I have a pending form 1 for a 22lr. I’ll be taking the simple route of buying from Quiet Bore. Would the aluminum kit suffice, or should I upgrade to the titanium?  Host will be a Ruger 22/45 lite. Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Titanium is cool, what's the cost difference? For .22, I think aluminum is fine. What's the blast chamber material (if they use one, perhaps it's monocore)?

Might want to use stainless for the first baffle since it takes the initial blast and is subject to the most erosion.

I went with titanium and am happy with it. I will warn you of a few things that I learned the hard way...

First, the bit that comes with the kit is junk. I went to Fastenal and bought one of their bits for $6ish that was far superior. The supplied bit didn't drill as well and broke on the second baffle.
Second, only tighten the horizontal screw on the jig enough that your baffle doesn't spin for the majority of your drilling. Once you feel the baffle start to spin as the bit starts to break through, stop and crank it down for the rest of the drilling. If you tighten it too much at first you'll get off center holes, ask me how I know...
Third, drilling titanium is best done at slow speed with a lot of downward force. I figured it out by about the 4th or 5th baffle. Use tap magic, press hard, go slow.
Finally, if you need to touch up your holes, this file kit from Home Depot works well. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Steel-Precision-File-Set-with-Storage-Case-6-Piece-707476H/207112197

Edit: I'd buy this wrench now to help remove the can from your hosts. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Channellock-Extra-Slim-Jaw-6-in-Chrome-Adjustable-Wrench-806SW/301938569

Thanks!  I’ll get the bit and wrench on order. I probably still have 3-4 weeks for the approval, and then the order.

I have the aluminum baffle kit. For.22 it's fine. I don't see any real wear.after 5-6000 rounds, maybe more. The baffles get mixed up during cleaning and reassembled randomly. I drilled mine on a lathe. Totally the way to go if you can manage it. Coat baffles with dielectric grease and clean up isn't the hassle it's made out to be.

I chose the titanium kit, mainly so that I wouldn't limit my cleaning options.  I also bought additional bits from Fastenal and they turned out to be the exact same bit as came with the drill jig.  IIRC, I snapped two bits while completing my kit.  Titanium really likes to grab when the bit breaks through.  The scoop and groove on the baffles is also kind of hard on drill bits, in addition to the two I broke, I also chipped one.  After the first few baffles I figured out what I was doing and didn't have any more problems.

In the video QB shows the cups inserted into the jig cone down, in the written instructions they show the cone pointed up.

Anyone have insight on which way works best?

TIA

Aluminum is fine for .22 LR and titanium is a nice upgrade.

In terms of drilling, I go for the buy once, cry once method. My recommendation is to buy a solid carbide stub (screw machine) bit with 135° and 2 flute with split/4 point. You're looking at about 2 3/4 OAL minimum imo. If you get a TIALN coated bit, you'll be looking at a 8-10x longer life; in addition to the solid carbide. In terms of using on stainless/titanium, if you use tap magic, you'll likely never really need to ever sharpen or buy a new bit in 2-3 form 1s with the above setup. This is if you low speed lathe/drill press with a solid jig, obviously.

I have no idea why companies like JK or quietbore include 118° HSS trash bits to use with their jigs on anything above 7075. I guess it's because it's cheap.

Example of a solid priced/quality bit I bought for my 5.56 JK Armament 155 MST Pro (titanium) kit: here

Thanks for the tip on the drill bit. After reading many comments that the drill bit they provide in the fixture kit wasn't the best especially to get through all the cups in titanium I went ahead and ordered the one from the link you provided.

Can't go wrong.  Although monster tool is not exactly the best quality, but it should do much better than the other HSS included in many of these kits. 2 3/4" OAL stub endmill is the minimum length you'll want which is an odd size for carbide do not many companies will have this size unless you want to pay the big $$$

Make sure to go slow < 650 RPM if you're using a drill press with constant force applied. Don't forget cutting fluid for bits when cutting metal to metal especially. One thing about carbide bits is that they can be brittle and snap of you apply to much pressure, they get too hot, or too high of speed, but they cut like butter compared to HSS. Don't let them bind. Just steady and patient and you should be alright. WD-40 as 'cutting fluid's doesn't cut it. Use tap magic at minimu

HSS/Cobalt should be alright and probably better for aluminum, but for Ti or in some cases SS, carbide would be my go-to.

Hopefully your host has a nice undercut between the muzzle shoulder and threads because the QB mount has absolutely no chamfer.

I haven't put mine together yet but picked up a SilencerCo thread spacer from Capitol Armory to use it on my 15-22 pistol. IIRC @BigWaylon had the threads re-cut on his.

https://silencerco.com/shop/delta-threaded-rifle-spacer-1-2-28/

Yep I have that and it works well on my 15-22 pistol. Also had to pick up another 1/2x28 thread adaptor that has a nice undercut relief for my MP -22 compact pistol. Using that spacer on the handgun didn't leave enough threads for my liking on the factory adaptor.

HSS can absolutely plow through SS and Ti. I've had the same 3 starter bits (center, 1/8", 1/4", all HSS) next to my lathe for years. There's a small stone next to them and they get hit every now and then.

One thing I see inexperienced builders doing is creeping up to the final OD. Increasing bit size, incrementally, can and will work harden the material as well as prematurely dull bits.

I butchered my drill holes when hand drilling the titanium baffles and had to use a round file on pretty much all of them to make sure I didn't get a baffle strike. Holes are now oversized, but still sounds pretty good, especially wet.

I would like to get a machinist to fab me a better mount.


Bit off topic, but is it illegal for me the builder to buy additional baffles?

Lathe > drill press for F1 imo. I guarantee you had quality bits though but most bits that come with these kits are 118° and cheap as hell. What's the speed you used on your lathe?

HSS is a great overall bit that can be used on all metal types pretty much. Can use it for ferrous/nonferrous, whereas cobalt is better for strictly ferrous and carbide is better for strictly nonferrous.

That's why I ended up buying myself a drill press is because my dremel/hand drill were no longer cutting it for the work I wanted to do

Next up is a quality lathe.