Muzzle Thread Adapters

[journeyman713]

Suit yourself, they are working fine for me.

No offense intended. Hope it keeps working for you.

Just a general message for people that don't know, what they don't know. There is a reason some adapters are $15 and some are $35.

When comparing, you should be looking for a couple things;
Class of thread fit - you want Class '3'. If they don't list it - Red flag.
Carbon steel, if it's a Stainless alloy- you want 400 series (has carbon). If they don't list it - Red flag.

As mentioned, if used repeatedly, Stainless steel fine threads have a habit of galling up, and grow like a snowball, then totally seize, or destroy the threads. An expensive lesson on a $1000 suppressor.

 

[bricketts]

Thank you all for the detailed info, this gives me some good options to look over! It will primarily end up being used on the .300WSM I “bought it for” which has the correct needed threads, but I also plan to use it anytime I shoot my 5.56 which I plan to do a lot more of this year. So it will often be getting swapped, which sounds like I should look at a high quality adapter. Whether I spend $50 for an adapter or for the direct thread mount from DD either is a pretty small price to pay as long as my can doesn’t get messed up! All the info on high carbon steel and what not was very helpful to narrow down my search on finding the best adapter to buy!

 

[bricketts]

It’s although worth considering that while you think this is your first and only suppressor, you are going to end up with more than one before the year is over.

As much as I want to disagree with this since I have always been curious why guys end up with so many cans “you only need one right?” Was my mindset.
After purchasing my first I can see how it becomes a slippery slope

 

[Q_Sertorius]

As much as I want to disagree with this since I have always been curious why guys end up with so many cans “you only need one right?” Was my mindset.
After purchasing my first I can see how it becomes a slippery slope

It gets even worse once you start using them. The downside of starting to shoot suppressed is that you probably won’t ever want to shoot without a suppressor.

If you shop carefully and are disciplined, you can probably avoid some of the mistakes others have made. I think you chose well for your first suppressor and it should serve you well for a long time.

 

[bricketts]

It gets even worse once you start using them. The downside of starting to shoot suppressed is that you probably won’t ever want to shoot without a suppressor.

If you shop carefully and are disciplined, you can probably avoid some of the mistakes others have made. I think you chose well for your first suppressor and it should serve you well for a long time.

Totally agree with this! I shot my buddies gun with his Omega 300 after I’d paid for mine, and knew that my days of shooting nonsuppressed were behind me, I was a changed man!

I appreciate the feedback you’ve given and am glad to hear you say that about my choice for my first one. It sure is a fun rabbit hole to go down reading about them

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

No offense intended. Hope it keeps working for you.

Just a general message for people that don't know, what they don't know. There is a reason some adapters are $15 and some are $35.

When comparing, you should be looking for a couple things;
Class of thread fit - you want Class '3'. If they don't list it - Red flag.
Carbon steel, if it's a Stainless alloy- you want 400 series (has carbon). If they don't list it - Red flag.

As mentioned, if used repeatedly, Stainless steel fine threads have a habit of galling up, and grow like a snowball, then totally seize, or destroy the threads. An expensive lesson on a $1000 suppressor.

Just didn’t feel like hashing out minutia.

The guns I am using them on I am not taking the cans on/off much, but being most of my barrels themselves are already stainless steel I am already paying attention to the possibility of galling. The cans I currently have the threaded end isn’t integral to the can either so the expensive suppressor isn’t in jeopardy either.

 

[Kurts86]

No offense intended. Hope it keeps working for you.

Just a general message for people that don't know, what they don't know. There is a reason some adapters are $15 and some are $35.

When comparing, you should be looking for a couple things;
Class of thread fit - you want Class '3'. If they don't list it - Red flag.
Carbon steel, if it's a Stainless alloy- you want 400 series (has carbon). If they don't list it - Red flag.

As mentioned, if used repeatedly, Stainless steel fine threads have a habit of galling up, and grow like a snowball, then totally seize, or destroy the threads. An expensive lesson on a $1000 suppressor.

