Shot out suppressor

My range day shooting was cut short today when the A-Tec Maxim suppressor exploded. It was fitted onto my Mauser M12 and had fired eight rounds of 140gr 6,5x55 Sellier and Bellot ammunition before I loaded 160gr Fiocchi round nose soft bullet and fired nine rounds before the tenth did the damage you can see in the image. When I bought the M12 second-hand a couple of months ago, it came with the suppressor and I was told that the rifle had only fired around 300 rounds. I've shot 50 or so rounds since purchase, using Sako (120gr Powerhead), Hornady (140gr SST), and S&B (140gr).

Attachment 234532
Any thoughts about why the suppressor exploded? Is it repairable?

It didn’t come loose during firing?

160grn round nose SHOULD have stayed stable.... who knows what happened

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Originally Posted by Delphus

It didn’t come loose during firing?

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It was a little loose when I removed it but I attributed the slack to the last round. (I may be wrong about that.) The thread on the barrel is 15mm and there's no slack or wobble as you screw and unscrew the suppressor onto it.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

160grn round nose SHOULD have stayed stable.... who knows what happened

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It's those forsaken gremlins what knows who happened, but they're, like, forsaken, so....
Twist on the M12 is 1-8", which, as you note, means the RN should've been stable.
Bloody gremlins.

Metal fatigue seen it once before. You wouldn't repair the broken part you'd have to replace it but Id look into getting the rest of the suppressor crack tested if such a thing can be done...

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Originally Posted by blip

Metal fatigue seen it once before. You wouldn't repair the broken part you'd have to replace it but Id look into getting the rest of the suppressor crack tested if such a thing can be done...

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Appreciate your input, blip - fatigue affects us all and time will erode the most stalwart of metals, I imagine. The suppressor is about 10 years young.

Check all the baffles for the bullet hitting them. If all the baffles are mint, then its stress fatigue. Pretty shit, if the round count is accurate.

My Gunworks suppressor on my .308 has clocked up around 5,000 rounds since it was new in the mid 1990's. And its never been cleaned...

Gotta love quality gear:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by XR500

Check all the baffles for the bullet hitting them. If all the baffles are mint, then its stress fatigue. Pretty shit, if the round count is accurate.

My Gunworks suppressor on my .308 has clocked up around 5,000 rounds since it was new in the mid 1990's. And its never been cleaned...

Gotta love quality gear:thumbsup:

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Gotta agree wid'ya, XR500, re: quality gear. My impression is that the Danish made A-Tec suppressor is manufactured by a reputable company, but that doesn't preclude the occasional quality control slip-up.
Thanks for the baffles suggestion.

Have you ever had a chance to take it appart , inspect it and clean it?

Replace it, nuf said. Not worth expending the required to get it tested, will buy most of the replacement...

You'd see if it was a baffle strike doing that much damage, it would be evident on each baffle.

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Originally Posted by Friwi

Have you ever had a chance to take it appart , inspect it and clean it?

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Buy a DPT. LOL.

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Originally Posted by Friwi

Have you ever had a chance to take it appart , inspect it and clean it?

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It happened earlier today and I’m neither a gunsmith nor a mechanic, and were I to start dismantling it, I’d not know how to proceed.

You may not know the true history of the can and could of been on a semi auto back in the good old days high round count rapid rate of fire?

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Originally Posted by NoMis

It happened earlier today and I’m neither a gunsmith nor a mechanic, and were I to start dismantling it, I’d not know how to proceed.

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Buy brand new suppresser,then you know what you got with a warranty.Dont want shit blowing up in your face,barrel,suppresser.

the rifle may have only shot 300 rounds but If the previous owner was anything like me he probably used that suppressor on other rifles too
did the bullet contact the suppressor or was it just not able to handle the pressure any longer?

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Originally Posted by Bill999

the rifle may have only shot 300 rounds but If the previous owner was anything like me he probably used that suppressor on other rifles too
did the bullet contact the suppressor or was it just not able to handle the pressure any longer?

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He did have other rifles, mostly 308s - this was his only 6,5x55 and I wasn’t aware that a suppressor for that calibre could be used with 308s. It doesn’t look like the bullet hit the suppressor. Pressure seems to have blown away a portion of the last chamber.

Throw it away, buy a new one, things happen unfortunately

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Throw it away, buy a new one, things happen unfortunately

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Any recommendations?

DPT have been good in my experience with 223, 308, 44mag, and 22lr and I haven't heard of any failing

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Originally Posted by NoMis

Any recommendations?

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DPT

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your in north island so DPT all the way....

You'll lucky it just blew the end apart & not the whole can, I exploded an early model Hardy on a WSM many years ago & it wasn't a nice experience.

Plenty of good options available & depends on what your plans are, light weight cans like DPT's are great for hunting where ya only firing a couple of shots but for range work / multiple volleys you're be better to go for something heavier

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Originally Posted by Philipo

You'll lucky it just blew the end apart & not the whole can, I exploded an early model Hardy on a WSM many years ago & it wasn't a nice experience.

Plenty of good options available & depends on what your plans are, light weight cans like DPT's are great for hunting where ya only firing a couple of shots but for range work / multiple volleys you're be better to go for something heavier

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Thanks for this observation, which suggests the need for two cans. I've begun to appreciate how "fortunate" I was that the suppressor failure didn't result in anything more physically dangerous, but that might be due to the quality of the Danish A-Tec suppressor. I've also only recently discovered, I think, that you can use the same suppressor on rifles with different calibres, e.g., 6,5x55 and 308.

Yep If you go for a 30 cal suppressor that will generally go on any rifle 30cal or under, that's what I do and get rifles threaded the same. Probably something with a stainless core if you want something that will last. I use full stainless ones. They are quite heavy but not enough to worry me yet.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

your in north island so DPT all the way....

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Here's another thought with regards to the suppressor failure and metal fatigue: in early September, I went to the range to use the M12 for the first time and put maybe 50 rounds through with the A-Tec Maxim suppressor. Then, last weekend, I put another 9 through before the failure. Perhaps this suppressor wasn't made to handle such a regular range series of shots (whence the metal fatigue), but was designed for the occasional shot when stalking?

Sounds like you are over thinking it

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Sounds like you are over thinking it

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Comes with my job - over thinking stuff.:)

Probably weakened by corrosion. A quick spray of wd40 or inox is the go for alloy suppressors.