Cast boolits and silencers?

[Big Tom]

Does anybody have experience with running cast boolits through a silencer? I got a silencer for my .45 and 9mm guns, so rather low velocities and was wondering if anybody had experience with shooting cast boolits through a suppressor. My concern is potential lead buildup on the baffles.

[Larry Gibson]

I shoot cast bullets in the 45 ACP through my suppressor. There is lead and lube build up on the baffles. I clean them after every shooting session because it's easier to get the lead/carbon buildup off that way. If it sets too long, it gets very hard to remove w/o scraping. The buildup is very similar to what occurs in a compensator on handguns.

[Driz]

Try powder coating. I can’t speak to silencers but the Shake N Bake process is stone simple and all my retrieved bullets are still coated even on and in the lands. I use dead soft lead to boot. No hardening but a water dunk straight from the mold.


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[oley55]

...I use dead soft lead to boot. No hardening but a water dunk straight from the mold.

Not to immediately get off topic, but I must ask. Dead soft lead is presumably free/nearly free of antimony. Besides simply cooling the boolits for immediate handling what does your water quenching accomplish?

[Rapier]

I shoot very hard cast, PCed, I do clean with a parts washer after each shooting session, especially when the grandsons come and help me with all that surplus ammo. The baffles clean right up when you disassemble the can, as long as you keep up with the maintenance.

[Sig556r]

Most pistol caliber suppressors are serviceable, so can be cleaned.
I used to be anal about cleaning, even did the "dip", but now I just blast & followup with fast fmjs. The dirtier, the quieter. But still need to clean at some point when weight start to build up.
Juts make sure to grease 'em well after cleaning so baffles & tube are easier to clean.
I also use my 9mm can for 300BLK without gas checks. YMMV

[Milky Duck]

many many folks do it here in NZ I did it with a 7.62x39mm and also the .308 HOWEVER I did end up with a very light end baffle strike so was a tad weary afterwards...not quite sure how or why...more than likely suppressor was a little loose?? as it was only the end cap ,the frontmost hole that had tiny deformation I got round file and enlarged it slightly and had no further issues. going up one size baffle hole wouldnt be a silly idea,gives you a bit more wiggle room for any projectile that isnt quite right or a wayward gascheck.

[Digital Dan]

Haven't shot anything but cast thru an Octane 9. .22 RF/CF, .30 caliber, all rifle, all subsonic. No card wads, gas checks or case fillers. Somewhere around 2,000 rounds to date.

[mike_kaleigh]

one think to keep in mind you will get build up, clean very often so it doesn't get seized up. And if you have a rifle rated suppressor most are not user serviceable and you cant take out the baffles, if it was me i would never use lead with that type as you cant clean then out effectively.

[Gtek]

Never in a sealed can! The ones you can take apart and appropriate for pressure, have at it. Like Mr. Gibson they come apart after every trip to prevent build up. One little thing I have been doing for a while that really seems to make life easier for me. Once you get internals clean, latex gloved and rub thin layer of silver anti-seize (which every can owner should have anyway) on every surface internally. Messy, you bet, but tear down is rag wipe, inspect, rub some more on and assemble.

[charlie b]

Interesting. I was just thinking of anti-seize and if it would work that way.

I wonder if it works on gas pistons as well?

[The Hock]

I'm about to go face first into a couple .375 rifles. I'm going to use a SilencerCo 46M. I've contacted them about cast bullets. The person I spoke to said no externally lubed bullets (it's a sealed can). They went on to say with no hesitation that coated bullets were fine.

[armoredman]

I have been thinking about the same thing, in case I ever bite the boolit for a can for my CZ 600 Alpha, thank you for timely information.

[charlie b]

Just curious, how do you clean a sealed silencer?

[atfsux]

As has been said here already, the 3 best steps you can take is to 1). use polycoated projectiles, whether powdercoating, Hi-Tek or BulletCorp, 2). grease/oil up the internals to make it harder for atomized molten lead to adhere to the insides. I use a foaming lithium grease product that works well, and 3). disassemble and clean your suppressor after every single shooting session.

[fordwannabe]

I shot PC'd bullets in my Hybrid 45. When it comes to cleaning I have always stored the can ina 50.50 solution of ATF and acetone. You can watch the cleaning as the particles accumulate in the bottom of the continer.

[Milky Duck]

many many folks do it here in NZ I did it with a 7.62x39mm and also the .308 HOWEVER I did end up with a very light end baffle strike so was a tad weary afterwards...not quite sure how or why...more than likely suppressor was a little loose?? as it was only the end cap ,the frontmost hole that had tiny deformation I got round file and enlarged it slightly and had no further issues. going up one size baffle hole wouldnt be a silly idea,gives you a bit more wiggle room for any projectile that isnt quite right or a wayward gascheck.

after much research....and getting some different boolits...yeah the issue was crappy cast the first time around,wasnt untill got a few in .44 from same source that I woke up to the quality issues....

[JimB..]

Shoot cast/coated all the time, traditional lube would become a mess in short order.

[D.Bullets]

Merry Christmas everyone.
I have a AR Platform in 300 BLK for sub w/silencer. I shoot powder coated cast without gaschecks and have no leading issues. I agree with JimB on traditional lubed cast bullets in silencers. I just dont mess with any traditional lubing anymore. All powder coating.

[Larry Gibson]

I do shoot a few lubed, GC'd cast through my 30 cal sealed suppressor, not many so I don't worry about leading it up. Just a few occasionally for small game for the pot in camp or for vermin extermination when the smaller 22LR suppressed weapons aren't with me.

I recently switched out scopes on my 308W sporter with a suppressor on it. The new scope on it is a Bushnell DOA 3x9 "600". My standard sonic load is a 165 Hornady SPBT over 41.5 gr IMR4895 in LC Match cases. That load runs 2670 out of the rifle. Zeroed at 300 yards with the 300 yard dot POA/POI It hits 1/2" high and 1/2" left at 100 yards with the crosshairs. I already had an accurate subsonic load so I figured out the zero for it at 50 Yards. My cast subsonic load is a GB Lee C314-170-FN loaded over 6.5 gr Bullseye (no filler) in M80 ball cases with the flash holes drilled. Velocity runs 1110 fps.

With just a Harris bipod for a rest on the bench I shot 3 shots out of the fouled barrel (had 10 shots of the sonic jacketed load through it) using the crosshairs centered on the 1" paster with the power at 9. That's the 3 shots low at 6 o'clock. I then kept the crosshairs centered on the paster and adjusted the power down until the 400 yard dot just covered the 3 shot group. Then I used the 400 yard dot centered over the paster and fired 10 shots. That's the group cutting out the left half of the paster. The zero for 50 yards with the subsonic load is then the 400 yard dot with the power set at 6 3/4. Close enough for government work......



As I said, I seldom shoot those. My regular subsonic load is a Speer 170 gr 30-30 FP bullet over 8 gr of Unique for right at 1100 fps.