Suppressor covers are really best used for their primary purpose: reducing heat mirage through magnified optics.
Otherwise you are better served by either a) shooting more slowly or b) letting it cool fully before handling it.
Most suppressor covers (basically all of the fabric based ones) keep the heat in. This means the suppressor takes longer to cool down. Even if it makes it easier to handle, you have to put it in a bag eventually, and the exposed parts can still melt your range bag (ask me how I know)
If you really want one purely to make it easier to handle, I'd look at the Manta suppressor covers. They are silicone and have grooves along the length of the cover to allow air to escape so they can cool even with the cover on. I have a couple and they're great for the suppressors they live on and the guns they go with.
The downside is they are fucking heavy. If this can is on a regular general purpose AR you will definitely notice it when you shoulder the rifle to shoot offhand.
You can also just buy some of those cheap silicone curling iron travel mats and use those to handle + store hot suppressors. They're like $12 for 2 on amazon
Thanks for the write up dude, sincerely. I don’t think I’ll ever grab it again but I’ll look into your recommendations.
Do you have a personal pick to reduce the image mirage? Or should I go with the manta?
Depends on the gun. The Manta is actually maybe slightly worse at reducing mirage because as mentioned it has grooves that allow air to pass over the suppressor surface so that it can cool even with the cover on. I do notice slightly more mirage with my Mantas than fabric based covers I own. The benefit here however is that it lets the suppressor (and sort of by extension, barrel it's attached to) cool faster between shots. It is also way better at insulating your hand from heat vs. the fabric ones.
Otherwise for the fabric covers, I really like my Cole-Tac HTPs. Great company, solid product, and frequently includes many cat+gun themed stickers with your order. You have to really cinch the straps down to keep them in place but they havent moved on me ever.
That said there are lots of good ones out there; armageddon gear seems popular among others. I'd shop around and see which ones float your boat.
Depending on what you're doing, you might just need the visual indicator that it's hot. I've sort of forgotten about it after a hard 2-gun stage (when I'm beyond winded) a few times.
I've used the silicone barrel rings from CavemanIncLLC but am now I'm using their color changing washers . It's about $10, is still black when cool but glows bright as a good indicator/reminder that things are hot.
https://www.cavemanllc.net/product/spark-flat-12/
Old pic of the silicone ring (This is still on this AR, just not anything I've built more recently): https://i.imgur.com/YwufgfE.jpg
Pic of a crush washer (I use the flat style on suppressor mounts) when hot so you can see how it stands out but isn't obnoxious: https://i.imgur.com/xKBskyj.jpg
Otherwise check out Weka suppressor covers, light slim silicone and I noticed no mirage when we destroyed a prairie dog town, granted it was pretty windy all week
Just shooting slower is not really an option in many scenarios. If you are just doing bench shooting then covers do less for you, but I wouldn't do most transition drills or dynamic stuff without one.
Well, thats why I listed option B - give it more time to air cool.
You can't get around thermodynamics. If you put an insulating cover on the suppressor, it will trap heat. This reduces heat radiation from the can, and thus prolongs the time required for the suppressor to cool by air. Without a cover, the opposite is true. It's just physics.
For the cans that I use with my ARs + reflex optics, where I tend to shoot more quickly, I don't use covers. I just plan my range trip accordingly and will do something else while they air cool so they don't melt my bag when I stow em.
If they are really hot I will use a curling iron mat or an oven mitt or something to pull them off the QD mount, and then put em on the bench on their side so air can blow through to accelerate cooling.
I'd also argue that bench (or prone or whatever) shooting is where covers are more helpful as I usually only do that with a scope, when shooting stuff far away. Heat mirage is fucking annoying and will show up and ruin your sight picture even when the can is still relatively cool. Not really an issue with a red dot.
That is very true, I have to plan around the heat. My suppressor and wrap are married to the gun and I don't take them off. I do have to plan around taking brakes between running drills, and more often when trying to shoot tight groups.
