Stop the Burning with Penicilli – We Mean Armageddon Gear
Dave Merrill
Lying may not actually set your pants on a fire, but a hot suppressor will. I recall a training session back around 2007 or 2008, when TAD Gear was the most coveted and extravagant of all “tactical” clothing, and someone set a brand new pair of their pants on fire. No, not intentionally in some bizarre ritual, but when transitioning from a suppressed rifle to a pistol. I should note that single-point slings were also more popular then, which may have contributed to said hot silencer to pants contact. An expensive way to learn an easy lesson: Guns get hot when you shoot them, and silencers go totally blazing.
Though it will vary with your individual gun/silencer/ammunition combination, each shot from a suppressed 5.56 can raise the temperature of a silencer 7-10 degrees. Things get toasty very quickly. Not only that, but once a silencer gets heated up, it can take a considerable amount of time to cool down enough to handle; this is a special pain in the ass if you need to leave the range in a timely fashion.
Okay, so heat burns. Big whoop–wear gloves and use an advanced two-point sling, and it’s all good, right? Not quite.
The other problem with your silencer warming up like a freshman dorm room hotplate is that it can dick up your shooting. As the heat radiates off your silencer, it shows up in your scope as shimmering. This heat haze happens because the less dense hot air surrounding the suppressor mixes with the denser, colder air above it. It’s more difficult to properly resolve targets through it because the difference in air density actually acts as a lens, refracting light. If you’re blazing away at five yards with a 1x red dot this isn’t a big deal, but if you’re taking precision shots through a 10x scope at 800m it’s another story entirely.
There are other forms of heat mirage (no doubt to be covered in a future Language Lesson), but today, let’s stick to the one you can control. As far as a solution, we’re going to talk Armageddon Gear. They make a lot of cool stuff, and one very useful item is their suppressor cover. There’s a joke in there someplace.
Though in their literature, Armageddon Gear specifically states the suppressor mirage cover is neither designed nor intended to be used with full autos and the like, I’ve found them to be perfectly sufficient, provided I’m not mag-dumping like an idiot dirt shooter. Yes, you can melt them if you try, but that goes for damn near anything. If you’re a precision shooter, you’re not likely to run into any issues.
The design of the Armageddon Gear suppressor cover is such that the exterior nylon shell never makes direct contact with the silencer, something I would have found out the easy way had I read the detailed and clear instructions before I used one.
Step A seems… familiar somehow…
Silencers come in all shapes and sizes, and Armageddon Gear makes a suppressor cover for damn near all of the popular ones–and they’ll make you a custom one for $5 more if you have something old, weird, or obscure.
Image totally not stolen from Gemtech. Totally not.
Newer Gemtech ONE? Sure.
The discontinued old and heavy HALO? Yup. They do that, too.
Use it with the opposite of precision and accuracy, the AK? Why not…
The shock cord allows the suppressor cover to stay in place, and then you secure the excess in the webbing loops on the side. No matter how much you want to use that webbing for a spare mag or batteries, try to resist the temptation.
Because the Armageddon Gear suppressor cover is an insulating layer, I suggest removing it when you want the can to cool down. That same insulating layer that helps keep the heat in also means bringing it down to ambient temperature takes more time. Wait–so this works both ways? That brings us to the best idea Armageddon Gear ever had:
Yes, a beer bivy. They have a bottle and a can version, but not one for your 40oz malt liquor bottle. Per their webpage:
*Not compatible with 40oz malt-liquor bottles. You should be ashamed of yourself for drinking that shit, anyway.
Aside from keeping your beverage of choice chilled, the beer bivy is also great eye catcher when you’re putting together ridiculous instagram “EDC” pictures like this one:
Suppressors get hot. Beer should be cold. Instagram EDC pictures should be as unrealistic as possible. Armageddon Gear has a solution for you on all fronts.
-DFM
[You can visit Armageddon Gear online here]
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Fucking Yuengling! damn that’s good beer.
Their suppressor/mirage covers work quite well.
I’ve found that when going for accuracy (precision, whatever) with a 5.56 AR with a 16″ barrel and a 3-9x50mm scope I can get another 5-7 shots off before the mirage starts to affect the view through the scope which moves the total shots fired before a break to let the can cool from about 10 to 15-17. Firing faster with 3 round strings it goes from two strings to three.
They work pretty well and, if you do happen to accidentally bump into the can, it’s not a “Oh shit that’s hot!” moment.
I have used a couple of Armageddon Gear’s beer covers and their shooting mat, both products were well made and work very well. They are a squared away company as far as customer service and shipping.
Time to pick up one of their covers for the hot stuff.