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Posted: 6/9/2006 9:38:24 AM EDT
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After 6 months of gnashing of teeth I finally got my M4-02 yesterday and immediately took it to the range for a work out. The unit: The unit was solidly constructed and the workmanship was very good. This thing is not going to get knockerd out of allignment if you bump it on a door frame. The finish, however left a bit to be desired, it was pretty blotchy. Lucky for me, all I care about is that it works and it doesn’t break. The Set up: I installed it on a registered SBR with an 11.5” barrel. Per Gemtech’s instructions I applied some blue lock-tite, spun it on and tightened it down. It never loosened, and it came off easily at clean-up time. The Noise: First off, it still makes noise. A buddy and I swapped between shooting and listening and agreed that it sounded about like a .22 WMR rifle. (pardon the redundancy) I know that doesn’t sound that impressive, but .223, especially short barreled .223 is LOUD. We had a third shooter with a 16” AR and we compared alternating shots between the suppressed 11.5” and the unsuppressed 16” and determined very unscientifically that the suppressed AR sounded about a third as loud as the un-suppressed AR. With the suppressed AR there is no concussion wave hitting you in the face every time you fire. It is a much more pleasant shooting experience. The Shooting Experience: We all noticed that it seemed like the gun recoiled more, rather than less, probably because there is a mismatch in our brains between how much noise the gun is making and how much recoil we felt. The gun sounds like a .22 WMR but still kicks like a .223. The Gas: The rifle has a flat top upper and I had previously put a small amount of black silicone around the top part of the charge handle, because I picked up the habit from high-power. None of us noticed any gas coming back toward us in over a hundred rounds of shooting. That is not to say the gas wasn’t around. When we removed a half expended magazine we could see that all of the visible rounds in the mag were dusted black by exhaust gas. The expended cases were also dark gray rather than their normal slightly soiled brass color. When I cleaned the gun I noticed there was more black stuff in the gun than usual, but it did not require any great amount of effort to remove. Accuracy: The gun had previously shot about 3” groups at 100 yards, and with the suppressor they shrunk to just under 2”. Overall: Awesome. If you’re looking for something that you can shoot in the neighborhood without anyone knowing you’re shooting, this is the wrong way to go. Everyone within a hundred yards is going to know someone is shooting. If you’re looking for a way to drastically improve their shooting experience and make life a lot easier on your ears and the ears of your fellow shooters, an AR suppressor is the way to go. Happy shooting. L |
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Some of that might possibly have something to do with dwell time and overgassing. Things you can do to that might make it run more clean/quietly; Tungsten weight in the carrier MGI RRB PRI fatboy gas tube Chrome Silicon +10% buffer spring I have tried the RRB/CS spring and fatboy tube and they helped tangibly. Noise level decreases as more gas exits the muzzle of the can and less exits the action. Optimal arrangement would be to keep adding weight till it stopped locking the bolt- then remove the straw that broke the camels back. That's might though because, I haven't seen it fire and can't tell what is happening. (you should get 70-80% of the gas comming out the muzzle and 20% or less out the chamber, but in some cases it's more like 50-50% which is bad.) When that is happening the gun might sound suppressed and quiet from 3 yards and ring ears for the shooter who's ear is only ten inches or less from the gas comming out the chamber, tube, and bolt carrier. |
| Actually, it runs great. I'd say 80% or more of the gas is going out the front of the suppressor. We made our assessment of sound level with ears off about 30 feet away from the gun while someone else fired it. My understanding is that with a 16" barrel rather than the 11.5" it is quieter. Next time I'm out I'll try the 16" and 20" and report back. L |
I have an M4-02 I run on a 16" barrel and have no complaints. |
Thank you sir. You are obviously a gentleman of distinguished taste. More Range Report: I shot the suppressed AR at the local action rifle match this weekend and it did very well. There were no function problems of any kind, and I did better on the 200 meter steel targets than I've ever done before. The range officer commented that if he wasn't close enough that the timer wouldn't pick up my shots, which I hadn't thought of before. I got a chance to hear it being fired out in the open rather than under a roof, and it sounded alot quieter. It also seems to have gotten quieter since it's been shot a few times (okay, about 300 times in 4 days.)hinklevel is very similar to a .22 LR, but the pitch is higher, like a .22 WMR. All in all it's much more pleasent to shoot and much easier on my ears than the 16" unsuppressed AR. Happy shooting. L |
Yea I have the same can and like it a lot. Nice and short for my 11.5" sbr. The finish is pretty horrible but at least I don't have to worry when it smokes.  I noticed the gun gets a lot dirtier but no biggy. Question for you guys since I'm new to suppressors: After I've run 2-3 mags through the gun I notice the mags start coming out almost wet. Is that normal? To much oil? I just wipe them off and it leaves a black filmy dust. |
sounds like too much oil. |
You will find the 20" even quieter! Excellent report.  Was there a point of impact shift, perhaps lower?
He, hee! Mine got whacked by the ceiling fan on medium speed.  No damage to the can at all!! (Halo)
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