hot to cool to the touch in a few minutes, and that's on 110 degree days in the shade.

I keep recommending these also, but a $3 silicone curling iron cover works great as a "get home" sleeve to throw over hot rifle cans if you need to case up and just go when they're still too hot to touch. I do suggest removing them as soon as you get home, though. They'll hold the heat in for hours.

https://www.amazon.com/EIOKIT-...VX/ref=sr_1_9?sr=8-9

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
After my last session with my 9mm that has the barrel and can shrouded by the HG, I'm planning to add a VFG to get my hand off of the HG.

Yeah, I love the tucked look, but I don't think it would be a smart move here in Phoenix. I have two in particular that get roasty-toasty fast enough that I keep a VFG on them just to have something to hang onto. A tucked setup would get cooking a lot faster.

Guys use these at PRS matches:

Riflekuhl

I use these from Burnproof Gear:

https://www.burnproofgear.com/product/bpg-rr/

Basically, a suppressor wrap for your rail.

All of the ARs I shoot suppressed have VFG's on them, or they just get shot sparingly.

Thin, tight rails tend to heat up fast. There's not much material, and the proximity to the gas block and barrel get them up to temp fast. A thick, heavy, wide quad rail will not heat up as fast, and will remain cool enough to handle far longer than a sleek MLOK rail. Extra covers and wraps also won't choke off the ventilation on a quad rail as easily, compared to MLOK.

Leave the action open when you set the rifle down to cool. Air will not circulate with the bolt closed. I try and keep the barrel vertical with the ejection port facing the wind to help any extra little bit. A small fan like others have posted would help a lot more.

I bought a Dead Air suppressor "sock" for when I need to leave the range with a hot setup. I wouldn't stick it in there right after firing, but as long as the rifle is the last thing to get packed up I haven't had any issues. It's setup like a barrel condom in paintball

https://deadairsilencers.com/p...t/suppressor-sleeve/

Be VERY mindful of where that suppressor is once it's hot. It's very common to get burns on the thigh/knee from letting the rifle drop on the sling and transitioning to sidearm. And also burns on the hands, arms, friends, melted range bags, melted a glove onto a suppressor once, etc. if you're not paying attention.

Synthetic fibers will quickly melt to either the can or your skin. Be mindful, and use natural fibers or flame-retardant/heat resistant synthetics.

Yeah, I may have melted the inside of a rifle bag when I got my first suppressor.

And I've seen those Burnproof 'wraps' before. They work well?

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
Yeah, I may have melted the inside of a rifle bag when I got my first suppressor.

And I've seen those Burnproof 'wraps' before. They work well?

Armageddon Gear makes high temp suppressor wraps. They are great for reducing mirage. But it's a good idea to let a can cool off at times depending on round count and material.

I have a stainless can with inconel baffles that I abuse the heck out of.

My titanium precision rifle can I treat better.

I shoot both of them with covers, because of mirage. But the covers make them retain heat longer.

If I were shooting more than 3 mags through a can, I would unwrap it so that it can dissipate heat.

Wow, that can is so hot the whole website decided to give it more room so it didn't burn itself.