Suppressor Disassembly

[jbrubaker]

It is time for me to fess up since I cannot solve this problem myself. I have a .30 cal, user-serviceable Thompson Machine THIRTY stainless steel suppressor. I have never taken it apart to clean it and now the time has come. Alas, I cannot get it apart. I can get the exit-end cap off, but the threaded muzzle end I just cannot get loose.

I have probably somewhere around 1,000 rounds of .22 LR through it and probably less than 200 .223, so I did not think it was going to be impossible; so far it has proved to be.

I have tried putting the muzzle cap in a vice and using strap wrenches. I have put PB blaster inside the cap and let it soak. I have stuck that end in boiling water and then tried to get it free. I have also cut suppressor-sized holes in pieces of wood and cut a relief channel to clamp the body of the suppressor in a vice while I wrench on the cap (the suppressor spins in the wood even at the max clamping pressure with which I am comfortable). All of this to no avail. The only things I have not yet tried are shooting it to heat it up and then try to remove it while hot, and the Internet also recommends Kroil as a penetrating oil but I do not have easy access to that.

Any additional thoughts as to how to get this thing apart? Thanks for any input.

 

[dave29]

Might be a job for Thompson Machine with that much 22lr thru it. Send them an email and see what they say.

 

[Hop]

I ordered Kroil from Amazon because I couldn't find it locally. I thought PB Blaster was good but Kroil was amazing.

 

[M67]

Just shoot more 223 and 308 through it and don't worry about it, 1000 rounds of 22 isn't that bad and the heat and pressure of the centerfire will take some of it out

Plus if you never taken it apart before, probably was cranked from the factory too

 

[Laughing Snake]

Maybe order some Kroil, give it a day or so to soak in the threads, then heat it up at the range and then try prying it off? I don't know if something like a heat gun would be enough. We use Kroil a lot at work and it does work quickly. Used it to loosen a lot of rusted froze bolts that should have broke.

 

[Bfish]

I'd not shoot 22lr through it. Like M67 said, shoot 223 and 308 through it, heat it up etc. I'd say it'll clear out a bit. If you try the Kroil and stuff sending it to Thompson Machine is always an option as stated if you are nervous or uneasy about things.

 

[VUPDblue]

send a PM to "curaheeguns"

/thread

 

[curraheeguns]

It is time for me to fess up since I cannot solve this problem myself. I have a .30 cal, user-serviceable Thompson Machine THIRTY stainless steel suppressor. I have never taken it apart to clean it and now the time has come. Alas, I cannot get it apart. I can get the exit-end cap off, but the threaded muzzle end I just cannot get loose.

I have probably somewhere around 1,000 rounds of .22 LR through it and probably less than 200 .223, so I did not think it was going to be impossible; so far it has proved to be.

I have tried putting the muzzle cap in a vice and using strap wrenches. I have put PB blaster inside the cap and let it soak. I have stuck that end in boiling water and then tried to get it free. I have also cut suppressor-sized holes in pieces of wood and cut a relief channel to clamp the body of the suppressor in a vice while I wrench on the cap (the suppressor spins in the wood even at the max clamping pressure with which I am comfortable). All of this to no avail. The only things I have not yet tried are shooting it to heat it up and then try to remove it while hot, and the Internet also recommends Kroil as a penetrating oil but I do not have easy access to that.

Any additional thoughts as to how to get this thing apart? Thanks for any input.

Try this, if that doesn't work send me a PM. Thanks for your business.

https://youtu.be/ITxf-SeenF0

 

[jbrubaker]

Thank you all for your tips. I'd rather not send it to Thompson. It took 13 months for me to get from start to finish, so the thought of letting it out of my sight is physically painful.

I asked a buddy and he has some kroil. I'm going to try that and the video Currahee posted tonight and I'll report back. Thanks!

 

[patience0830]

Kroil. Smells like horse liniment and is engineered to creep into spaces as small as 1 millionth of an inch. Good ****.

 

[cayce]

Is the frozen end cap plastic or metal? If metal heat with a butane torch and melt some paraffin wax onto the end letting the wax seep into the threads. In the machine shop we used this on everything with good results.

If plastic send it back. I did the same as you ONCE. They rebuilt the entire thing, no cost, didn't even ask when I bought it. Had it back in 2 weeks.

Now after cleaning, I use a 12 gauge bore brush, to get all the carbon out, and spray each baffle with Super QCG spray, E-bay or Amazon. It works MIRACLES keeping carbon from sticking. Others MAY work. The QCG I KNOW works.

 

[churchmouse]

Thank you all for your tips. I'd rather not send it to Thompson. It took 13 months for me to get from start to finish, so the thought of letting it out of my sight is physically painful.

I asked a buddy and he has some kroil. I'm going to try that and the video Currahee posted tonight and I'll report back. Thanks!

 

[jbrubaker]

So in an effort to drive the inner baffle stack out with a wooden dowel rod and liberal applications of penetrating oil, I, like a true bubba, knocked the suppressor over so it fell to the concrete floor from about 12" high. And of course it landed directly on the edge of the open end of the can, denting the wall of the can inward. So not only would the baffle not come out even if I could get it loose, but also the end cap would not thread back into the can at all.

Here is a photo of the dent (top right in this pic):



So based on my current success rate with this project, instead of trying to "fix" it, I swallowed my already substantially diminished pride and sent it back to Thompson Machine.

Two weeks later and it's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Dent fixed, internals cleaned, no questions or costs.

Thompson Machine is great.

Thanks for all your input. I plan to exercise substantially more preventative cleaning/lubing/maintenance going forward.

Great timing too as my first .300 BO upper got delivered on Monday...

 

[curraheeguns]

Glad you are happy. Spread the word.