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FL, USA
Posted: 8/12/2026 9:18:49 AM EDT
| I've been an AR-15 shooter for years, and last year I built a PSA .300 BLK AR pistol with 8" bbl. The barrel is threaded (5/8 x 24) and I use a Silencerco Omega 300 direct thread suppressor. One question I need answered : does the threaded barrel require either a suppressor, flash hider, or barrel thread cap to be installed when shooting? I believe this is just to protect the threads and not actually required (just recommended) for shooting. I only ask because my subsonic ammo is "keyholing" with the suppressor and I want to see if that's caused by the suppressor or the ammo. I will be running some brief shooting experiments with different configurations and different ammo so not many rounds will be fired. Thanks. |
| It won't hurt anything to shoot with the barrel threads exposed to test the ammo without the suppressor. If you plan to leave the suppressor off and throw the AR uncased into your vehicle it would be a decent idea to throw a cheap muzzle device or thread protector on to protect against damage from transport, etc. |
|
For damn sure don't shoot it again with the suppressor mounted until you: A) shoot it with no muzzle device to establish whether it's keyholing from a bare barrel B) check suppressor alignment with an alignment rod Mcmaster Carr. 30cal alignment rod |
Joined:
Dec 2024
Posts:
9
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FL, USA
Joined:
Dec 2024
Posts:
10
EE: 0% (0)
FL, USA
| I believe the PSA twist rate is 1:8, and I've been shooting Remington 220 gr. I've now got some Hornady Subsonic 190 gr, thinking a lighter bullet may travel faster out of the 8" bbl. and solve the keyholing problem. Can't get to the range until next week to try it out. |
Joined:
Dec 2024
Posts:
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FL, USA
| SilencerCo determined that my Omega 300 was in good running condition, and suggested trying different types of ammo to resolve my bullet key holing issue. I'll check it out again next week with both 220 gr and 190 gr ammo...first with a flash hider installed on my 8" pistol and then with the suppressor installed. |
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