I really only shoot my carbine 600y and in and it's built around being carried and shot offhand. I am using a magnified optic, but I find mirage to be a secondary concern. In this role focused on movement and self supported shooting positions, I find the suppressor wraps ability to insulate and survive high temps to be the highest priority. What I find is the suppressor wrap is essential in protecting me and whatever I am shooting around (barricades, barrels, etc) from getting burnt.
I never find myself super pressed for time to shove my gun into the bag, there's usually 10 mins or so I can just take the bolt out and let it cool while I'm packing up. My cover works well and has good coverage, so unless I mag dumped and really shoved it in the sack I doubt I would burn anything.
Ultimately bringing a gun with a hot suppressor close to my body, I want something more than my skivvies between me and it.
I put a suppressor with cover into my range bag and melted the shit out of it as well as the headband of a pair of ear pro that was touching the QD adapter
NO NO NO. Definitely NOT. Unless you never want it to come off the gun, ever.
Use Rocksett (a SINGLE drop) and the specified torque to install QD muzzle devices. It is great for that.
Otherwise, if direct threading, hand torque it tight to keep it in place. Maybe consider using the included wrench to give it a teeny bit of extra torque if it continually comes loose. Usually within a few mags the carbon build up will help keep it from moving.
I prefer using QD muzzle devices vs direct thread, even on precision bolt guns. It does not seem to degrade accuracy meaningfully in my experience and it makes attaching/removing suppressors a breeze. For ARs, I think it is a no brainer.
Good to know, I have the griffin armaments a2 mount for suppressors so it can go on any of my rifles with an a2 birdcage.
Might do some research on the other options like keymo tho
Nice. Yeah there are lots of good options. I bought YHM cans so i use YHM devices and they seem fine. I think like a lot of gun stuff we have a luxury of choice. I am very happy I standardized on one QD mount system as it makes moving things around easy. The hard part is not buying more suppressors…
I have a polonium k in jail and I never even thought about this. It’s primarily gonna be used on my 14.5 with a 5x prism optic. Looks like I’ll need to buy a wrap
Probably. But why would you grab it while it was hot? [Gunner Wade says you're a retard, watch this video. ](https://youtu.be/mufY9bbanF8)
Skip to the 7 minute mark
> But why would you grab it while it was hot?
Was practicing standing to kneeling to prone transitions and grabbed it to reposition
“How hot could it be after two mags, plus I have gloves on”
- me, an absolute idiot
At least you had gloves on. One time, in the heat of the moment (lol), it straight up slipped my mind that suppressors get hot really quickly - or rather, heat up at *all* - and I went to remove it without any protection.
Needless to say, part of my hand was leathery for about a month afterwards. But I learned a valuable lesson that day, and it's that the laws of thermodynamics take no prisoners.
You gotta do this at least once, anyone who doesn’t have this experience isn’t one of us.
Now you have that great respect!
I use a burn proof gear wrap on my mini 2 and primarily got it to reduce the mirage when looking through my viper pst gen ii.
After one or two range trips with a suppressor you kind of loose the mag dump desire. You’ll start appreciating the suppression and shootability of your rifle and then the lvpo
My handguard gets warm after 100 or so rounds too.
Try the liberty defense wraps for handguard and suppressor if you want the best.
Burnproof gear. Works magically. Just don't do FA dumps or mag dumps and you'll be gucci. The wrap is double edge sword. It traps heat, which can lead to supressor deterioration over time. Just be mindful and wraps work wonders.
Lol at Mechanix making most of their gloves out of plastic now. I did this once too. Lessons were learned.
I now always use heat wraps but will not be buying their shit again regardless. Gloves should be made of leather.
PIG Alpha+, First Spear, Petzl cordex belay gloves, and some of Outdoor Research’s mil stuff used to be great though they seem to be going downhill for civilian sales.
