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Old April 9, 2014, 10:13 PM   #1
Machineguntony
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Full auto and Suppressed is not for Lefties

All my stamps finally came in yesterday and today. It was a happy day.

I immediately went to the range and took all my new children with me.

I've shot full auto and suppressed previously, but never full auto AND suppressed at the same time.

As a lefty myself, shooting full auto and suppressed at the same time sucks. The blowback, gas, and unburnt powder gets right in your face. Eyewear is absolutely a must, or else you will barbecue your eyes. I had to take the suppressors off the guns. Even on my 45 HK CT, which is a handgun, the blowback and powder was getting in my face. The 9mm handgun suppressed wasn't too bad. Shooting suppressed isn't really for lefties.

To prevent getting powder and gas in my face, when shooting my 45, I would have to use a weaver stance to get the gun away from my face. I'm not a fan of the weaver stance. With 9mm handgun, I could use my regular combat stance, where my gun is close to me, and my body is a low and small package (a stance that my old department range master would beat into me literally, as everytime I would rise in my stance, he would smack me in the head, 'low and small makes you hard to kill', he would drill into me).

On the MP5, it isn't so bad. A little sprinkling of unburnt powder will tickle your face. But on the M16, especially with a 9 inch barrel, the blowback was unbearable. After a magazine, I could hear the gas leaving the suppressor with a 'pssssssssss'.

Does anyone have the same experience? Any lefties have this same issue? How do you guys deal with this issue?
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Old April 9, 2014, 10:45 PM   #2
JD0x0
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That's unfortunate to hear. I'm a cross dominant lefty. Means I can shoot both, but generally pulling the trigger with my left hand is slightly more comfortable.

I've always heard that AR's plus suppressors, usually means gas in the face(even for the righties), especially without 'tweaks'. I think certain gas systems are 'better' for suppressors than others. I've always been told that the AR gas system isn't ideal for having a suppressor attached, for the exact reason you describe... Gas in the face.
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Old April 10, 2014, 07:42 AM   #3
Willie Lowman
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You might look into a left handed upper for your AR / M16. There are other mods that make the AR a little more bearable like the gas buster handle. There is a vent that replaces the forward assist that supposedly keeps a bit of gas out of your face. Of course, in my experience the best thing you can do with a AR is put a 20 inch barrel on it.
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Old April 10, 2014, 10:20 AM   #4
Sharkbite
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Wait till you get behind that '60 left handed
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Old April 10, 2014, 03:56 PM   #5
Theohazard
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This might be a good reason to learn to shoot right-handed also. It's always good to learn to shoot with your off-hand, but I know I don't practice it as much as I should. This certainly is a good motivation, though .

But that won't help much with your M16; a lot of the gas comes straight back under the charging handle. Like others have said, there are a lot of ways to minimize that extra gas, but I've never seen a DI setup that could completely eliminate it.

If it continues to really bother you, you might want to look into the new OSS silencers. The have a wacky modular design that supposedly completely eliminates back-pressure. I don't have any personal experience with it myself, but I have a friend who tested one out on a DI AR-15 and he said it was amazing: He said it even seemed to have LESS gas-to-the-face than when shooting unsuppressed.
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Old April 10, 2014, 06:28 PM   #6
TRX
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For many of us, the problem isn't shooting right-handed, it's being able to use the sights without bizarre contortions.

I'm left-eyed like most people are right-handed.
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Old April 25, 2014, 02:12 AM   #7
hbk80rice
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For shooting full auto m16 I find a piston with or without a can is much more enjoyable than DI.
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Old April 25, 2014, 10:21 PM   #8
Elkins45
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I don't have a machine gun, but I'm a lefty who owns an AR in 300 AAC with a can. I feel your pain. I shot 10 rounds and I was afraid my beard was going to catch on fire.
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Old April 26, 2014, 01:52 AM   #9
Theohazard
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Elkins45: If your silenced 300 BO is spitting flame out of the ejection port it's over-gassed: Try an adjustable gas block or just a heavier buffer.
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Old April 28, 2014, 02:49 PM   #10
Elkins45
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^^^ I was being a bit dramatic, but in this particular case I think the burn rate of the powder was the biggest issue. I think a faster powder would cut back on the gas volume quite a bit. I was shooting loads I had developed before I owned the silencer.
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Old April 28, 2014, 03:27 PM   #11
Theohazard
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OK, because I've seen people who literally had flames shooting out of their ejection port after they put a suppressor on their rifle. Considering most rifles are a little over-gassed to begin with, shooting those rifles with a silencer can make it much worse.
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