Maybe. I bought one kit from him, I loved it, I sent him multiple emails trying to buy another kit and he never responded to any of them.

I don't get it. But I was pretty disappointed.

Muted machine ones look decent.

solventtrapcups: Meh, not impressed really. Not seeing any shape in them to pull and direct the blast away from the bore. Sure they have a cone shape, but the surface the gas charge will hit is flat faced.
I'll pass. Look at the professionally done cans, they have baffles coming off the bore at an angle with the point of the cone pointing against the direction of travel. I seem to recall threads on sdt forum where people tested flat baffles vs angled properly and there was a noticeable difference in sound. There was a reason so many went to the extra effort of forming the plugs.

They are big but you will want D cell for any rifle. C might be ok for smaller pistols, never heard of B-cell. Mine are all D, displacement/volume is your friend to mitigate sound.

I'm trying to get that pfft sound with a 300WM. C cell 8" is probably a winner. Right?

When you talk about baffles coming off at an angle, are you referring to the baffles having funnel shape?

Yes but the funnel needs to be pointing at the muzzle of the barrel with the outside edge getting wider.
like in this picture, bullet travel is left to right.


The solventtraps ones have a flat face, even though the back side was cone shaped. Plus you are affectively loosing half of your can volume as the area between the flat face of baffle and the cone is sealed from the bore. They look pretty but imho a terrible design.

SPACERS - I missed that in your original post. Spacers are for making your blast chamber, that 1st chamber at muzzle of your barrel. It is where your muzzle brake will push into the can, it is there to do just like it sounds, to take that initial blast and spread it out in a larger open area. The bigger the caliber the bigger people recommend the blast chamber be up to a certain point. You can see two different chamber sizes in the picture above. It is all about balance between blast chamber size, number of baffles, etc. I do not shoot big calibers, so my blast chamber it just enough to clear muzzle brake well and then as many baffles as I can get in there.

Totally makes sense now. Thank you.

Tag

I just finished my second Form 1 can - a 1" diameter, 6" long rimfire can made using a kit marketed by Form1Builder.com (I'm not convinced they actually make them...identical cans for much less were selling on Wish). The machining quality was OK; not bad, but not spectacular. The baffles are cone-shaped and stack neatly - MUCH better than the crappy engine freeze plugs that come with some other kits. The stack is also tight with end caps screwed down hand tight (no shifting). I didn't get any baffle strikes on the 200+ test rounds I fired through both a pistol and a 10/22, and it sounds great. The bore is 1/4". I spent much less on this than my other one, and so far I'm pleased with the result. It's still probably too expensive for what it is, but the major advantage was a 25-day wait for approval vs. a year or more on a Form 4.

If you are shopping for a solvent trap kit for a Form 1 can, I highly recommend doing your homework; don't impulse buy. And take your time when drilling...it's really easy to end up with non-concentric holes. It isn't necessary, but I suggest finding a machinist to help guide you (they supply the tools & expertise, you do the actual work to keep it legal).

When you compare the fit, finish, features, and performance of commercial cans vs. solvent trap kits, the higher cost of the commercially-produced cans seems justified - they are superior in every way. They just take longer to get approved.

I've got a form 1 can using parts from Diversified Machine. I saw that Madpick had some trouble contacting him. That stinks. Wasn't my experience. He took a day or two to reply, but he always replied. Finish was good. He makes good parts.

As G4L stated, take your time drilling. I did mine on a drill press, and it took hours to make sure everything was lined up. Next time, I will use a lathe.

There isn't any reason a form 1 can can't function almost as well as a form 4 can. If you have the proper tool (a lathe or a mill) then you can get very precise with your bore holes and clips.

Fun fact, it is commonly recommended that you bore .060" over the largest diameter bullet you intend to shoot, and a 3/8" drill bit is .375". It is suitable, plus some, for a .30-cal can. Go slow, use a pilot hole or two to step it up, especially if you're drilling titanium like I was.

My can otherwise works great, and I haven't even clipped the baffles. ~9" long, seven cones plus a coned endcap, cerakoted it grey. The tube was threaded to accept ASR/Keymo adapters, so I got a threaded Keymo adapter, and all my guns have Keymo brakes/flash hiders on them. I have a Nomad in jail, and another Keymo adapter for it when it gets released.

I cannot agree with that as a blanket statement. The only benefit I see to a commercial can is they are usually lower weight (def an important point). Fit and finish are what you the mfg make them when you are building yourself. Form 1 cost is a fraction of commercial, as is the wait time which you mentioned.

Performance all depends on how carefully you drill the baffles out and what your tolerances on it are. I worked in a machine shop when I made mine, using a lathe to center punch the baffles makes a big difference in finished product and I was able to bore mine a hair smaller than is recommended due to being more precise on hitting center than those using a drill press.

I have tested my form 1 9mm can right next to a 30cal commercial can. Both were used back to back on a 30cal bolt action gun. The only difference to the ear was mine had a slight whistle tone. That would make sense though as mine was bored for 9mm and the 30cal was a smaller bore better suited for the round we were shooting. This was comparing a $200 home build to a commercial can that I think was ~$700 at the time. My can was titanium tube, and endcaps and still under $200 not including stamp. I have thousands of 9mm subsonic rounds thru the can at this point with zero issues, and nothing but giggles from bystanders when I shoot my scorp with it at the range.

True - it's up to the builder to make the fit and finish what it is. But I have seen and held several Form 1 cans, and none of them is as polished as a commercially-made can. They're also all heavier, as you noted. That's not to say there aren't "homemade" cans out there that are every bit as good as commercially-made, but I believe those are the exception rather the rule. Even the SDTA solvent trap kit that I bought had nice machining on the tube and end caps, but some of the edges were a bit sharp, the caps don't have any way to easily grab onto them with a tool to loosen them if they get too tight, there are no O-rings to keep the gas from escaping through the threads, etc. There are little things that most people don't stop to appreciate on the commercially-made cans, but that's what sets them apart, IMO.

An ad for these guys showed up on another site.
https://www.lafoauto.com

Anybody tried them?

What's most important is the finish. After you get your can fixed up, send it to me for Cerakote.

https://www.waguns.org//viewtopic.php?f=35&t=100261&hilit=black+hammer+arms

I understand solvent traps make cleaning your gun a bit quieter without disturbing family members, but by how much?

Two words.

CHI. NA.



just sayin'