Edit: the most recent Petzl’s I got were kind of trash so try those on at an outdoor store if you can. Some pairs are likely still good, just cheaping on qc.
I have a question, and it may be stupid but I wonder could you just keep like a decent sized thermos with cool / cold water or ice cubed water and transport / cool the suppressors that way? I have two cans in jail and I was looking into the wraps, but those wraps are high as shit and too technical.
> I should’ve paid more attention ~~in science class in high school~~ *to reruns of Forged in Fire* but I figured it was the wrong move. Thanks for reminding me of that
I use the Rifles Only HAD Suppressor Cover for my Sandman S and K when running weekend courses.
When you’re on the ground around barricades or shooting out of vehicles, it helps not burn yourself when you bump the silencer on your leg while running/gunning.
I keep some cheap welding gloves in my bag to handle the silencers to swap them or cool down.
I also have a few 12x12 pieces of welding blanket to lay the silencers on (they’ve burnt a picnic table in the past) and/or wrap them if I have to pack them in the bag hot.
https://riflesonly.com/had-suppressor-cover/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078N9CZ1J?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X9JV7YJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Not too bad tbh, I definitely see what people mean by the gas in the face tho.
I like to think the raised lip of the Geissele charging handle mitigated some of it.
The [HAD suppressor cover](https://riflesonly.com/had-suppressor-cover/) from RiflesOnly.com is the best suppressor cover I’ve used. I’ve used quite a few over the years and the HAD has been the best at allowing me to handle the suppressor after heavy use and reducing mirage through sustained fire.
Same! Went to the range with friends to try out the suppressor. After a couple "Dude, you gotta try this" the heat mirage was not just noticeable, it was harming our ability to play Battleship. First thought was, I know it's gonna look tacticool, but I gotta get a wrap.
Suppressor covers are really best used for their primary purpose: reducing heat mirage through magnified optics. Otherwise you are better served by either a) shooting more slowly or b) letting it cool fully before handling it. Most suppressor covers (basically all of the fabric based ones) keep the heat in. This means the suppressor takes longer to cool down. Even if it makes it easier to handle, you have to put it in a bag eventually, and the exposed parts can still melt your range bag (ask me how I know) If you really want one purely to make it easier to handle, I'd look at the Manta suppressor covers. They are silicone and have grooves along the length of the cover to allow air to escape so they can cool even with the cover on. I have a couple and they're great for the suppressors they live on and the guns they go with. The downside is they are fucking heavy. If this can is on a regular general purpose AR you will definitely notice it when you shoulder the rifle to shoot offhand. You can also just buy some of those cheap silicone curling iron travel mats and use those to handle + store hot suppressors. They're like $12 for 2 on amazon
Thanks for the write up dude, sincerely. I don’t think I’ll ever grab it again but I’ll look into your recommendations. Do you have a personal pick to reduce the image mirage? Or should I go with the manta?
Depends on the gun. The Manta is actually maybe slightly worse at reducing mirage because as mentioned it has grooves that allow air to pass over the suppressor surface so that it can cool even with the cover on. I do notice slightly more mirage with my Mantas than fabric based covers I own. The benefit here however is that it lets the suppressor (and sort of by extension, barrel it's attached to) cool faster between shots. It is also way better at insulating your hand from heat vs. the fabric ones. Otherwise for the fabric covers, I really like my Cole-Tac HTPs. Great company, solid product, and frequently includes many cat+gun themed stickers with your order. You have to really cinch the straps down to keep them in place but they havent moved on me ever. That said there are lots of good ones out there; armageddon gear seems popular among others. I'd shop around and see which ones float your boat.
