(Article courtesy of Breach Bang Clear)
Stop the Burning with Penicilli–We Mean, Armageddon Gear
Dave Merrill
Lying may not actually set your pants on a fire, but a hot suppressor will. I recall a training session back around 2007 or 2008, when TAD Gear was the most coveted and extravagant of all “tactical” clothing, and someone set a brand new pair of their pants on fire. No, not intentionally in some bizarre ritual, but when transitioning from a suppressed rifle to a pistol. I should note that single-point slings were also more popular then, which may have contributed to said hot silencer to pants contact. An expensive way to learn an easy lesson: Guns get hot when you shoot them, and silencers go totally blazing.
Though it will vary with your individual gun/silencer/ammunition combination, each shot from a suppressed 5.56 can raise the temperature of a silencer 7-10 degrees. Things get toasty very quickly. Not only that, but once a silencer gets heated up, it can take a considerable amount of time to cool down enough to handle; this is a special pain in the ass if you need to leave the range in a timely fashion.
Okay, so heat burns. Big whoop–wear gloves and use an advanced two-point sling and it’s all good right? Not quite.
The other problem with your silencer warming up like a freshman dorm room hotplate is that it can dick up your shooting. As the heat radiates off your silencer, it shows up in your scope as shimmering. This heat haze happens because the less dense hot air surrounding the suppressor mixes with the denser, colder air above it.
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Photos courtesy of Breach Bang Clear
