Suppressed .50 AE Desert Eagle

MachIVshooter

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Elbert County, CO
Thought some here might get a kick out of it. Currently developing our Caoga model non-BMG .50 suppressor with .50 AE and .50 Beowulf. At 1.5x9", it's fully welded all titanium and comes in at just 9.4 ounces with mount. Load in the linked video is 400 gr. Sierra JSP @960 FPS, which cycles the gun nicely.

I'll spice them up a bit with heavier slugs at a little higher velocity when I figure out a gas piston design to bleed off some pressure, but stock components make it extremely violent with a can shooting full power 300 gr 1,500 FPS loads. The 10.5" .50 Beowulf also needs gas adjustment, was outrunning the magazine and throwing those big cases about 40 feet with factory supersonic loads.

Anyway:

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Firing video with my 10 YO son on the trigger:

.50 AE Suppressed Subsonic
 
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Curious if you show how you build them or did it take you ling enough to develop that you keep it a secret?
 
Curious if you show how you build them or did it take you ling enough to develop that you keep it a secret?
More a matter of I don't have time to do a bunch of photos or video the processes. Anyone can buy a suppressor and cross section it, so its not like any manufacturer can keep a design under wraps from a person or company who is willing to destroy the product to learn how it's made.

All of my designs are really pretty basic in concept; it's the subtleties of particular geometry and dimensions that have been developed iteratively which makes the difference. And those particulars involve more factors than just strength and suppression. I will gladly give up a couple dB suppression if it means the can will keep things moving instead of having cavities, passages or low pressure areas that accumulate deposits resulting in weight increase and reduced efficacy a thousand rounds down the line.
 
More a matter of I don't have time to do a bunch of photos or video the processes. Anyone can buy a suppressor and cross section it, so its not like any manufacturer can keep a design under wraps from a person or company who is willing to destroy the product to learn how it's made.

I was wondering more from a process perspective than design.

X-ray makes more sense to me but I'm cheap.

I have a few rotary weld fixtures I've built for different jobs over the years and was just curious but I understand not having enouh hours in a day.

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I was wondering more from a process perspective than design.

X-ray makes more sense to me but I'm cheap.

I have a few rotary weld fixtures I've built for different jobs over the years and was just curious but I understand not having enouh hours in a day.

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At some point we'll buy a CNC laser welder, but for now I have a very basic CNC positioner and run the pedal manually. I put together a nice torch holder for doing SS cans, but I still hold the torch for Ti because of how I set up my argon flooding.

The welder is a Lincoln SW200.

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Very nice. Do you stack the cones, weld them and then into another tube or are you finishing the stack after the weld (at least on those above, I imagine it depends on model)?
 
I have a staff member who buys guns strictly because they "look cool", and the 50AE Desert Beagle is high on his list. I'll have to forward this to him - he'll go nuts.
 
Very nice. Do you stack the cones, weld them and then into another tube or are you finishing the stack after the weld (at least on those above, I imagine it depends on model)?
They are tubeless, and that can is as-welded, just 120 grit AO blast and moly resin. The lines are a little more visible on stainless steel critters, but no, I don't turn them after welding.

The baffles have a register on the back to center them, and rifle can baffles have a wider abutment face, the skirt behind is undercut with an SDUCR boring bar. All have the clips aligned, usually with tools I make, but visually in the case of odd bore sizes. The tailstock live center on my positioner is spring loaded and bored through the center for back purging. I tack evey 120° before weldment and reduce amperage as heat builds into the assembly with each bead.

Ti just welds really nice when you get things dialed. So does 17-4. It is all fusion TIG, no filler. I use pulse on stainless, but constant amperage produces a nicer bead on Ti.

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Very fun!

How bad is the gas blowback on the suppressed Desert Eagle for you?

I had a .44 barrel chopped and threaded around 15 years ago and did the same using a big Bowers .45 subgun can. It turns a big heavy pistol into a ridiculously huge pistol. And still a hoot to shoot. But yeah, it's not a very quiet suppressor host, even when shooting subsonics. And you tend to get a fair amount of gas to the face.
 
Very fun!

How bad is the gas blowback on the suppressed Desert Eagle for you?