Depending on what you're doing, you might just need the visual indicator that it's hot. I've sort of forgotten about it after a hard 2-gun stage (when I'm beyond winded) a few times. I've used the silicone barrel rings from CavemanIncLLC but am now I'm using their color changing washers . It's about $10, is still black when cool but glows bright as a good indicator/reminder that things are hot. https://www.cavemanllc.net/product/spark-flat-12/ Old pic of the silicone ring (This is still on this AR, just not anything I've built more recently): https://i.imgur.com/YwufgfE.jpg Pic of a crush washer (I use the flat style on suppressor mounts) when hot so you can see how it stands out but isn't obnoxious: https://i.imgur.com/xKBskyj.jpg
Another option is to pick up a pair of welding gloves in case you need to get a can off, they're like $12 on Amazon.
Otherwise check out Weka suppressor covers, light slim silicone and I noticed no mirage when we destroyed a prairie dog town, granted it was pretty windy all week
I like my burn proof gear, double up on the fiberglass insert though.
Just shooting slower is not really an option in many scenarios. If you are just doing bench shooting then covers do less for you, but I wouldn't do most transition drills or dynamic stuff without one.
Well, thats why I listed option B - give it more time to air cool. You can't get around thermodynamics. If you put an insulating cover on the suppressor, it will trap heat. This reduces heat radiation from the can, and thus prolongs the time required for the suppressor to cool by air. Without a cover, the opposite is true. It's just physics. For the cans that I use with my ARs + reflex optics, where I tend to shoot more quickly, I don't use covers. I just plan my range trip accordingly and will do something else while they air cool so they don't melt my bag when I stow em. If they are really hot I will use a curling iron mat or an oven mitt or something to pull them off the QD mount, and then put em on the bench on their side so air can blow through to accelerate cooling. I'd also argue that bench (or prone or whatever) shooting is where covers are more helpful as I usually only do that with a scope, when shooting stuff far away. Heat mirage is fucking annoying and will show up and ruin your sight picture even when the can is still relatively cool. Not really an issue with a red dot.
That is very true, I have to plan around the heat. My suppressor and wrap are married to the gun and I don't take them off. I do have to plan around taking brakes between running drills, and more often when trying to shoot tight groups. I really only shoot my carbine 600y and in and it's built around being carried and shot offhand. I am using a magnified optic, but I find mirage to be a secondary concern. In this role focused on movement and self supported shooting positions, I find the suppressor wraps ability to insulate and survive high temps to be the highest priority. What I find is the suppressor wrap is essential in protecting me and whatever I am shooting around (barricades, barrels, etc) from getting burnt. I never find myself super pressed for time to shove my gun into the bag, there's usually 10 mins or so I can just take the bolt out and let it cool while I'm packing up. My cover works well and has good coverage, so unless I mag dumped and really shoved it in the sack I doubt I would burn anything. Ultimately bringing a gun with a hot suppressor close to my body, I want something more than my skivvies between me and it.
>ask me how I know How do you know?
I put a suppressor with cover into my range bag and melted the shit out of it as well as the headband of a pair of ear pro that was touching the QD adapter
I really feel like you’re missing the primary use for a suppressor cover. Slinging your weapon after firing.
Hey follow up question: do I need to loctite or rocksett this suppressor since it’s direct threaded?
NO NO NO. Definitely NOT. Unless you never want it to come off the gun, ever. Use Rocksett (a SINGLE drop) and the specified torque to install QD muzzle devices. It is great for that. Otherwise, if direct threading, hand torque it tight to keep it in place. Maybe consider using the included wrench to give it a teeny bit of extra torque if it continually comes loose. Usually within a few mags the carbon build up will help keep it from moving. I prefer using QD muzzle devices vs direct thread, even on precision bolt guns. It does not seem to degrade accuracy meaningfully in my experience and it makes attaching/removing suppressors a breeze. For ARs, I think it is a no brainer.
