Good day suppressor lovers and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday, where you catch the pearl and ride the dragon’s wings. Today we will take a look at a few of the most popular suppressor covers/mirage shields and some of their more obvious uses. Next week we hope to bring you more OSS Suppressor metering and testing (the special guest host arrived yesterday) as well as an introduction to something new from Allen Engineering. Yes, I am a tease. Deal with it.

ABOVE: The FN 509 Tactical with the Dead Air Silencers Odessa 9, SureFire x400 Ultra weaponlight and the OpsCore Carbon Bump helmet.

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SILENCER SATURDAY #34: The Heat Of The Moment

First, for all you OG South Park fans…

Thanks to a reader suggestion last week, I thought it would be a good idea to look into suppressor covers and their practical uses. It may seem obvious, but silencer covers are used to to protect the shooter from burns, reduce the amount of localized heat rising off the silencer that can interfere with target acquisition and range estimation, disrupt to break up solid colored silencers with camouflage patterns and also purely for additional aesthetics.

Prevent Burns:

If you are used to suppressed rimfire pinking or casual subsonic pistol shooting, the warmth of your silencers may be a welcome relief in the fall and winter months. But rapid/fully automatic fire, short barrels and most centerfire cartridges can kick off some serious heat – two to three times the temperatures you use to make those flaky raspberry scones you love so much. So even brief incidental contact with skin can leave scarring third degree burns.

Suppressor cover companies use materials like Kevlar, Nomex, fiberglass and silicone to insulate outer layers (and you) from extreme temperatures. Make sure you pick the right cover for your shooting style.

Reduce Mirage:

Although I’m not a precision shooter, I have experienced enough mirage to warrant buying a suppressor cover. But don’t take my word for it: TFB alumnus, expert long range shooter and owner of High Desert Outdoor Research explains how mirage can effect precision shooting:

Suppressor covers play a crucial role in mitigating the mirage generated off of a hot suppressor. I remember the first time I zeroed a suppressed rifle. I fired several rounds and immediately noticed a distortion in my sight picture. Puzzled, my mind raced for a logical explanation as to what I was seeing. Was my parallax set correctly? Was I holding my breath and depriving the muscles in my eyes of oxygen? A migraine? Broken scope? Nope. Just a mirage. A fellow shooter handed me a Mirage Abatement Device from Rifles Only. I installed it over the suppressor and zeroed the rifle. Long range shooting is all about consistency and accounting for a slew of variables. You can’t control the wind, temperature, density altitude, atmospheric pressure and humidity, but you can set up your rifle for success. If you are using a suppressor on a precision rifle, I strongly recommend a suppressor cover. Tom G. – High Desert Outdoor Research

If MOA is important to you, consider picking up a mirage cover.

Enhance Camouflage:

Hanging an 8”-12” tube off the front of your weapon can make it difficult to hide in the bushes (get your mind out of the gutter, sickos). If camouflage is important to your mission – hunting, tactical situations or something even more covert, a patterned heat cover is a great option. Especially since rattle-can camo paint won’t survive more than a few minutes of a silencer that is hot as hades.

Improve aesthetics:

Ok, let’s face it, some of our gear is built to look good as well as be functional. Go ahead, accessorize that suppressed adult toy (ok, that sounds bad). I promise no one will judge you; that is besides everyone who is active on Instagram. Cover that rimfire suppressor that gets as hot as a bad fever. Throw one on a pistol can and a GLOCK 43. Heck, suppressed shotguns can get mirage too!

I’ve included some of the more popular brands of heat covers below. Hopefully you can find something that fits your needs. Have a great weekend and we will catch you back here next week for episode 35 of TFB’s Silencer Saturday.

“It was the heat of the moment, telling me what your heart meant…”

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The cover is a two piece design, an inner fiberglass sleeve rated to 2000 F, and the outer Kevlar / Nomex cover rated to 1000 F. The covers resist the extreme heat generated from suppressors and will enable the operator to transition from rifle to pistol confidently without burning their legs, pants, or other gear. The covers effectively eliminate heat mirage on precision rifle applications and any IR emitted in night operations. The Burn Proof Gear suppressor covers withstand the most rigorous abuse, are Made in the USA, and are lifetime guaranteed.

The Armageddon Gear Suppressor Mirage Cover significantly reduces and delays the effects of suppressor mirage on the rifleman’s ability to identify and engage his target. Highly-secure design stays in place during vigorous movement, yet can be adjusted or removed in seconds. Adjustable cord ensures custom fit and retention. Cover design ensures NO contact areas between nylon shell and hot suppressor. Our original Mirage Cover model is the most proven suppressor cover on the market and is rated for mirage mitigation on bolt-action and semi-automatic precision rifles. The Hi-Temperature model is new for 2017 and is rated for use on carbines with a high rate of fire, up to a suppressor temperature of 800 degrees F. Allow your suppressor to cool to avoid damage beyond 800 degrees F, especially with Titanium suppressors.

Rifles Only is excited about the MAD Suppressor Cover. The MAD is a two part cover which is a bonus. The inner core will take up to 3000 degrees sustained. The outer part is interchangable so that you can change the cover to go with the environment in which you are in…or even whatever mood you are in. The outer cover currently is the weakest part of this cover but it will works flawlessly with a bolt gun. We tested these particular outer covers with semi-autos as well as fully automatic weapons. The inner core held up fine to 5 fully automatic mag dumps but the outer cover will not. In reality, your suppressor is not built to do 5 mag dumps as fast as you can go so we do NOT recommend doing that. The outer layer will melt after 3 mag dumps on a fully automatic weapon.  The MAD is currently available in 5″, 6″, 7, 7.5″, 8″, 8.5″, 9″ and 10″.  These covers will fit suppressors from 1.3″ up to 1.75″ in diameter.  Available colors are Multicam, Kryptec Highland, and Coyote Brown, OD Green, Black, and Atacs.  

Silencers can get dangerously hot fast. More than one of us has left skin on a hot silencer and has the scars to show for it. Precision shooters will experience rapid onset of severe mirage. Transition drills will burn your legs. Silencer heat glows brightly in IR viewers. Hot silencers can’t be removed, even with expensive “quick detach” mounts. Bag-type Nomex covers will keep you and your gear from being burned, but they will also slip and they hold in the heat even longer than if you had no cover. Our covers provide simple and professional solutions to all of these problems. Protect yourself, your silencers and the rest of your gear with these covers.

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Special Thanks to MAC Tactical