SureFire SOCOM300 SPS on 6.5 CM

[Hydrogen]

Has anyone used a SureFire SOCOM300 SPS on a 6.5 CM (bolt action)?

If you have, which SF muzzle device did you use, and were there any POI shifts or issues with the can?

Thank you!

 

[Sniperstud]

I have a 300 SPS that I use with an AXMC. I have barrels in 300WM, .308 WIN, 6.5 CM, and 6XC. I use Surefire .30 cal. muzzle brakes on all of them. There is no POI shift when removing and remounting the can on any of my barrels. I have had no issues of any kind with this suppressor. It also works great on a Remington 700 in .223 Rem. and two large frame AR’s in 6.5CM and .308 WIN.

I don’t recommend using it with 300BO subs though. While it was movie quiet on my 10.5” 300BO SBR, after only a couple of mags of factory subs, I found a dent on the inside edge of the exit hole in the end cap. Apparently, one of those rounds didn’t quite stabilize and nicked the end cap on exit. I stopped shooting blackout through any of my fully welded suppressors. I bought a Dead Air Nomad 30 that I use on my blackouts. It is also very quiet, but I can replace endcaps myself if I have a similar incident.

 

[Hydrogen]

I was all smiles until you got to 300BO. While this thread was focused on whether I could use thr 300 SPS on a 6.5, 300BO on a future shorty was intended to be my primary use case for this 300 SPS.

Would you mind sharing the barrel twist rate on your 10.3”?

Do you recall what round make/type it was that struck?

I’m assuming you used an alignment rod and Rocksett or similar on the muzzle device on the SBR? Any chance it got loose?

Thank you!

 

[Sniperstud]

Twist is 1/7”. Alignment was checked before and after the strike, both visually, and with an alignment rod. The brake had not loosened. So I was left with only the ammo to blame. At that point, I had only shot Hornady Black 220gr AMAX subs, and Hornady 190gr SubX subsonic through that gun. I have shot quite a few of those same rounds through that gun using the Nomad and have experienced no further issues.

 

[Hydrogen]

I’m still learning, but I understand the bullet weight / grains affects the stabilization and if I recall, the heavier weighted bullets need more rotations to stabilize(?).

I would imagine this issue would have repeated on the Nomad by now. Was the barrel or action new when the SPS incident happened?

Do you have an adjustable gas block?

Is the Nomad threaded?

Have you reached out to SF support after it happened, and if so, what did they say?

Apologies for all these questions. I find this subject on the SPS of high interest because I sought out that can for so long and now that I finally have it - but haven’t yet used it, and have read some ‘horror stories’ I am not gonna lie, I am gun shy.

 

[Hydrogen]

PS - when I first realized there were issues with the SPS, while awaiting my stamp, I contacted SF and they informed me of the same shared with this other SPS owner on Reddit:

They assured me mine was not part of the same batch - but who knows if my batch or copy has defects.

I would be interested to learn if you do call SF, whether yours was part of the affected batch(es).

 

[warrantchief]

If I had no interest in 300bo, anyone know if the 7.62 ti2 a better bolt gun can?

 

[Hydrogen]

If I had no interest in 300bo, anyone know if the 7.62 ti2 a better bolt gun can?

No experience, but I know it is lighter in weight and saw some other posts on the forum and elsewhere of bolt operators selecting the Ti.

The SPS 300 is optimized for 300BO. The 7.62 is less ‘specialized’ with less back pressure.

If I had no intention of using the can with 300BO, I would have considered other 30 cal cans.

I intend to eventually get a 30 cal or 6.5 optimized can for bolt center fire, I am just planning on using the SPS on a 6.5 CM bolt in the meantime.

If you’re doing precision, bolt shooting with no rapid fire, you may want to consider the TBACs which I understand are very popular for this application.

https://thunderbeastarms.com/products/ultra-7

Thunder Beast Arms Corporation [TBAC] | Products | ULTRA-9

 

[warrantchief]

Thanks! Right now my bolt gun cans are direct thread and my semi auto are surefire qd. 6.5cm in my Hyperion is as quiet at supersonic is gonna get. I'm personally anti-300bo, so that part isn't relevant.

At some point I would like to get a quick change barreled rifle like the AXSR and that would probably warrant something qd.

 

[michealj88]

If my 300 SPS isn’t on one of my 300 Blk rifles, it’s on my 6.5 CM bolt gun, the brake is my preferred mount.

I’ve ran it on a couple 5.56 SBR’s and it sounded almost as good as the SB2 but the size is noticeable. Interchanging between the RC2 and the 300 SPS, I notice the 300 SPS creates significantly more back pressure but minimal POI shift, within 1 MOA.

If I could only own one Surefire suppressor, and wasn’t concerned with back pressure, it would be the 300 SPS. It’s better with 300 Blk subs, really good with 223 SBR’s and bolt action rifles, has minimal POI shift and IMO is just a very versatile suppressor.

 

[Hydrogen]

If I could only own one Surefire suppressor, and wasn’t concerned with back pressure, it would be the 300 SPS. It’s better with 300 Blk subs, really good with 223 SBR’s and bolt action rifles, has minimal POI shift and IMO is just a very versatile suppressor.

Thank you!

Is the back pressure a concern for a bolt gun(?)

