petingrass
Well-Known Member
I bought my first cans around 2011ish. An AAC M4-2000 and AAC Pilot 2. At the time they were well regarded, with innovative mounting systems and best in class features and baffle designs. Muzzle devices and mounting systems were specific to each manufacturer and sometimes model, locking consumers neatly into their ecosystem.
Fast forward to 2021...AAC is out of business after a buyout. No new parts are available, and repairs or replacements would be impossible. Used parts on the secondary market are selling for substantially more than they did new. Fortunately most of the industry continued to innovate as AAC was slowly grinding to a halt, and had largely settled on a fairly common set of thread pitches for everything from rifle muzzle devices to handgun pistons. Some of the new systems were backwards compatible with the legacy systems, but most were not. Users were faced with a choice. Buy all the parts you might ever need for your legacy suppressor, buy a new suppressor and use the old one as a paperweight, or have the old can retrofittted to accept a new attachment method.
After many years of making do with an expensive paperweight (only had one mount) I finally bit the bullet and had my cans worked on by ECCO Machine. I don't know why I waited so long.
Before: Looking pretty rough even though it was not excessively abused. The ratchet mechanism unique to AAC is an integral part of the can, meaning the only option is to use an AAC muzzle device. Off to ECCO it went.
After: (I didn't take these after pictures right away after getting the can back, so there are a few scuffs on the finish here and there. It was perfect when I got it.)
And back it came with the old ratchet mount lopped off, the industry standard thread pattern affixed, and the can refinished. In the first picture you can see the weld line between the can and the new material added to install the mount. The new can is about the same length and weight as the old one, but feels lighter when installed on a rifle. I think this is mostly due to the reduced weight of the new muzzle device. The collar on the can can be swapped for any of a dozen or more options from various manufacturers. This particular one is made by Griffin Armament.
Fast forward to 2021...AAC is out of business after a buyout. No new parts are available, and repairs or replacements would be impossible. Used parts on the secondary market are selling for substantially more than they did new. Fortunately most of the industry continued to innovate as AAC was slowly grinding to a halt, and had largely settled on a fairly common set of thread pitches for everything from rifle muzzle devices to handgun pistons. Some of the new systems were backwards compatible with the legacy systems, but most were not. Users were faced with a choice. Buy all the parts you might ever need for your legacy suppressor, buy a new suppressor and use the old one as a paperweight, or have the old can retrofittted to accept a new attachment method.
After many years of making do with an expensive paperweight (only had one mount) I finally bit the bullet and had my cans worked on by ECCO Machine. I don't know why I waited so long.
Before: Looking pretty rough even though it was not excessively abused. The ratchet mechanism unique to AAC is an integral part of the can, meaning the only option is to use an AAC muzzle device. Off to ECCO it went.
After: (I didn't take these after pictures right away after getting the can back, so there are a few scuffs on the finish here and there. It was perfect when I got it.)
And back it came with the old ratchet mount lopped off, the industry standard thread pattern affixed, and the can refinished. In the first picture you can see the weld line between the can and the new material added to install the mount. The new can is about the same length and weight as the old one, but feels lighter when installed on a rifle. I think this is mostly due to the reduced weight of the new muzzle device. The collar on the can can be swapped for any of a dozen or more options from various manufacturers. This particular one is made by Griffin Armament.
