Thread: Can a dirty suppressor effect accuracy: You bet it can!

So about 7 months ago I posted a thread about will a dirty suppressor effect accuracy.
Reason I had asked was that myCZ 22lr didn't seem to shoot as well as it used too, only difference was I had shoot lots through it.

Well took me until last week to actually do something about it, I shot a few target as I usually did, but then shot a few groups without the suppressor.
The groups with the suppressor had vertical dispersion of about 1 inch at 50yards, and the non suppressed groups were all under half an inch, one was .3.

Being a DPT suppressor I pulled it apart and had a hell of a job cleaning all the gunk off using hot soapy water as recommended.
I weighed the suppressor before and after cleaning, before it was 102g and after cleaning was 95g. Bear in mind this was kitchen scales.
So shot the newly cleaned suppressor today, and all groups were under half an inch. Pretty happy.

The problem seems that when the suppressor was dirty there must've been more pressure in the can as the CCI standard velocity ammo would have way more vertical dispersion than horizontal, and a large number of my shots were louder than the others and a few almost being supersonic, and would shoot way high.
After the cleaning the vertical dispersion more or less disapeared and non of the shots were louder than the others.

Good to know thanks.

22s are dirty little buggers they don't have the gas pressure, heat, volume or velocity to effectively clean themselves

Ahhh, well that raises another question. Is the problem in the DPT can design, I have a suppressor ( not DPT ) that has had thousands of rounds through it and will never be cleaned, still groups fine.
I had a DPT can on a 17hmr, lovely engineering and ok sound suppression but I really have doubts about modular design.
Funny thing is I have a DPT old style can . says 25-06 max on a 223, could beat to death an elephant with it ( so it's heavy ) awesome unit, shot some excellent groups with it, I know it's on a 223 but great design.
Because of the baffles I don't think they evenly foul up, some of my baffles were quite clean while others were gunked to fuck, I don't know enough about the mechanics, harmonics, pressures etc...this is only an observation.

Originally Posted by viper

Ahhh, well that raises another question. Is the problem in the DPT can design, I have a suppressor ( not DPT ) that has had thousands of rounds through it and will never be cleaned, still groups fine.
I had a DPT can on a 17hmr, lovely engineering and ok sound suppression but I really have doubts about modular design.
Funny thing is I have a DPT old style can . says 25-06 max on a 223, could beat to death an elephant with it ( so it's heavy ) awesome unit, shot some excellent groups with it, I know it's on a 223 but great design.
Because of the baffles I don't think they evenly foul up, some of my baffles were quite clean while others were gunked to fuck, I don't know enough about the mechanics, harmonics, pressures etc...this is only an observation.

I think you will find the insides of a non modular are pretty similar to a modular.... You just can't see the crap in a non modular

no i dont think so, totally different design that from what i have foul evenly, dpt modular baffles dont.

Originally Posted by viper

no i dont think so, totally different design that from what i have foul evenly, dpt modular baffles dont.

what brand are you talking about that doesnt need cleaning out of interest?

sorry terrible typing. to go back over that. my old dpt can looks like a gunworks clone, it remains very accurate. the little non dpt suppressor on my .22 only runs sub sonic and yeah as greg says they are dirty little buggers. however it's never cleaned and has done 1000s of rounds over 7 plus years, still excellent.
this isn't a dig at dpt as i think their suppressors are outstanding nz made products, all i am saying is they may require more cleaning than other designs because of the baffle design.

I have a wee suppressor/moderator (Manders is the brand) that was on my norinco .22lr when we bought it. it always seemed to me that the baffles were tighter than should be so I took it apart. not only was there shit loads of caked on crap BUT ALSO another thread protector.....the instructions (yes I did still have them and YES I did eventually read them) say that a thread protector is stored inside moderator....it appears it was fitted at store without ever removing the spare...... yip baffles much looser and its quieter. so yip they do become dirty and some instructions call for cleaning.....

Got a factory unique suppressor, the baffles are spring mounted and move to absorb the gas energy. Must be self cleaning because it has fired thousands over the years and never had any buildup. Seen lots of designs for supressors but this is the only one i know of with moving baffles.

If I don't clean the barrel on my jw15 after every box of subs, it starts to spray like a 12g. I have never even tried to clean the factory suppressor though.

Got a 223 fully suppressed with a hushpower, have had a look but can't work out how to take it apart. Ones on them17hmr and 22 get done every 1000 or so rounds, can't do any harm keeping them clean

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Got a factory unique suppressor, the baffles are spring mounted and move to absorb the gas energy. Must be self cleaning because it has fired thousands over the years and never had any buildup. Seen lots of designs for supressors but this is the only one i know of with moving baffles.

I had to send an MAE 22lr suppressor back as the spring baffles were so caked in lead they were stuck solid and it was loud. They straight out replaced it free of charge, to their credit.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I have a wee suppressor/moderator (Manders is the brand) that was on my norinco .22lr when we bought it. it always seemed to me that the baffles were tighter than should be so I took it apart. not only was there shit loads of caked on crap BUT ALSO another thread protector.....the instructions (yes I did still have them and YES I did eventually read them) say that a thread protector is stored inside moderator....it appears it was fitted at store without ever removing the spare...... yip baffles much looser and its quieter. so yip they do become dirty and some instructions call for cleaning.....

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My modular dpt on my 17Hmr needs cleaning about every 1000 rounds.Otherwise there is a noticeable difference in noise increase and accuracy. Not really an issue as I have to clean the rilfe barrel itself a damn sight more than this. 17hmr is a dirty little round.
Clean the one on the 308 about every 250 ish rounds even though have not noticed any issues with it yet,just because I can.

I would still buy another dpt.

Interesting about dirty vs clean calibers. I wouldn't say I've been shooting too much more out of my .223 recently, I've got SSRNZ modular cans on both, but the .260 has not needed a clean yet whereas his little brother fouls up pretty quickly.

I've not noticed any big change in accuracy though.


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