I had a .44 barrel chopped and threaded around 15 years ago and did the same using a big Bowers .45 subgun can. It turns a big heavy pistol into a ridiculously huge pistol. And still a hoot to shoot. But yeah, it's not a very quiet suppressor host, even when shooting subsonics. And you tend to get a fair amount of gas to the face.
Yeah, there's pretty significant gas to the face. Not like the M1A, but enough that it is a bit offensive if downwind (or no breeze to carry it away).

I'm excited to get some metering done. I might bust out the old 2209, but probably wait until I can coordinate with the TBAC crew to come play in Cheyenne. B&K hasn't released the new portable meter we're waiting for yet. I'm betting at ear levels in the high 130s dBA with subs. It doesn't ring my ears, but it's not quite comfortable either. Better than 5.7 pistols, though, with their sharp port pop. And also seems to be a bit lower tone than an AR at ear, those get me a little worse than this does.

The supersonic loads are another story. Those sound about like an unsuppressed .32 ACP. Lot of sonic crack off that big, blunt bullet. Way quieter than an unsuppressed .50 AE, but nowhere near tolerable for naked ears.
 
At some point we'll buy a CNC laser welder, but for now I have a very basic CNC positioner and run the pedal manually. I put together a nice torch holder for doing SS cans, but I still hold the torch for Ti because of how I set up my argon flooding.

The welder is a Lincoln SW200.

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They are tubeless, and that can is as-welded, just 120 grit AO blast and moly resin. The lines are a little more visible on stainless steel critters, but no, I don't turn them after welding.

The baffles have a register on the back to center them, and rifle can baffles have a wider abutment face, the skirt behind is undercut with an SDUCR boring bar. All have the clips aligned, usually with tools I make, but visually in the case of odd bore sizes. The tailstock live center on my positioner is spring loaded and bored through the center for back purging. I tack evey 120° before weldment and reduce amperage as heat builds into the assembly with each bead.

Ti just welds really nice when you get things dialed. So does 17-4. It is all fusion TIG, no filler. I use pulse on stainless, but constant amperage produces a nicer bead on Ti.

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For some reason that wasn't at all what I was expecting for aligning the baffles for welding, much more efficient than what I was thinking.

I was curious if it was fusion tig welded or if you were just at the jedi master level of adding filler after I got in my two cans from you. Sadly, I am still barely at the apprentice level when it comes to tig.

At some point, after I finally have room and power for the lathe I inherited, I want to attempt to make a couple tubeless form 1 cans so I'll have to keep your techniques in mind.
 
I want to attempt to make a couple tubeless form 1 cans so I'll have to keep your techniques in mind.
When you do, I would recommend more tacks than I use. 3 works fine once you've got things dialed and is obviously faster, but using 6, 8, 12 will be more forgiving of not having the amperage or speed just right. All welds are going to pull, but it's a problem if the end product can't roll on a flat surface.
 
By the way, @MachIVshooter , is that the factory threaded barrel that MRI was offering recently? I like the fact that yours has a functional front sight.

With the chop & thread job I had done, my front sight obviously went away.

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By the way, @MachIVshooter , is that the factory threaded barrel that MRI was offering recently? I like the fact that yours has a functional front sight.

With the chop & thread job I had done, my front sight obviously went away.

No, it was a 10" that I cut & threaded, then cut a new dovetail to reinstall the sight, and a couple extra slots on the rail, since the Fastfire III went too far back on the factory rear cut. I might make tall sights for it, as these don't quite clear the can and I'm not a huge fan of red dots on pistols, but time is in short supply. It took me 5 months to get around to threading this thing and making the prototype can with everything we have going on.
 
When you do, I would recommend more tacks than I use. 3 works fine once you've got things dialed and is obviously faster, but using 6, 8, 12 will be more forgiving of not having the amperage or speed just right. All welds are going to pull, but it's a problem if the end product can't roll on a flat surface.

I like your method for production it would be faster than what I did on one I welded. I clamped everything together using the hole down the center (it was also a large caliber) so it's all compressed while welding. Would get old with a cart full of parts though


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I didn't back gas it though. I have used and old sand blaster as an "argon chamber" before to work in but it's pretty wasteful, if you can put all of your parts in there first. once you open it, you are back where you started.


Thank you for taking us into your shop and showing us how you do it.
 
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