Suppressors Does anyone run "wet" cans anymore?

101stinfantry

101stinfantry

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Minuteman
Feb 14, 2017
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#1
When I first got into NFA stuff back in the mid to late '90's I remember lots of people running their pistol/subgun cans wet, they were putting all kinds of shit in them, water, ky jelly, lithium grease, etc. Does anyone do that anymore?
FYI, never run a centerfire rifle can wet.
 
#3
You and I must be the only old MFer's that remember those days! That was back in the old Tom Bowers subguns message board days, when you could buy an M11/9 SMG for $1000. Shoulda bought a truckload of them.:(
 
#4
Many rifle silencers can be fired wet, usually done for flash reduction. It's even written into some manuals.

Yes, people still do it with handgun silencers. Mostly really small ones.
 
#9
Either put 3-4 drops into the blast chamber or 3-4 drops down the exit end, the result is almost the same either way. I do the blast chamber if I don't know when the first round will leave, but do the exit end if shooting is about to take place. Keeping the weapon in battery after each shot is key after the first rd, to hold the gasses in the can as long as possible. If you keep the weapon out of battery very long the spent gasses will exit an you have to start over, hence why I do it both ways depending,... I've tried many different combos of stuff but for me water is the safest, easiest, an cheapest way to control first rd pop. With 4 drops or more I hear a difference after firing 4-6 rds depending chambering or action type. Can design comes into play here big time as some do not have a very large first rd pop compared to others, an those do not require as much water from the on set, if any,... when firing subsonic ammo.
 
#10
I’ll have to experiment with my 45 Osprey. When I’m running 230s, there is a bit of first round pop, but not much at all. Much more when I ran my 180 (I think) DPX hollow points through it. Then again I imagine they were going much faster.
 
#12

No shit! Hindsight 20/20...

Oh, and $189 AK's. Shoulda bought 'em by the caseload.

I still put 1cc in a .22 can. Liberty Regulator is already a damn quiet can with what is practically no FRP, but one cc water makes it no-shit silent --only sound is clacking of the slide on a Walther PPK. But it only lasts a few rounds and it's back to normal, whatever normal is.


The point of it is to reduce FRP. In real world offensive use you'd probably only fire a few shots so in this aspect it works great.

I have an integrally suppressed 10/22 and water doesn't affect it at all. I guess it's already as quiet as it's gonna get with a 12 baffle core.

Wire pulling gel was all the rage several years back. I wouldn't spend money on shit they make. You can technically use anything but water based shit is preferred, works better IIRC. Wire gel is cheap and KY is about the same thing.

But yeah, 1cc in the blast chamber (or squirted down the muzzle but be sure you don't get it in the barrel if you do it that way). It'll probably run into the first chamber, that's fine and maybe even better.

Spit and piss also works and I'd reckon those mediums have been used in real world situations more then anything else.

I bet going wet was the shit with wipes, now that's old school. Rubber discs that sealed gases in the can, replaceable and can got louder by end of first mag.


Typically wet cans are used with .22's and/or pistol caliber rounds. I know MANY can mfg.'s that say to NEVER run a centerfire rifle can with any form of wet media. So I'd refrain from that. If you can't fire a bombproof SDN6 or Saker wet, you probably shouldn't be firing any rifle can wet. Creates overpressure conditions in side the can is what they tell me, not such an issue in low gas producers like .22, 9mm, .45, the most commonly suppressed pistol rounds. May be exceptions but that's the general rule, pistol cans only (and only ones where the mfg. says it's okay).
 
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#14

I know very well what silencers are capable of and what they can handle. You can read about water for flash reduction yourself here where it says "Notes on Muzzle Flash Reduction": https://www.advanced-armament.com/assets/images/pdf/manuals/AAC-Manual-TiTANQD.pdf

Water use in rifle silencers is largely overblown BS. If it was that big of a problem then no one would be using silencers right after being underwater because even a cap full would blow up all your rifle silencers if you're to believe that myth. It's a case by case basis and since most people don't have an actual need or reason to be shooting a rifle silencer wet it doesn't apply to most people. It isn't that people "can't" shoot a 762SDN6 wet, it's that most people don't have the need to do so, though it's up to whatever AACs customer service people want to say so their warranties aren't voided. It's more so military oriented use of a rifle silencer since most people aren't coming up out of the water and shooting and most people aren't looking to actively prevent muzzle flash.
 
#15
My .22 Sparrow on a 22/45 has some pretty noticeable FRP so it benefits greatly from water. The only time I do it is when I take it hunting and want absolute quiet. I've stuck the whole damn thing up to the muzzle in a bucket of water and then shook it out. Works fine. I don't think I'd want to use anything other than water. You're going to get crap all over you.
 
#18
I've tried Aquaphor I had laying around, as well as ultra sound gel. They seem to work equally well, and pretty well at that. The ultra sound gel is a little messier, I need to try it with less gel.

With the ultra sound gel I just stick the tube up to the threaded end, and squeeze it in till it comes out the other end. Then I run a McDonalds straw right now the hatch to clean out the extra.

Put it on and shoot. Usually the first shot plops a little gel out but hey I shoot outside lol
 
#19
Piss in the blast baffle is interesting, if your down range an watching for the signature from a sub. Different medias can an do present different sigs depending a/o temp. Water is the easiest to see in any temp below 40*F, if you use to much for the can size, design, an rd fired.
 
#20
I usually put a lot of CLP on the baffles of the pistol cans and the .22LR cans as well.

So the innards are pretty wet to begin with.

I noticed that I don't have as much as a FRP as my friend's can has. There is also a lot more smoke coming out of mine due to the amount of CLP.

After that, there isn't as much difference in the rest of the shooting session between both of our suppressors.

Because I use a lot of CLP on the baffles, I noticed that the fouling is a lot softer than my friend's can. He puts a thin layer on his baffles, while mine are dripping wet. This is more so with the .22LR cans.

This makes the cleanup on my suppressors a lot easier.
 
#33

It is more prevalent in semi-autos but still present in bolt guns too. Silencers already push condensation down the barrel, adding water in the can just adds even more water down the barrel. What's the upside, a couple of shots that are slightly quieter than the rest? It isn't worth it to me.
 
#35

LULZ, everything from plum full to a couple of drops. Half of whatever you put in that silencer will be in the gun. If it is one drop then you probably won't notice. Then again, one or two drops of water isn't going to amount to anything from a suppression standpoint.

I'm a little surprised by you being surprised, after half a mag through an AR and there's water running out from between the receivers. No additional water necessary. If a silencer pushes that much condensation just imagine what it's going to do when you add more directly into the blast chamber. Congrats on the water though...I guess.
 
#38
HA! Do you remember the old "Blue Board"?
I got my first pair of consecutively numbered M11's for $490.00 each, those were the good old days weren't they. LoL
 
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