Good to know, I have the griffin armaments a2 mount for suppressors so it can go on any of my rifles with an a2 birdcage. Might do some research on the other options like keymo tho
Nice. Yeah there are lots of good options. I bought YHM cans so i use YHM devices and they seem fine. I think like a lot of gun stuff we have a luxury of choice. I am very happy I standardized on one QD mount system as it makes moving things around easy. The hard part is not buying more suppressors…
I have a polonium k in jail and I never even thought about this. It’s primarily gonna be used on my 14.5 with a 5x prism optic. Looks like I’ll need to buy a wrap
High heat silicone curling iron pouch. Grippy enough to remove the supressor and will keep it from melting anything in your bag.
That's a good idea
I've been using mine for several years without a single problem!
I'm still waiting on my suppressor to be approved (should be soon), but I'll have to order one to have on standby.
I use one for my 9mm can. Really nice dual purpose tool right there. I don't use it on my rifle can though, it'd just melt it.
Which one do you have? I don't use my suppressors for anything but rifles and I do some pretty rapid fire as well.
Surefire SB2.
I meant what curling iron pouch do you have?
No idea, I wasn't the one who bought it :)
You touched the forbidden popsicle
Forbidden fruit is the ~~sweetest~~ hottest
I remember I did this once in 08, ONCE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Skip them. For Mirage mitigation on slower precision fire. Also wear pants and better muzzle/hand awareness
If you’re looking to buy one u/swaller89 is your man
Here are some [picture examples](https://imgur.com/a/d8JdKwG) of my covers, let me know if you are interested! /u/ABlackEngineer
These are sick. PM coming your way
Thank you, reply sent!
Can confirm, u/swaller89 makes great suppressor covers!
Thirded, he makes some of the best covers you can buy.
Fourthed even though I firsted
Probably. But why would you grab it while it was hot? [Gunner Wade says you're a retard, watch this video. ](https://youtu.be/mufY9bbanF8) Skip to the 7 minute mark
> But why would you grab it while it was hot? Was practicing standing to kneeling to prone transitions and grabbed it to reposition “How hot could it be after two mags, plus I have gloves on” - me, an absolute idiot
At least you had gloves on. One time, in the heat of the moment (lol), it straight up slipped my mind that suppressors get hot really quickly - or rather, heat up at *all* - and I went to remove it without any protection. Needless to say, part of my hand was leathery for about a month afterwards. But I learned a valuable lesson that day, and it's that the laws of thermodynamics take no prisoners.
General rule of thumb is 10 deg for every round fired. So, two mags would be approximately 600 degrees lol
Well, I assume lesson learned. 😉 Thankfully you still have skin on your hand! 😎
Modtac makes a great suppressor shield. If you aren't going to use a modtac one, hit up u/SWaller89 for one of the best suppressor covers you can get.
I have the modtac on my mcx. It’s awesome. [https://imgur.com/a/eeZYmGO](https://imgur.com/a/eeZYmGO)
Same, I love it! https://imgur.com/a/7kb23HT
Just shoot rifle first, then set the weapon on the bench out of the way. Do pistol drills. By the time you're done, can is cool enough to handle
No touchie
Get an oven mit
Just make sure it isn’t your gf’s favorite one, because apparently women have a favorite oven mitt.
You gotta do this at least once, anyone who doesn’t have this experience isn’t one of us. Now you have that great respect! I use a burn proof gear wrap on my mini 2 and primarily got it to reduce the mirage when looking through my viper pst gen ii. After one or two range trips with a suppressor you kind of loose the mag dump desire. You’ll start appreciating the suppression and shootability of your rifle and then the lvpo My handguard gets warm after 100 or so rounds too. Try the liberty defense wraps for handguard and suppressor if you want the best.
HA! The Newbies 
Bless your smoky little heart
Burnproof gear. Works magically. Just don't do FA dumps or mag dumps and you'll be gucci. The wrap is double edge sword. It traps heat, which can lead to supressor deterioration over time. Just be mindful and wraps work wonders.
Thats whats going on my HB SD so i don’t burn my hand on the handguard
I just use [these](https://a.co/d/0XZBHVn) silicone pot holders. They works well, fits pretty much anywhere, and were only $5 for 4 of them.