I am new to suppression, but understand the back pressure on a gas gun can be mitigated with an adjustable gas block, particularly the Superlative Arms blocks which can 'bleed off' excess gas vs just restricting it, thereby reducing pressure within not only the action but the suppressor itself. This is obviously not available on a bolt action, and I would imagine the back pressure would be greater than even a standard, non-adjustable block gas setup.

I gather you have not experienced any issues with bulging or strikes on your 300 SPS(?) as it seems this can is more 'prone to injury' than any other SureFire. It seems the SPS had one or more bad batches that suffered material defects (see my above reply to another member).

My original intention for the SPS was 300 BLK subs, but I am planning to use it on a 6.5 CM first as I have yet to purchase a 300 SBR (I know, I purchased backwards). Are you using it on a 300 SBR? If so, which subs have you run through it, what is the barrel length & twist-rate, and do you use an adjustable gas block?

 

[michealj88]

Thank you!

Is the back pressure a concern for a bolt gun(?)

Not for me. Greater back pressure usually (not always) indicates a quieter suppressor through baffle design.

I’ve got a few thousand, trouble free, rounds through mine. Mostly 300 Blk through a B&T APC 300 with an 8.7” 1-7 twist barrel shooting 220 gr. SMK, 208 gr. and 190 gr. Hornady handloads for subs and 125 gr. SMK handloads as range ammo. The APC has a suppressor setting for the gas piston. Until I decide which suppressor I’m getting for my 20” Bergara 6.5 CM it spends a fair amount of time there as well.

 

[Sniperstud]

I’m still learning, but I understand the bullet weight / grains affects the stabilization and if I recall, the heavier weighted bullets need more rotations to stabilize(?).

I would imagine this issue would have repeated on the Nomad by now. Was the barrel or action new when the SPS incident happened?

Do you have an adjustable gas block?

Is the Nomad threaded?

Have you reached out to SF support after it happened, and if so, what did they say?

Apologies for all these questions. I find this subject on the SPS of high interest because I sought out that can for so long and now that I finally have it - but haven’t yet used it, and have read some ‘horror stories’ I am not gonna lie, I am gun shy.

The entire gun was new when this happened. I am not using an adjustable gas block on this rifle, as it has never indicated the need for it. The bullet holes do not indicate a problem with stabilization. I can only guess that the end cap strike was caused by an out of spec round. I did not contact Surefire about this, as the incident was not attributable to the can, and the serviceability of the suppressor was not affected. I swapped out the direct thread adapter that the Nomad came with for a key-mo adapter and a Dead Air brake.

Regarding the issues with defective materials causing bulging problems with the 300SPS, I have not experienced this. However, I had this exact issue with a Surefire 7.62 RC2. So the defective tube material was not limited to the 300SPS. Surefire’s customer service was outstanding after that incident. They had to replace the defective suppressor with a new one since the tube is the serial numbered part. That meant I had to wait another year to get the replacement. Surefire did cover the cost of the new tax stamp, so I was not out anything but time for the replacement. But the long wait was the reason I ended up going with a can with a replaceable end cap and a tubeless design for 300BO.

I still use my Surefire 7.62RC2 and 300SPS on all my bolt guns and large frame AR’s, and I wouldn’t hesitate to get another of either model. Anything man-made is subject to have the occasional problem. The important thing is how the manufacturer handles it. Surefire is good to go.

 

[Hydrogen]

It’s great that they were willing to replace the entire tube / give you a new suppressor (as I’ve read they have done for others), but I saw pics from a poster on here or Reddit where they just laser cut the lower half of the tube of a customers 300 SPS and welded a new half tube to the bottom half leaving a visible weld seam.

I wonder if, since your firearm was new, that it needed some couple hundred rounds of supers shot through it first.

In other words, could the brand new barrel have caused a friction point that caused a round to slow down enough at least in its twist to destabilize it.

We will never know but thank you so much for this dialogue.

 

[Hydrogen]

PS - I had researched Rugged Suppressors having a unique engraving to prevent the situation you and other SF owners experienced.

See “Strategic Engraving” in the following page:

Why Rugged Suppressors - Rugged Suppressors

A suppressor is an investment, at Rugged Suppressors we build everything in house to produce the most dependable suppressors on the market.

ruggedsuppressors.com

 

[Sniperstud]

This is a similar concept to the Nomad. The serial number is over the blast chamber. The can is tubeless, with the baffles stacked and welded on the front of the blast chamber. This allows a complete replacement of the entire baffle stack with a quick turnaround, since the original blast chamber with the serial number would be retained. On the plus side, the end cap is user replaceable.

This type of design makes more sense to me for 300BO. YMMV

 

[kriller134]

It’s great that they were willing to replace the entire tube / give you a new suppressor (as I’ve read they have done for others), but I saw pics from a poster on here or Reddit where they just laser cut the lower half of the tube of a customers 300 SPS and welded a new half tube to the bottom half leaving a visible weld seam.

I wonder if, since your firearm was new, that it needed some couple hundred rounds of supers shot through it first.

In other words, could the brand new barrel have caused a friction point that caused a round to slow down enough at least in its twist to destabilize it.

We will never know but thank you so much for this dialogue.

Do you have a link to said pictures? That’s some janky ass shit if true.

 

[Hydrogen]

Do you have a link to said pictures? That’s some janky ass shit if true.

Yes, the following thread. Note - The picture is misleading for the title. The photo is of the 300 SPS following repair.