400 series stainless steel (martensitic) is cheaper than 300 series steel (Austenitic) because of the significant cost of Nickel in Austenitic stainless steel so I’m not sure why anyone would use 300 series steel to cheap out.

Firearms and barrels always or nearly always are using some form of Martensitic stainless steel, usually 400 series for barrels or 17-4 PH for choke tubes and suppressors.

Stainless steel is tricky stuff to machine, especially in fine close tolerance threads like this. Usually to make it machinable, you have to compromise the alloy content, which takes away from its toughness. Then there's the galling aspect that stainless is prone to do.

You are mixing up a lot of characteristics between 300 series stainless steel and 400 series. Yes with 300 series you typically pick 303 which has sulfur to be the free machining brother to 304 yet neither are applicable in this situation. Most 400 series stainless steels will machine better than 300 series steels. 400 series stainless steel really acts more like alloy carbon steel than 300 series. Even the harder 400 series stainless alloys machine well, they just have slower feed rates and more tool wear.

I’m not sure what you are expecting metallurgically from a thread adapter sold to a consumer. Do you need a spectrometer report from the heat of steel and all the hardness and tensile test data from the lot of steel? Do you need it vacuum arc remelted? Do you need an ultrasonic inspection report for the bar stock the adapter was made from? Sure they might not list the grade but I’m not sure how you inferred they switched entire material classes to a more expensive, less suitable material as such.

The machining is going to matter a lot more than the metallurgy on a thread adapter.

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

We carry a ton of different HUB direct thread adapters and mounts.

Feel free to hit me up with any questions!

Direct Thread Adapters and Mounts

 

[Weldor]

Just take a look at the suppressor hub, is it 17-4, titanium, 4140, etc. Titanium is just as prone as stainless to galling ( cold welding) yet they manufacture the hubs from it. I'm in the same boat, I do remove mine but not a frequency that I'm concerned about galling and I also use high temp food grade anti-seize. Of course I'm not doing mag dumps either, just slow fire and hunting.

 

[journeyman713]

I’m not sure what you are expecting metallurgically from a thread adapter sold to a consumer. Do you need a spectrometer report from the heat of steel and all the hardness and tensile test data from the lot of steel? Do you need it vacuum arc remelted? Do you need an ultrasonic inspection report for the bar stock the adapter was made from? Sure they might not list the grade but I’m not sure how you inferred they switched entire material classes to a more expensive, less suitable material as such.

The machining is going to matter a lot more than the metallurgy on a thread adapter.

Sounds like you know enough to understand there's some fairly complex considerations in what you mate to a $1000 suppressor. But then it seems, you suggest it don't matter.

To summarize for the OP and anyone interested on why some adapters are cheaper than others, I pointed out a few things to watch for.

Obviously anyone with a decent lathe, can make one that, "looks good". But if they don't specify the Class of thread, or the Alloy, it should be suspect as inferior.

I pointed out Carbon steel, but didn't get into why, neither did you. I'll expand, as you know, Carbon in steel alloy, has everything to do with the hardness, and Heat treatability. You want to know they hit the sweet spot of hardness for this application. Done by Heat treating, with the right alloy, and if not done in a Vacuum furnace, some oxidation scale will occur, and then there goes your Class 3 thread. A follow up hardness test to confirm, probably in the mid 30s - low 40s HRC. Some fairly expensive equipment is necessary to do all this. If a machine shop spent the money, they will be proud to detail their product is done right.

So when they don't say, results are;
- Class 3 threads.
- What alloy is used.
- Hardness level

...It's easier to understand what type of shop they are, and why it costs half of they other guys. And yes, I definitely want to know the details about something so critical.

 

[Kurts86]

Sounds like you know enough to understand there's some fairly complex considerations in what you mate to a $1000 suppressor. But then it seems, you suggest it don't matter.

To summarize for the OP and anyone interested on why some adapters are cheaper than others, I pointed out a few things to watch for.