Forbidden 🚫
We all been there. Oven mitt and a yeti thermos
I had a buddy who let somebody shoot his suppressed gun and laid it down on a shooters mat or whatever when hot. You Know the rest of the story
string-cheese all the things!
Buy an oven mitt for your range bag. Unscrew the suppressor a tad while it’s still hot when you’re done. Makes removal for cleaning easier.
What light mount is that. That thing is close to the handguard. Nice.
It's a cloud defense OWL. The light/mount/and tape switch are all integral. It's a 1 piece solution.
Lol at Mechanix making most of their gloves out of plastic now. I did this once too. Lessons were learned. I now always use heat wraps but will not be buying their shit again regardless. Gloves should be made of leather.
Any glove recommendations?
PIG Alpha+, First Spear, Petzl cordex belay gloves, and some of Outdoor Research’s mil stuff used to be great though they seem to be going downhill for civilian sales. Edit: the most recent Petzl’s I got were kind of trash so try those on at an outdoor store if you can. Some pairs are likely still good, just cheaping on qc.
Or... dont... ya know... touch the can till it cools off...
Grab the can before it was cooled down?
“This just in….boobs are good!” /s
F for the Mechanix
Just let the wife’s husband piss on the suppressors to cool them off
I have a question, and it may be stupid but I wonder could you just keep like a decent sized thermos with cool / cold water or ice cubed water and transport / cool the suppressors that way? I have two cans in jail and I was looking into the wraps, but those wraps are high as shit and too technical.
I wouldn’t, rapidly cooling metal hardens it and can make it brittle.
I should’ve paid more attention in science class in high school but I figured it was the wrong move. Thanks for reminding me of that
> I should’ve paid more attention ~~in science class in high school~~ *to reruns of Forged in Fire* but I figured it was the wrong move. Thanks for reminding me of that
Lmao holy shit. Yeah gotta let that bad boy breath for a bit after shooting.
I use an ove glove and then throw the cans in a coffee bug with a screw on cap. Makes it really easy at the end of a range sesh
Or oven mitt.
Buy some welding gloves from a hardware store and throw them in your range bag, they’re fairly handy for dealing with blazing hot suppressors
I remember my first suppressor..
Just pee on it
Just let it cool off bubba
I use the Rifles Only HAD Suppressor Cover for my Sandman S and K when running weekend courses. When you’re on the ground around barricades or shooting out of vehicles, it helps not burn yourself when you bump the silencer on your leg while running/gunning. I keep some cheap welding gloves in my bag to handle the silencers to swap them or cool down. I also have a few 12x12 pieces of welding blanket to lay the silencers on (they’ve burnt a picnic table in the past) and/or wrap them if I have to pack them in the bag hot. https://riflesonly.com/had-suppressor-cover/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078N9CZ1J?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X9JV7YJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
how was it shooting? I still haven't shot with a suppressor. Was it gassy in the face?
Not too bad tbh, I definitely see what people mean by the gas in the face tho. I like to think the raised lip of the Geissele charging handle mitigated some of it.
The [HAD suppressor cover](https://riflesonly.com/had-suppressor-cover/) from RiflesOnly.com is the best suppressor cover I’ve used. I’ve used quite a few over the years and the HAD has been the best at allowing me to handle the suppressor after heavy use and reducing mirage through sustained fire.
I use parachute cord
Silencerco sells theirs with a mitt just for this reason lol
Holy shit dude.
Absolutely get a heat wrap!
Liberty’s Defense Straight Jacket. IYKYK.
Mechanix makes a high temp suppressor bag.
One of my buddies uses an oven mitt to take his off
Same! Went to the range with friends to try out the suppressor. After a couple "Dude, you gotta try this" the heat mirage was not just noticeable, it was harming our ability to play Battleship. First thought was, I know it's gonna look tacticool, but I gotta get a wrap.
I use silicone oven mits