AWC BLOWS IN MY FACE, THEN BLOWS ME OFF
MatQuig
Thought I'd tell you all about shooting my AWC Nexus .45 Suppressor this week.
AWC supplied the suppressor with a barrel threaded for same for a Colt
Government ,45 several years ago. I believe that I have shot 700-800 rounds
though it over the years, and the system worked great. Last shooting resulted
in something different. Fired a full mag, then proceeded to fire another and
"BANG"! Got some gases back dusting off my glasses, and I look down at the gun
and my suppressor is lying on the ground. Inspection revealed that the barrel
separated at the end of the threading, just ahead of bushing. Apparently, the
bullet exited the can without damaging it, resulting in just surface abrasion
from the "hit" to the ground. I always new that the depth of the threading did
not leave too much barrel between the threads and the bore, but now I can
REALLY see it from the cross section provided by the break. It appears that
selected tolerances for the threading, thickness of the barrel mount, pitch of
the threading, etc., may have serious engineering and design flaws, not
allowing enough substance to withstand the torque and stress that is given off
by this piston assisted design. Also, the barrel was of stainless
construction, and may have had lower quality steel in its construction. The
worst part of it, outside of the loss of a $150-$200 barrel, is that my call to
Lynn McWilliams of AWC Systems Technology resulted in basically a "blow off".
Lynn advised me that there was nothing he could or would do about it, as the
sale was made years ago, despite the low round life of the barrel, which he
also emphasized that he obtained by an outside supplier (but prepped/threaded
by AWC). I quite reasonably tried to come to some common ground, say I buy the
new barrel and maybe AWC take some of the blame for design flaws or poor barrel
quality/selection and thread my barrel, but he declined to go any distance to
recitfy the matter. I feel this was wrong. AWC had control of the design,
manufacturing, and provided the barrel. It is very disconcerting to have a
barrel blow in front of your face. I would encourage any one doing business
with AWC to consider their lack of consideration in these matters, possibly
concern themselves with safety considerations, and inform others of my incident
in case anyone else suffers injury as the result of similar deficiencies.
Thanks for reading this long dissertation. MAtQuig/AKA: Greg Firis/Ohio
David C Prall
This is why I buy just about everything from GemTech. Dr. Phil Dater
and Jim Ryan are great and very personable. Dr. Dater is more then
willing to fix any problems, and generally without ever having to send
something back first, just a trade of the failed piece (which has only
happened once, with 4 products). Also, remember that almost all of
AWC's designs are not Lynn McWilliams, some of them were designed by
Automatic Weapons Corporation Dr. Dater's original company.
David
On 6 Mar 1998 05:02:36 -0500, mat...@aol.com (MatQuig) wrote:
#Thought I'd tell you all about shooting my AWC Nexus .45 Suppressor this week.
#AWC supplied the suppressor with a barrel threaded for same for a Colt
#Government ,45 several years ago. I believe that I have shot 700-800 rounds
#though it over the years, and the system worked great. Last shooting resulted
#in something different. Fired a full mag, then proceeded to fire another and
#"BANG"! Got some gases back dusting off my glasses, and I look down at the gun
#and my suppressor is lying on the ground. Inspection revealed that the barrel
#separated at the end of the threading, just ahead of bushing. Apparently, the
#bullet exited the can without damaging it, resulting in just surface abrasion
#from the "hit" to the ground. I always new that the depth of the threading did
#not leave too much barrel between the threads and the bore, but now I can
#REALLY see it from the cross section provided by the break. It appears that
#selected tolerances for the threading, thickness of the barrel mount, pitch of
#the threading, etc., may have serious engineering and design flaws, not
#allowing enough substance to withstand the torque and stress that is given off
#by this piston assisted design. Also, the barrel was of stainless
#construction, and may have had lower quality steel in its construction. The
#worst part of it, outside of the loss of a $150-$200 barrel, is that my call to
#Lynn McWilliams of AWC Systems Technology resulted in basically a "blow off".