Obviously anyone with a decent lathe, can make one that, "looks good". But if they don't specify the Class of thread, or the Alloy, it should be suspect as inferior.

I pointed out Carbon steel, but didn't get into why, neither did you. I'll expand, as you know, Carbon in steel alloy, has everything to do with the hardness, and Heat treatability. You want to know they hit the sweet spot of hardness for this application. Done by Heat treating, with the right alloy, and if not done in a Vacuum furnace, some oxidation scale will occur, and then there goes your Class 3 thread. A follow up hardness test to confirm, probably in the mid 30s - low 40s HRC. Some fairly expensive equipment is necessary to do all this. If a machine shop spent the money, they will be proud to detail their product is done right.

So when they don't say, results are;
- Class 3 threads.
- What alloy is used.
- Hardness level

...It's easier to understand what type of shop they are, and why it costs half of the other guys. And yes, I definitely want to know the details about something so critical.

I would never heat treat such a critically toleranced part after the machining. I would just machine it in the hardness I need the final product.

Galling isn’t really much of a consideration because the parts go together hand tight. If you need to put an adapter on you loctite 272 it in place. You don’t want to over torque the barrel thread connection for accuracy reasons. As already mentioned titanium has a lot of the same stickiness issues that some stainless steels exhibit yet its an extremely common suppressor material including for threaded end caps.

Ultimately you just buy one of these adapters, assemble it on your rifle, pull the bolt and look for baffle interference. If you are really freaked out about the alignment you can buy the $120 caliber specific alignment rod.

This isn’t an application or material type that I’m worried stock material will be suspect. These are common alloys poured by many manufacturers. This is not a helicopter rotor component that needs a ton a traceability.

Plenty of manufacturers will not list metallurgy of their products because the general public does not care or they protect their technical knowledge. You can always contact them and asked if you are so inclined.

Part of good manufacturing is understanding that unnecessary processing is an industrial waste. The least cost material and process that meets the design criteria is often the best solution for the consumer. These are fairly cheap parts you order and test fit. If they don’t align then return them. Don’t use a 24” pipe wrench to install them and they will likely never degrade in concentricity over time.

 

[journeyman713]

I would never heat treat such a critically toleranced part after the machining. I would just machine it in the hardness I need the final product.

Galling isn’t really much of a consideration because the parts go together hand tight. If you need to put an adapter on you loctite 272 it in place. You don’t want to over torque the barrel thread connection for accuracy reasons. As already mentioned titanium has a lot of the same stickiness issues that some stainless steels exhibit yet its an extremely common suppressor material including for threaded end caps.

Ultimately you just buy one of these adapters, assemble it on your rifle, pull the bolt and look for baffle interference. If you are really freaked out about the alignment you can buy the $120 caliber specific alignment rod.

This isn’t an application or material type that I’m worried stock material will be suspect. These are common alloys poured by many manufacturers. This is not a helicopter rotor component that needs a ton a traceability.

Plenty of manufacturers will not list metallurgy of their products because the general public does not care or they protect their technical knowledge. You can always contact them and asked if you are so inclined.

Part of good manufacturing is understanding that unnecessary processing is an industrial waste. The least cost material and process that meets the design criteria is often the best solution for the consumer. These are fairly cheap parts you order and test fit. If they don’t align then return them. Don’t use a 24” pipe wrench to install them and they will likely never degrade in concentricity over time.

So bottom line, your suggestion to the OP, on whether it's worth the extra $20 over the Amazon product, is - No? We'll disagree on that.
I'm a little surprised, you and I both know, while it can sound complicated, it's really just some very basic technical data, that should be provided up-front. Would you buy a new truck to haul the family camper, if the window sticker just said "quality engine"?

The guys here spend a lot of time studying very specific things about their choice of gun models, calibers, gun powder, etc. My hats off to the OP who knew enough to ask about this topic. He may take the suppressor on and off for each use, or swap between other guns. I'm glad you acknowledge of the galling risks in both Titanium and Stainless in fine threads. It seems he now has enough information to make an informed decision.

