Sup my main man!

West Coat Armory has done this before actually!  I snapped a pic of Lance's rifle as a favor a while back, and it's got a pinned/welded AWC Titanium can.  I asked their gunsmith Jim Carolla about it, and he told me it was a real pain in the ass to acquire Titanium welding rod in small quantities... but once he had it, it was a simple question of TIG welding the titanium rod in place.  I'm pretty sure he still has Ti rods lying about, so it shouldn't be a problem to pin/weld on Trek-Ts.



Jim also did my standard steel Trek with stainless, and as you can see he is an artiste!





I called up Gemtech before I did this, and officially, they do not recommend pinning and welding cans onto barrels in case repairs or baffle strikes occur.  However, in my personal opinion and risking my personal suppressor, I thought it was totally worth it!

The myth of titanium alloys loosing strength at elevated temperatures is one that is often repeated on these boards. While I do not know the yield strength curves for pure titanium (Grade 2), I do know them for the grades we use.

The only strength parameter of real concern in  pressure vessels (like silencers) is the yield strength, which is considerably less than tensile strength. This, obviously, diminishes with elevated temperature. In the case of 300 series stainless steels (the most corrosion resistant), the yield at room temperature is 30,000 psi and it degrades to 18,600 psi at 800°F. 4130 chrome-moly steel has a room temperature yield strength in excess of 150,000 psi (varying with temper). I have not looked up the degradation of yield strength of 4140 at 800°F, but assuming it degrades at the same rate as stainless, it will still be in excess of 100,000 psi. This information is readily available from the ASM International metallurgical publications.

The titanium alloy we use for out outer tubes has a yield strength of 75,000 psi at room temperature, almost 2.5 times that of stainless steel. Further, it degrades to approximately 60,000 psi at 800°F (well over 3 times that of stainless) according to the manufacturer, President Titanium. No matter how you look both at room and elevated temperature, the correct titanium alloy is a stronger material than any of the grades of 300 stainless steel.

Further, neither titanium nor stainless conduct/absorb heat nearly as well as aluminum, and the aluminum alloys we use in our pistol/subgun/rimfire suppressors has yield strengths at the normal operating temperatures seen in pistol caliber suppressors well in excess of twice that of stainless. Aluminum does not hold up at the elevated temperatures seen in rifle cartridges, but in rimfire and pistol calibers, it is more than strong enough, and it is far superior at heat transfer. Particularly in rimfire, heat transfer is an important contributor to suppressor efficiency.

Interestingly, the skin on the SR-71 high speed spy plane is titanium, and the heat of friction raises the skin temperature significantly. It was noted that it became stronger with repeated heat cycles.

The internet is a treasure trove of information, but it is also a great source of misinformation and hogwash. One would be wise to not simply repeat as fact the erroneous  postings of others.