Suppressed AR10 SBR in .308?

Alabamacoastie

Alabamacoastie

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I was thinking about buying a new AR10 upper in .308 with a 13 inch barrel. After SBRing the AR and popping the upper on, I'd like to suppress it.

I was looking around the interweb and I saw other people saying it's a bad idea... The short barrel will make it too loud, even suppressed... The can will cause unnecessary fouling from blowback... The can will get too dirty too fast due to unburned powder from the short barrel...

Any truth to these online rumors? What do y'all think?
 
What suppressor? Most have minimum barrel lengths.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
I was thinking about buying a new AR10 upper in .308 with a 13 inch barrel. After SBRing the AR and popping the upper on, I'd like to suppress it.

I was looking around the interweb and I saw other people saying it's a bad idea... The short barrel will make it too loud, even suppressed... The can will cause unnecessary fouling from blowback... The can will get too dirty too fast due to unburned powder from the short barrel...

Any truth to these online rumors? What do y'all think?
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As mentioned by @Average Joe most suppressors have minimum barrel lengths.

A shorter barrel will in general always be louder, but it’s not that much.

I would recommend a piston system over direct impingement. Less chamber and receiver fouling, and generally (if it’s a short stroke piston system) a bit quieter than DI.

LWRC and POF both make excellent hosts, and both have adjustable pistons so you can change the pressure when you are shooting suppressed.

Some suppressors are better for bolt guns and light shooting as opposed to mag dumps.

Surefire is good, but big and heavy, and not the most efficient.
SilencerCo and AAC are my go to favorite suppressor companies.
Stay away from AWC or KAC as their customer service sucks.

You could also consider getting a suppressor rated for 300 WinMag, or 338 lapua. They will be bigger and heavier but usually have more volume so a bit quieter or more efficient.
 
I've done what you want to do. I put together a 12.5" 308. It is a little finicky with ammo. If you frequently switch ammo, you'll need frequently need to adjust gas settings.

Screenshot_20230630_225035_Gallery.jpg

You will NEED an adjustable gas block and one of the 5.3oz buffers. This is mandatory in my experience, if you want to run it suppressed.

You will need a heavy duty / hard use can that can tolerate a short 308. There are a few options for that. Rugged Razor and any of the Dead Air cans are the ones that come to mind first. I used a Aero Precision Lahar 30 (not the K or L). I run a Xeno mount setup using a Xeno brake to save some wear on the blast baffle.

The gas block can be adjusted to run with the can OR without the can, but there is no setting that will reliably run both configurations without adjustment.

With the can, the gun is pretty tame. I won't blow smoke up your rear and tell you it's quiet. It isn't. But it's more tolerable than my 10.5 556 with a Turbo K on it.

Without the can, it makes massive fireballs. Like burn the hair off your arms, set anything around you on fire, sort of fireballs. Massive concussion. Massive fireballs.

I chronographed some 150gr Federal Fusion ammo with this setup. 2400 fps at the muzzle. It is not as useless as many people think.
 
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After you do that. Load you some 220 gr ammo with trailboss powder. You’ll be able to see the projectile reach out and bitch slap whatever it’s about to hit when it gets where it’s going
 
Frack N Cylons said:
Would a roller delayed gun circumvent the gas issues a suppressed AR faces? What other challenges would it face?

They do already get quite filthy as is, I suppose that would be even worse.
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Roller locked guns are just as filthy as anything else with a suppressor on them. Likely to get a lot less gas to the face with them though.

But I don't find my AR10 to be any worse than my 10.5 556.
 
TRaGiK said:
Roller locked guns are just as filthy as anything else with a suppressor on them. Likely to get a lot less gas to the face with them though.

But I don't find my AR10 to be any worse than my 10.5 556.
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I should have been more clear. Since the roller delayed gun does not use a gas system, there would be no need to change gas settings when switching between suppressed or not suppressed. That seems advantageous.
 
Frack N Cylons said:
I should have been more clear. Since the roller delayed gun does not use a gas system, there would be no need to change gas settings when switching between suppressed or not suppressed. That seems advantageous.
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Rather than changing gas block settings, you have to change the locking piece.
 
Alabamacoastie said:
Sandman S. The site says there are no barrel restrictions. I just checked.
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Great can! Love mine.

Spartan said:
I would recommend a piston system over direct impingement. Less chamber and receiver fouling, and generally (if it’s a short stroke piston system) a bit quieter than DI.

LWRC and POF both make excellent hosts, and both have adjustable pistons so you can change the pressure when you are shooting suppressed.
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In my opinion, piston guns make great suppressor host. LWRC and POF are two of the best!

TRaGiK said:
You will NEED an adjustable gas block and one of the 5.3oz buffers. This is mandatory in my experience, if you want to run it suppressed.
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Solid advice.
TRaGiK said:
The gas block can be adjusted to run with the can OR without the can, but there is no setting that will reliably run both configurations without adjustment.
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This may or may not be the case with your setup. I’ve seen them work with or without, but most likely and make sure you aren’t beating up your rifle, changing settings is the way to go.

TRaGiK said:
Without the can, it makes massive fireballs. Like burn the hair off your arms, set anything around you on fire, sort of fireballs. Massive concussion. Massive fireballs.
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I would expect this to be the case with yours. If you are good with cameras and changing the settings, this makes a great rifle to shoot at night and capture the fireballs lol.
 
Average Joe said:
This may or may not be the case with your setup. I’ve seen them work with or without, but most likely and make sure you aren’t beating up your rifle, changing settings is the way to go.
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I have a suspicion that a mid length gas barrel would run both without gas block adjustments better than my carbine length gas system.

This may be something I try in the future.
 
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TRaGiK said:
I have a suspicion that a mid length gas barrel would run both without gas block adjustments better than my carbine length gas system.

This may be something I try in the future.
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Good catch! I wasn't even thinking about the gas system length. I bet you are right.
 
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