 

[Kurts86]

So bottom line, your suggestion to the OP, on whether it's worth the extra $20 over the Amazon product, is - No? We'll disagree on that.
I'm a little surprised, you and I both know, while it can sound complicated, it's really just some very basic technical data, that should be provided up-front. Would you buy a new truck to haul the family camper, if the window sticker just said "quality engine"?

The guys here spend a lot of time studying very specific things about their choice of gun models, calibers, gun powder, etc. My hats off to the OP who knew enough to ask about this topic. He may take the suppressor on and off for each use, or swap between other guns. I'm glad you acknowledge of the galling risks in both Titanium and Stainless in fine threads. It seems he now has enough information to make an informed decision.

I was definitely cautious early on with thread adapters and new hub interfaces but now that I’ve been through it a lot I’m somewhat less concerned about them because I check the alignment before I shoot them the first time. I specifically made sure my second can was hub compatible so I didn’t need 3rd party adapters.

I’m this case it’s a .223 through a 30 cal can so that’s adds a fair margin of safety so I would be less concerned about which adapter. I do prefer to buy the nicer adapters but a lot of it has to do with the wrench interface or how much length it does or doesn’t add rather than material technical data sheets. Honestly in situations like this a qd muzzle device that available in both 1/2-28 and 5/8-24 like an area 419 or thunderbeast CB is what I did to go back a forth between a .223 and 30 cal setup. Honestly now I’m just planning on dedicated suppressors by gun because that’s the end game rather than trying to host 1 suppressor on a bunch of guns. Adapters to use 1 can is an early step in owning suppressors most will move past quickly.

Ultimately if you get a baffle strike with a thread adapter I hope your suppressor company has a good warranty because it could be the barrel threads relative to the muzzle, the adapter to the suppressor or the suppressor itself. Buying the adapter from the suppressor OEM at least gets you from 3 companies that could shift blame down to 2 companies.

 

[bricketts]

A ton of really good info shared in here, thanks for the knowledge shared to everyone involved. This has given me some good things to look for in my shopping! And I learned that I will want to use the 272 loctite when I attach it to my AR muzzle I appreciate that being shared

Basically I have it narrowed down to these 5 options.

Some have the thread class listed, some have the steel type listed(400 series), some have the Class 3 listed, but none have both. I’m leaning towards the one sold through Silencer Shop because of who they are, or the Unknown Suppressors one since they are a suppressor manufacturer and I imagine their tolerances will be TIGHT.

 

[bricketts]

I’m leaning away from buying the Enticer HUB adapter due to the amount that I potentially will be swapping the can between guns(maybe 10-20 times a year?).

Any further I out on these options would be appreciated!

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

So when they don't say, results are;
- Class 3 threads.
- What alloy is used.
- Hardness level

...It's easier to understand what type of shop they are, and why it costs half of they other guys. And yes, I definitely want to know the details about something so critical.

Kinda funny the actual manufacturers of the referenced $1000 suppressors (IE many/most of the manufacturers) are just as guilty of not listing some/all of those things... most just list the material if anything.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I’m leaning away from buying the Enticer HUB adapter due to the amount that I potentially will be swapping the can between guns(maybe 10-20 times a year?).

Any further I out on these options would be appreciated!

If you buy the DD wolf hunter they include both a 1/2" and 5/8" end cap... might as well splurge!

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

I’m leaning away from buying the Enticer HUB adapter due to the amount that I potentially will be swapping the can between guns(maybe 10-20 times a year?).

Any further I out on these options would be appreciated!

Toss a Zilch or Atlas Ti in the suppressor and a CBAH on each rifle and call it a day. Can swap the suppressor back and forth without issue.

 

[AKM]

I was asking a support question regarding cleaning TBAC adapter/brakes. TBAC stated the brakes are stainless (no spec mentioned) and DLC coated.