Suppressing an AK

[Mot45acp]

I have a YHM 7.62 Phantom with QD and a Polish 1960 AK. I was thinking about buying the AK adapter for it. My question is: Will it be as quiet as my AR's?

The reason I am asking this is because of how the gas vents out the gas tube. Will this be under the same principal of suppressing a revolver? Too much gas and noise escaping from places other than the end of the barrel?

Thanks
Mot

 

[Rail Driver]

I think if it were a major issue, Red Jacket would have more problems suppressing their AK's

http://www.redjacketfirearms.com/

 

[JustinJ]

I would guess it louder than a suppressed AR unless you can find subsonic ammo. I've heard AKs generally dont function well with standard 7.62 cans?

 

[Ranb]

I made silencers for my AR and AK. The only issue with the AR is gas in my face, I shoot left handed so the gas buster is not an option (tried them, do not help at all), but I can get an adjustable gas tube.

The AK is different as it uses a piston and rod instead of a gas tube. While it does not spit gas and debris back at the shooter's face, the vent at the forward end of the rod is loud and there is nothing you can do about it but use less powder. Some people are of the opinion that the gas vent is loud enough to require ear plugs all by itself.

With the silencer attached, the trigger slaps back against my finger and gets a bit painful after 20 rounds. I think the stronger spring will help, but I have to wait until July 22nd to find out as that is when silencers become legal to use in WA.

Others have reported good results with heavy subsonic bullets, but I can not get anything that is not pointed to chamber properly in my WASR. Subsonic 150 and 200 grain bullets also have terrible accuracy in my rifle.

I cut down the recoil spring in my WASR to see if I can get the subsonic 125 grain bullets to cycle the action.

Ranb

 

[Strykervet]

Try looking at some youtube videos of it.

I'd think suppressing an AK would be akin to suppressing a revolver: you have gas escaping right above the barrel!

I suppose you could put a lock on the gas block... Make it a single shot.

 

[bkjeffrey]

I ran my suppressor on my WASR10 and honestly was hard to even tell it was on there. I think the others are right about the ports in the gas tube as you can clearly hear the gas escaping , like suppressing a revolver.

 

[Watchman]

The main problems with AK's and suppressors are the fact that most AK threads are not concentric to the bore. Some of the thread fits are atrocious.

This resulted in baffle strikes and poor accuracy. The AK is not a quiet gun due to the action noise. When shooting a supersonic bullet, you still get a lot of noise from the bullet breaking the speed of sound which makes it pretty loud.

Also, the action noise itself is among one of the loudest of any gun. Bring the bolt back and let it slam forward. That in itself is loud.

 

[hq]

The AK is not a quiet gun due to the action noise. When shooting a supersonic bullet, you still get a lot of noise from the bullet breaking the speed of sound which makes it pretty loud.

There's no such thing as a subsonic load that could cycle AK's action with standard recoil spring - I've tried just about anything. Gas pressure is quite a bit higher with a suppressor but not quite enough to make subsonics work.

On the other hand, when you have an adjustable gas block you can disable the mechanism completely and use the rifle as a very quiet straight-pull single shot gun.

I've got suppressors in several AK:s and my absolute favourite is Sako M92S - there's a flip lever that closes the gas mechanism completely, a BR reflex suppressor threads directly on the muzzle brake / flash suppressor and the gun itself is one of the most accurate AK-type rifles ever built. Rare and anything but cheap, but for me it has been the holy grail of all AK:s, with the possible exception of its full auto version, the folding stock RK95.

Suppressors and regular supersonic ammo is a decent compromise, but nowhere near as stealth as single shot subsonics. I have yet to try a good bolt buffer + softer recoil spring with subsonic ammo; that'll probably be a decent solution to minimizing action noise while still keeping the rifle semiautomatic.

 

[Mot45acp]

So with already having the suppressor in hand, is it worth $78 for the mount? Anyone here of barrel thread concentricity (I may have made that word up) on the Polish 1960's? Its stamped Century but my understanding is Century subbed these out to a reputable company. How can I check if I'm GTG?

 

[PTK]

hq,

I beg to differ, as I have subsonic 7.62x39mm loads that cycle my AK. Are you able to get American-made reloading powder in Finland?

 

[WardenWolf]

Not all AK gas tubes are ported, though the ones that aren't typically have microports at the very front where it meets the gas block. You might try switching to one of those.

 

[hq]

I beg to differ, as I have subsonic 7.62x39mm loads that cycle my AK. Are you able to get American-made reloading powder in Finland?

Hmm. This is pretty interesting. Even though Vihtavuori pretty much dominates the smokeless powder market around here, a few American brands are available. If you have a good, working recipe for a cycling subsonic load, I'm very interested to hear the details. I've tried pretty much everything, except for the heaviest 150gr+ bullets which are difficult to find in .311 diameter.

ObNote: actually I've managed to get my FEG cycle with a marginally subsonic reload, with 147gr bullets and a VERY tired recoil spring, but I'm not sure if that counts...