Hares Ear
27-01-2005, 10:42 PM
I was the successful bidder, for a second hand, T8 Sound Moderator, in an online Auction recently.
As it is classed as a Firearm on my ‘ticket’, and there is not a lot happening in this section lately. I have decided to do a short revue on it.
The Moderator itself seems to be in an ‘As new condition’ there are no external marks on it or dents. So I shall treat it as new.
The weight of the silencer in my hand, does not feel excessive. The finish is a shot blasted effect, it is slightly rough, obviously to minimise reflection, and is a sort of gun blue type colour. I cannot describe the internals, as there seems to be no way of stripping it, or taking it apart. Which begs the Question, how do I clean it out? I have heard several comments on how to do this, as diverse as soaking it in ‘Coca Cola’, and at the other end of the spectrum, soaking it in petrol???? the second option I will not dwell on, for obvious safety reasons.
The moderator is a reflex type. The thread where it attaches is well up inside the body, so the rear of the moderator sits over the barrel, with a delrin bush at the rear, to offer support around the circumference of the barrel. The bush has to be machined to fit the barrel of the gun it is being fitted to
After having the Barrel on my .243 Remington 700 professionally threaded to accept the silencer, and the rear delrin bush modified, it was time to zero the rifle.
I was surprised to find the point of impact was well high. I was expecting it to be low, due to the weight of the silencer pulling the barrel down. My barrel is a standard gauge, not the heavier ’Varmint’ type, and although the T8 does not feel unduly heavy. When it is on the end of my gun, I can only liken it to having a big weight on the end of a walking stick. It has without doubt upset the balance of the rifle.
I was zeroed within 5 shots, then I could start to concentrate on the effects of the T8.
First of all, the sound suppression can only be described as fantastic. I could not have imagined the noise of a .243 could be reduced to such an extent.
The recoil is certainly lessened, and is more directed straight back into the shoulder, than the front end of the rifle skating round on the bipod as it used to do. Although I must admit, I still cannot see the round impacting, through the scope. A work colleague has the same model fitted to his 22-250, and it is quite easy to watch the bullet strike with his set up.
There are some major draw backs though.
First of all, I have no longer got a clear image through my scope. I use a Swarovski 6x42, and the image quality was phenomenal. Now there is the T8 in the bottom quarter of the image, and it has made the rest of the image sort of misty.
Also, I have lamp that fixes to my scope, it is impossible to see anything for the amount of light the moderator catches. It’s almost like someone shining a light back into the object lens.
I am not sure if I am happy with a moderator on my centre fire. For me the Con’s far outweigh the pro’s. My rifle is certainly no more accurate than before, despite the recoil reduction.
I can no longer see clearly through my scope, without I invest in some high rise mounts, and tape a load of packing onto the stock to raise the comb.
I cannot use my solo lamping outfit.
There is no balance to the rifle whatsoever. It is now excessively front heavy.
The lack of noise, and the ground shaking muzzle blast is something I actually miss. It was all part of the joy of rifle shooting to me.
I suspect that any centre fire rifles I purchase in future will be moderator free. But that’s me, remember I am the only shooter in the whole of the British Isles that berates the HMR.
As it is classed as a Firearm on my ‘ticket’, and there is not a lot happening in this section lately. I have decided to do a short revue on it.
The Moderator itself seems to be in an ‘As new condition’ there are no external marks on it or dents. So I shall treat it as new.
The weight of the silencer in my hand, does not feel excessive. The finish is a shot blasted effect, it is slightly rough, obviously to minimise reflection, and is a sort of gun blue type colour. I cannot describe the internals, as there seems to be no way of stripping it, or taking it apart. Which begs the Question, how do I clean it out? I have heard several comments on how to do this, as diverse as soaking it in ‘Coca Cola’, and at the other end of the spectrum, soaking it in petrol???? the second option I will not dwell on, for obvious safety reasons.
The moderator is a reflex type. The thread where it attaches is well up inside the body, so the rear of the moderator sits over the barrel, with a delrin bush at the rear, to offer support around the circumference of the barrel. The bush has to be machined to fit the barrel of the gun it is being fitted to
After having the Barrel on my .243 Remington 700 professionally threaded to accept the silencer, and the rear delrin bush modified, it was time to zero the rifle.
I was surprised to find the point of impact was well high. I was expecting it to be low, due to the weight of the silencer pulling the barrel down. My barrel is a standard gauge, not the heavier ’Varmint’ type, and although the T8 does not feel unduly heavy. When it is on the end of my gun, I can only liken it to having a big weight on the end of a walking stick. It has without doubt upset the balance of the rifle.
I was zeroed within 5 shots, then I could start to concentrate on the effects of the T8.
First of all, the sound suppression can only be described as fantastic. I could not have imagined the noise of a .243 could be reduced to such an extent.
The recoil is certainly lessened, and is more directed straight back into the shoulder, than the front end of the rifle skating round on the bipod as it used to do. Although I must admit, I still cannot see the round impacting, through the scope. A work colleague has the same model fitted to his 22-250, and it is quite easy to watch the bullet strike with his set up.
There are some major draw backs though.
First of all, I have no longer got a clear image through my scope. I use a Swarovski 6x42, and the image quality was phenomenal. Now there is the T8 in the bottom quarter of the image, and it has made the rest of the image sort of misty.
Also, I have lamp that fixes to my scope, it is impossible to see anything for the amount of light the moderator catches. It’s almost like someone shining a light back into the object lens.
I am not sure if I am happy with a moderator on my centre fire. For me the Con’s far outweigh the pro’s. My rifle is certainly no more accurate than before, despite the recoil reduction.
I can no longer see clearly through my scope, without I invest in some high rise mounts, and tape a load of packing onto the stock to raise the comb.
I cannot use my solo lamping outfit.
There is no balance to the rifle whatsoever. It is now excessively front heavy.
The lack of noise, and the ground shaking muzzle blast is something I actually miss. It was all part of the joy of rifle shooting to me.
I suspect that any centre fire rifles I purchase in future will be moderator free. But that’s me, remember I am the only shooter in the whole of the British Isles that berates the HMR.