AR for use with suppressor

[matt7184]

Another issue implied but not specifically addressed is “gas to face”. Unlike a piston design, the direct impingement gas system leaks gas out the bolt carrier and receiver during firing and cycling. With a can on the barrel, this gas gets in my eyes and be very irritating.

This is a non-issue. Most of the "gas to the face" is due to the suppressor restricting gas down the bore. With adjustable gas blocks (for piston or DI) or playing with weights/cycling in the system (BCG or Buffer or Buffer Spring) you can minimize this. The DI AR system allows you to modify these factors more than most piston systems. FWIW whether it is with my Hux FLOW cans or my traditional baffle cans, my MCXs are more gassy than my ARs with properly sized gas ports (or my uppers with adjustable gas blocks or bolt carriers).

Consider an overbored solution as well (7.62 can for a 5.56 upper). You may sacrifice sound (however most 762 cans tend to have more volume to work with due to larger size), but it also helps decrease the amount of blowback through the barrel.

[JSGlock34]

I don't care for inhaling the gas either. Sure you can tune the gun to mitigate it, but if buying a new can, why not start with one of the lower back pressure designs? Between the HuxWrX, the KAC PRT (surely unobtanium at the moment), the Surefire RC3, or the new AAC Ranger series - it seems like most manufacturers have moved towards lessening the back pressure. It appears new military requirements for suppressors are specifying this feature - the SIG cans for the new 6.8 cartridge are reduced back pressure designs.

[Wake27]

Another issue implied but not specifically addressed is “gas to face”. Unlike a piston design, the direct impingement gas system leaks gas out the bolt carrier and receiver during firing and cycling. With a can on the barrel, this gas gets in my eyes and be very irritating.

There are various solutions intended to mitigate this problem. Gas busting charging handles, RTV sealant around charging handle, tunable gas keys, carriers with extra holes/ports to vent more gas out the ejection port and less through the back of the receiver. Adjustable gas systems help a little bit, and now reduced back pressure suppressor designs help reduce the back pressure and duration of gas pressure in the receiver area.

I will admit I struggle with gas to face (so to speak), and have not found a great solution. A low back pressure can might be the best solution, but it is also the most expensive, and means having a can in NFA jail for 10-12 months.

If anyone has a great/inexpensive solution, I’m all ears.

What setup are you using where you struggle? You mention a bunch of possible mitigations, have none of those worked?

[HeavyDuty]

Personally, I’ve had good luck with the YHM Turbo K, good enough that I bought the second one. The are “HUB”mount capable like the Omega.

I keep seeing recommendations for these. I’d like a dedicated can for SBR ARs, and wonder if this would be the way to go - I think there’s a newer reduced backpressure model.

[HCM]

I keep seeing recommendations for these. I’d like a dedicated can for SBR ARs, and wonder if this would be the way to go - I think there’s a newer reduced backpressure model.

The Turbo 3 as mentioned upthread.

[HeavyDuty]

The Turbo 3 as mentioned upthread.

Turbo T3, or Turbo K RB? I was thinking the second.

Edit - but looking at specs, I wonder if the Turbo T3 would be a better fit because of my shorter than 14.5” carbines. I don’t want to clutter up this thread, time to research.

[JRB]

Another issue implied but not specifically addressed is “gas to face”. Unlike a piston design, the direct impingement gas system leaks gas out the bolt carrier and receiver during firing and cycling. With a can on the barrel, this gas gets in my eyes and be very irritating.

There are various solutions intended to mitigate this problem. Gas busting charging handles, RTV sealant around charging handle, tunable gas keys, carriers with extra holes/ports to vent more gas out the ejection port and less through the back of the receiver. Adjustable gas systems help a little bit, and now reduced back pressure suppressor designs help reduce the back pressure and duration of gas pressure in the receiver area.

I will admit I struggle with gas to face (so to speak), and have not found a great solution. A low back pressure can might be the best solution, but it is also the most expensive, and means having a can in NFA jail for 10-12 months.

If anyone has a great/inexpensive solution, I’m all ears.

A BRT gas tube is exactly what you need.

BRT's EZ Tune gas tube has a worksheet of sorts before you order, and you put in all the details; barrel length, gas system length, suppressor used, what ammo you'll use, what buffer you'll use, etc. If you're putting down that you run 5.56 all the time and it'll almost always be suppressed, they'll restrict gas flow enough that it'll probably struggle running .223 without a suppressor. But they were really good about answering emails when I ordered mine.

I've got a BRT EZ tune gas tube and a Radian Raptor-SD charging handle on my 11.5in Colt upper SBR, and it's very pleasant to shoot, even for me as a lefty rifle shooter, with a Turbo T2 or Surefire RC2 can and running 5.56.

[Robinson]

How does one determine whether a given rifle has a gas port properly sized for suppressor use?

[TGS]

How does one determine whether a given rifle has a gas port properly sized for suppressor use?

Almost nothing is made from the factory with a gas system setup specifically to optimize running suppressed unless you're doing a custom build like Sionics offers.

If you have a random AR-15 in your safe and have no idea on the specs it was built with, run some weak ammo through it. If it locks back on empty, it's probably going to be very gassy when suppressed. If it needs quality ammo to run properly unsuppressed, it'll probably suppress well (see Crane spec Mk18s and many 14.5" middy's)

With that said, it's still not going to be optimized for suppression. A gas system which is optimized for suppression will not function reliably when unsuppressed.

[Wake27]

How does one determine whether a given rifle has a gas port properly sized for suppressor use?

I wouldn't look for suppressor sized port necessarily because as TGS said, it won't function without the can. But you can pretty easily find reviews of several barrel manufacturers that tend to over-gas, general rule of thumb being that all of the cheaper ones will because they know people will run weak ammo through them. This is a good resource that'll help you understand the trend that known good manufacturers use. BCM and SOLGW are good companies that prioritize solid reliability over pushing the bleeding edge of reduced gas barrels so that's a decent baseline to draw conclusions from.