#Lynn advised me that there was nothing he could or would do about it, as the
#sale was made years ago, despite the low round life of the barrel, which he
#also emphasized that he obtained by an outside supplier (but prepped/threaded
#by AWC). I quite reasonably tried to come to some common ground, say I buy the
#new barrel and maybe AWC take some of the blame for design flaws or poor barrel
#quality/selection and thread my barrel, but he declined to go any distance to
#recitfy the matter. I feel this was wrong. AWC had control of the design,
#manufacturing, and provided the barrel. It is very disconcerting to have a
#barrel blow in front of your face. I would encourage any one doing business
#with AWC to consider their lack of consideration in these matters, possibly
#concern themselves with safety considerations, and inform others of my incident
#in case anyone else suffers injury as the result of similar deficiencies.
#Thanks for reading this long dissertation. MAtQuig/AKA: Greg Firis/Ohio
--
David C Prall d...@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~dcp
I'm so glad I live in the United States where we celebrate all of our
freedoms on the 4th of July, by shooting off fireworks. The 4th of July,
the day of Independance where we shoot off fireworks manufactured in
China by the Communist Government. Too bad it is illegal for me to
purchase or shoot off fireworks myself. Let Freedom Ring.
Tim
MatQuig wrote:
#
# Thought I'd tell you all about shooting my AWC Nexus .45 Suppressor this week.
# AWC supplied the suppressor with a barrel threaded for same for a Colt
# Government ,45 several years ago. I believe that I have shot 700-800 rounds
# though it over the years, and the system worked great. Last shooting resulted
# in something different. Fired a full mag, then proceeded to fire
<snip>
Your expectations are a bit unrealistic, I think.
First of all, suppressors are not to have long lifetimes. Most are
rebuilt every couple of hundred rounds, and had this been done, you
might have noticed the barrel problem.
Second, did the company offer a lifetime warranty? A 3yr one? a 1yr
one?
Third, they have no control over what you put thru them. While you
have to keep 'em subsonic, where you trying to push the 230 grainers to
1050 fps? Can you PROVE that you didn't?
Things wear out and we have to replace them all the time.
Allan M Stewart
In article <6e1203$9...@xring.cs.umd.edu> you wrote:
: MatQuig wrote:
: #
: # Thought I'd tell you all about shooting my AWC Nexus .45 Suppressor this week.
: # AWC supplied the suppressor with a barrel threaded for same for a Colt
: # Government ,45 several years ago. I believe that I have shot 700-800 rounds
: # though it over the years, and the system worked great.
: # in something different. Fired a full mag, then proceeded to fire
: <snip>
: Your expectations are a bit unrealistic, I think.
: First of all, suppressors are not to have long lifetimes. Most are
: rebuilt every couple of hundred rounds, and had this been done, you
: might have noticed the barrel problem.
Please correct me if I am misinformed.
That said, I believe that suppressors only need to be rebuit if they
are a "wiped" design. The modern "wipeless" designs do not need
to be rebuilt, just clean with a good powder solvent. They guy I shoot
with just dunks his in a pail of mineral spirits..
: Second, did the company offer a lifetime warranty? A 3yr one? a 1yr
: one?
I agree with this point.
: Third, they have no control over what you put thru them. While you
: have to keep 'em subsonic, where you trying to push the 230 grainers to
: 1050 fps? Can you PROVE that you didn't?
I do not believe there is a requirement to stay subsonic. I have
read discussions of suppressed supersonic ammo. It hides the muzzle blast
but not the supersonic crack of the bullet. The resoning is that
it is easy to hear the direction (and locate) the shooter
from the muzzle blast, but hearing a supersonic crack it is difficult
to know where it came from.
Yes, I have seen this in person at Knob Creek last year. I watched
a person shooting a bolt .308. I could hear the crack echoing off
the hills, but no muzzle report. If I was not watching I could not tell
where the shot came from.
: Things wear out and we have to replace them all the time.
A barrel that breaks off at the threading is dangerous.
This is not an item that should wear out. Rifling may wear out,
but barrels should not crack. Ever.
This is disturbing from a company with AWC's reputation for quality.
Allan
--
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Allan M. Stewart - NRA life member; Gryphon Shooting Club founding member
aste...@flinet.com
Someday I hope to meet Bill Gates...... so I can knee him in the groin.
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