Silencer maintenance

The subject of silencer maintenance comes up fro time to time at Liberty and we work hard to support our users with equipment and information to help them with their suppressor experience. The main thing that comes up after how to install a suppressor is how do I take care of this thing? Do I clean it with the same stuff I use on my gun? Do I just use it and never maintenance it? These and many more come in regularly.

We suggest different regimens for different silencers. Take for instance, the Mystic X, this silencer is even marketed as take-apart. This tells the user that it is intended to be dismantled for cleaning or inspection. So people do just that, but sometimes they are not properly equipped to do this job. The proper tools will enable the user to take the suppressor apart and reassemble it without damage to the finish and it will also make the job easier at the same time.

To give you a simple run down for different silencers, follow this general guideline. If the silencer is a rimfire gun, then it needs cleaning every time the gun gets cleaned. Rimfire is very dirty and makes the silencer very dirty at the same time, so this means you should never shoot rimfire through a silencer that is not take apart in design. 9mm suppressor use is also a very common application and this is also a very dirty operation that requires regular maintenance and will serve you well to have the Liberty Tool Kit. Almost all rifle use does not normally need to clean the silencer. The rifle build up is minimal and for most people the time it takes to build up enough material to make a difference is decades. Heavy 556 use can fill up a suppressor in a year or two, but this is normal and is not a warranty item, so rebuilding the suppressor at the factory every few years is normal service work if you shoot tens of thousands of rounds per year and should be factored into the maintenance costs of using the rifle/suppressor combo. The same as replacing worn parts on the rifle, the silencer also have to be serviced. It is normal to have to do this, so just keep that in mind.

The proper tools…

The proper tools to maintain your silencer can vary from can to can. These tools are specially designed to work with your suppressor specifically and will be the best solution for your needs. The Liberty Tool Kit is designed for the Mystic X, Infiniti X, Cosmic and Centurion silencers specifically. These are all engineered with the same basic concept of assembly and these tools will work on all of them equally well. The Liberty Tool Kit contains a special tool that is not normally purchased by our silencer owners. This is the driver tool, it is used to protect the internal threads of the core when removing it from the tube and it also helps with holding the core while cleaning off material buildup.

Other tools in the Liberty Tool Kit are the ring wrench that is used to remove the tube retaining ring, the Liberty Multi-wrench and a nylon pouch to store the tools in when not in use. The ring wrench is the one tool we see not used the most as the retaining ring can get stuck from carbon build up and people will use pliers to remove it, lacking the ring wrench. This is terrible as it always chews up the retaining ring. This kit solves that. So when you grab your Dakota Tactical D54 and your Infinti X silencer, know that you can maintain this system properly with the Liberty Tool Kit.

We have used many finishes over the years on our 9mm suppressor designs, but the most prolific and widely used has been and continues to be, NiB Cerakote. There is good reason for the use of this coating too, it is durable, relatively easy to apply, heat resistant and it looks good.

But before we delve too deep into our current coating let’s step back in time a little to look at what coatings we have used in the past that has led to the adoption of Cerakote.

The first coating we used back in the day was KG Gunkote that we bought from Brownells in the little spray cans. It is a thermal cure epoxy based coating that is durable and comes in many colors, it is also really easy to apply, and you heat cure it with an oven. This last feature is also it’s downfall. It seems that silencers get really hot at times and this is an epoxy based coating, which if you didnt know, is basically plastic. So we would see 9mm suppressor warranties come back for a variety of things and one was that the finish had burned off really fast.

Another finish we have used in the past, and yes…even on our 9mm suppressor models, is natural metal finish, also known as “in the white” in machine shop circles.This is a rather difficult one to pull off though as it ends up that you can scratch it so easily. It looks really good though and we have done it a lot in the past. The good thing about this finish is that it doesnt burn off and we do not have to outsource the finishing. Just polish it out in the same machines you cut it out on and your done.

The next evolution in our silencer finishing journey in salt bath nitride. We used this finish for several years on a few of our suppressor models, but only on part of our 9mm suppressor parts. The Mystic X and it’s family all share a tube retaining ring that is black nitride treated. This is a great finish, but typically leaves the metal with a shiney finish… (not something you would want on a 9mm suppressor) So what we have figured out is that we have to prepare the retaining rings by media blasting them first to matte finish them prior to nitride coating. This makes them a nice dull black that is also durable.

Then we arrive at Type C Cerakote, the finish that we feel is the perfect finish for a silencer. This coating is incredible in that it can withstand an enourmous amount of heat, which even 9mm suppressor use can generate. This typically comes from either 5.56mm NATO as it is a very hot round when run through a silencer. Another is 9mm NATO when run full auto through a silencer. These two scenarios can easily burn off the finish of a painted silencer that is coated with something like Gunkote, or any of the thermal set resin type finishes. So we opted for the most durable finish we could find when we chose Cerakote as we just wanted it to work.

I hope you enjoyed this little discussion on why we use the finish we use and until next time, keep your powder dry!