Taxed from another site...figured it might be handy. These are pretty high tolerance rods (+/- .0005) so I'd think they would be pretty good to use at a fraction of the cost.
These drill rods ship from McMaster-Carr as roughly saw cut lengths, so they'll typically have sharp edges on the ends that you'll want to chamfer down to prevent damage to bores. The three foot lengths aren't exactly practical to use, but you can certainly cut each bar in half or maybe even thirds - consider the length of your suppressors and how much alignment rod would be in the gun's bore. The O1 tool steel these rods are made of is some pretty tough stuff, literally the kind of steel they make drill bits out of - be patient and careful when cutting down or chamfering the rods, as bending them will render them useless. They're not hardended and shouldn't tear up your tools, but tool steels can be pretty tough in almost any condition.
To check straightness of your alignment tools, you can roll them on a surface plate (or in a pinch, a glass-topped table) and look for any "eccentricity" in the rods sort of "flopping" or completely resisting rolling.
With a suppressor installed on the gun, you'll want to gently feed the appropriate rod through the suppressor and into the bore of the gun - don't force anything, as you could risk damage to the crown or bore of the barrel. Leaving just a tiny bit of the alignment rod sticking out the end of the suppressor, you'll want to look out how close the rod passes to the bore in the end cap or end of the suppressor. Ideally, the end of the rod should be centered in exit bore of the suppressor. If the rod contacts the end of the suppressor or completely refuses to be inserted, you may want to seek a professional evaluation of the suppressor-to-bore alignment.
DIY Suppressor Alignment Redux
For every option below, I will be including a McMaster-Carr part number for easy purchase. Keep in mind you'll see a minimum $7-8 for shipping, so you may want to grab all sizes you need or may eventually need in one go to dilute the shipping costs. So here we go!- .2031" - P/N 8893K187 - Good general purpose rod for 22 caliber suppressor alignment - should work well for distinctly undersized match .22LR bores (think CZ452/455 at .210-.212" bore diameter), but otherwise may be a slightly loose fit;
- .212" - P/N 8893K191 - Better fit for many standard 22 caliber bores (.22LR at .217" bore diameter, .223/5.56 at .219" bore diameter, etc.)
- .250" - P/N 8893k204 - Good fit for 6.5mm Creedmoor/Grendel bores (.256" bore diameter);
- .295" - P/N 8893K217 - Good fit for 7.62x39, .308, 300BLK and most Western 30 caliber bores (.300" bore diameter)
- .339" - P/N 8893K229 - Good fit for 9mm (.346" bore diameter)
- .4219" - P/N 8893K252 - Slightly looser fit for .45 ACP (.442" bore diameter). Stepping up to a .4375" rod (P/N 8893K254) may generally work, but could be too tight for rare cases.
These drill rods ship from McMaster-Carr as roughly saw cut lengths, so they'll typically have sharp edges on the ends that you'll want to chamfer down to prevent damage to bores. The three foot lengths aren't exactly practical to use, but you can certainly cut each bar in half or maybe even thirds - consider the length of your suppressors and how much alignment rod would be in the gun's bore. The O1 tool steel these rods are made of is some pretty tough stuff, literally the kind of steel they make drill bits out of - be patient and careful when cutting down or chamfering the rods, as bending them will render them useless. They're not hardended and shouldn't tear up your tools, but tool steels can be pretty tough in almost any condition.
To check straightness of your alignment tools, you can roll them on a surface plate (or in a pinch, a glass-topped table) and look for any "eccentricity" in the rods sort of "flopping" or completely resisting rolling.
With a suppressor installed on the gun, you'll want to gently feed the appropriate rod through the suppressor and into the bore of the gun - don't force anything, as you could risk damage to the crown or bore of the barrel. Leaving just a tiny bit of the alignment rod sticking out the end of the suppressor, you'll want to look out how close the rod passes to the bore in the end cap or end of the suppressor. Ideally, the end of the rod should be centered in exit bore of the suppressor. If the rod contacts the end of the suppressor or completely refuses to be inserted, you may want to seek a professional evaluation of the suppressor-to-bore alignment.