MountainmanID wrote:
6061 alum. for the tube (.135" thick), 6061 for the Cone baffles min. thickness anywhere around .100", and 7075 for the end caps.
I'm beginning the clipping would have worked fine on a pistol can with a booster, but was a mistake on a direct thread rifle can.
I've played with quite a few configurations of the clipping and for the most part just wish I hadn't done it. Some type of JB weld type stuff will be used to fill the clips and also create a bit of a lip on the cone entrance hole to try to split off gasses better.
Say, hypothetically, you had gotten an approved Form 1 to build a .30 caliber can that measured 8" long. No mention of diameter on the approved Form 1.
Now, If I wanted to instead build a 2x10" (possibly .45 cal) can, and hadn't started building the 8" long can, Can the Form 1 be edited like we used to do on Form 4 SBRs to include additional calibers and lengths? It used to be a simple letter to Needy Rd. to ammend a Form 4 to change information, as long as the change didn't change the type of NFA weapon (I.E. turning a AOW into a SBS.) And they would send you an updated form with a note where the stamp goes to see the original approved Form 1. I imagine more than one of you has an approved form 1 or two laying around waiting to be manufactured and you may have changed your mind on exactly what you wanted.
Just a hypothetical question.
.135 wall is super thick. From a technical standpoint, it would have made more sense to have made the baffles out of 7075 and the front endcap out of 6061. 7075 is stronger and better for the rear cap where the threads are concerned, but unnecessary for the front cap.
I'm not sure if jb weld is a good idea. I'm thinking mostly no. Last thing I would want is the jb weld letting go and a big fat flake of it flopping around blocking a baffle bore while I'm shooting. That seems more of a disaster waiting to happen. And I'm not really sure that you can make repairs to the can once it is complete and you've used it.
If it's bugging you that bad, there are plenty of companies who will recore it for you. And do it correctly.
And with baffles that are a lot better than those solvent trap cones. A lot of folks buy the solvent trap "kits" because it's easy and they lack experience and tools to do one properly. But they are mostly only mediocre at best. I say that not to insult anyone, but because it's true. There are better baffle types out there for certain things. It's pretty well known that certain baffles work better for certain guns or calibers. But a lot of people don't really know that or take the time to research it up front. Then add in they have high expectations and delusions of grandeur, and it often leads to disappointment. They just see a solvent trap as an easy way to make a suppressor.
While true that you can use a solvent trap to modify in a way to muffle the sound of the gun shot some, it works better for some guns/calibers than they do for others. That is just brutal honesty and I do not mean any malice towards anyone when I say it.
If you have another stamp that truly hasn't been started, call nfa branch and ask them if you can amend it prior to making it. They may tell you that you can. I don't know the answer to that and I don't want to speculate. But if they tell you that you can amend it so it could be longer or another caliber, I would be interested in learning that for myself.
But if the can is already made and you don't like the way it sounds and you just want to scrap it and do another, ATF wouldn't go for that. I'm 100% certain of that. They would look at that as illegally manufacturing silencers and silencer parts. And each part of the can would be a silencer in and of itself. If there are 10 pieces to that silencer, they can charge you with 10 felony counts. It's not worth that. Just have it recored by a manufacturer and grow old and watch your grandkids play in the park, rather than worrying about dropping the soap in the showers of club fed.