Went on my first outing with my first suppressor today in the cold rain that could not dampen my day.
Gun: Home built, using mostly Aeroprecision parts with WOA 18" SPR, Geiselle G2S, Bushnell 2.5-16, Omega .30 w/ anchor brake.
Ammo: For groups -- 69g SMK over 24.4g IMR4895, Mixed LC Brass, CCI400 primers, COAL 2.26.
For blasting steel -- 62g Armscor FMJ-BT over 25.0g Ramshot TAC, Mixed Mil Brass, CCI400 primers, COAL 2.26.
Scenario: Started out unsuppressed at 100 yds with a 5 round group about 1 MOA with 4 knotted up in a bughole and one flyer (pby the first cold bore shot?). Then went on to shoot with suppressor attached with ASR brake. Suppressor mount up to the brake was tight with zero wiggle. First suppressed five round group was about 1.5 MOA with no change in POI. This size group is pretty typical of this ammo in this rifle, maybe on the bigger side for group size. Went on to shoot two more 5 shot groups with the can and got similar results. If the group size tightened up as I went on, it wasn't by much. After that I rang steel with about 80 more rounds. And before anyone asks, I forgot the targets at the range sitting next to the bench. Dammit.
Impressions: I shot one time with a suppressor before and that was with a friendly MEU sniper team I found in the desert one day on my last deployment. The Omega was a lot quieter than I thought it would be. I really did not expect it to make that much of a difference! I let my shooting partner fire a few shots out of it and it seems even quieter a few feet to the shooter's 4 o'clock; about where the brass would get ejected. The range is in a big basin so the sonic crack reverberated back off the hills but the muzzle blast sounded like the hiss of someone letting air out of a car tire stem for part of a second. The gas blowing through the charging handle was kind of annoying but not too distracting with shooting glasses on... ended up with a black smudge on my right cheek at the end of the session (no adjustable gas block... yet.) Recoil seemed less with the can on and follow up target acquisition seemed much faster as a result. The mag follower got black with soot very fast, around the 20 round mark, and I thought 'Cleaning this is going to suck, but the fun is worth it.' As it turned out, cleaning wasn't the chore it appeared to be. there was a fine film of oily soot over most of the internals of the rifle but it wiped off easily using Hoppe's #9. I did start with the rifle pretty wet with the only lube I happened to have on hand: FP-10. But it seemed to do the trick. There were no malfunctions of any kind during the session.
Summary: There was a giant grin on my face most of the day that was hard to hide. It was worth the wait: 6 June - 21 Mar. I think I am going to end up shooting more now, it is that much more pleasant. Some of the bolt guns in the safe are going to end up threaded too I bet. So that will be extra greenbacks tossed at the 'smith. Shooting suppressed is highly recommended especially to those that shoot once or more per week.
Hope this helps someone down the road....
Semper Fidelis,
Aaron
Gun: Home built, using mostly Aeroprecision parts with WOA 18" SPR, Geiselle G2S, Bushnell 2.5-16, Omega .30 w/ anchor brake.
Ammo: For groups -- 69g SMK over 24.4g IMR4895, Mixed LC Brass, CCI400 primers, COAL 2.26.
For blasting steel -- 62g Armscor FMJ-BT over 25.0g Ramshot TAC, Mixed Mil Brass, CCI400 primers, COAL 2.26.
Scenario: Started out unsuppressed at 100 yds with a 5 round group about 1 MOA with 4 knotted up in a bughole and one flyer (pby the first cold bore shot?). Then went on to shoot with suppressor attached with ASR brake. Suppressor mount up to the brake was tight with zero wiggle. First suppressed five round group was about 1.5 MOA with no change in POI. This size group is pretty typical of this ammo in this rifle, maybe on the bigger side for group size. Went on to shoot two more 5 shot groups with the can and got similar results. If the group size tightened up as I went on, it wasn't by much. After that I rang steel with about 80 more rounds. And before anyone asks, I forgot the targets at the range sitting next to the bench. Dammit.
Impressions: I shot one time with a suppressor before and that was with a friendly MEU sniper team I found in the desert one day on my last deployment. The Omega was a lot quieter than I thought it would be. I really did not expect it to make that much of a difference! I let my shooting partner fire a few shots out of it and it seems even quieter a few feet to the shooter's 4 o'clock; about where the brass would get ejected. The range is in a big basin so the sonic crack reverberated back off the hills but the muzzle blast sounded like the hiss of someone letting air out of a car tire stem for part of a second. The gas blowing through the charging handle was kind of annoying but not too distracting with shooting glasses on... ended up with a black smudge on my right cheek at the end of the session (no adjustable gas block... yet.) Recoil seemed less with the can on and follow up target acquisition seemed much faster as a result. The mag follower got black with soot very fast, around the 20 round mark, and I thought 'Cleaning this is going to suck, but the fun is worth it.' As it turned out, cleaning wasn't the chore it appeared to be. there was a fine film of oily soot over most of the internals of the rifle but it wiped off easily using Hoppe's #9. I did start with the rifle pretty wet with the only lube I happened to have on hand: FP-10. But it seemed to do the trick. There were no malfunctions of any kind during the session.
Summary: There was a giant grin on my face most of the day that was hard to hide. It was worth the wait: 6 June - 21 Mar. I think I am going to end up shooting more now, it is that much more pleasant. Some of the bolt guns in the safe are going to end up threaded too I bet. So that will be extra greenbacks tossed at the 'smith. Shooting suppressed is highly recommended especially to those that shoot once or more per week.
Hope this helps someone down the road....
Semper Fidelis,
Aaron
