Silencer Saturday #367: What Is Haynes 282 & Why Is Everyone Using It?

Welcome back to Silencer Saturday, sponsored by Yankee Hill Machine, creators of the new Victra-12 shotgun suppressor. Most people are familiar with metals like steel and aluminum, but the world of silencers is moving increasingly towards exotic alloys. This week we are focusing on Haynes 282, the latest wonder material in suppressor manufacturing. We will also look at Stellite and Inconel to see how they stack up to the new kid on the block.

Silencer Saturday @ TFB:

• Silencer Saturday #366: SHOT Show Suppressor Roundup
• Silencer Saturday #365: New Angstadt Arms Suppressors at SHOT 2025
• Silencer Saturday #364: New Design From Contra Cans
• Silencer Saturday #363: YHM Victra 12 Shotgun Suppressor
• Silencer Saturday #362: Liberty Suppressors 10/22 IDF Clone

This article is an overview of a few of the most popular alloys used in silencers. I do not claim to be an engineer or a materials scientist. This article is a consumer guide to these materials rather than a lab report so if you are looking for very detailed technical specs please refer to the published data from the manufacturers rather than my summary.

Inconel

Inconel is an alloy of various materials, but nickel chromium is the main ingredient. It also contains iron and molybdenum, and a smattering of other things like silicon, phosphorus, and titanium. It is extremely strong, and apart from silencers, it shows up in rockets, airplanes, and submarine parts. It has a melting point over 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Inconel comes in multiple grades. Two types that see a lot of suppressor use are 625 and 718. The main material difference between these grades is the added cobalt content in 718, with 625 having more molybdenum. Inconel 718 tends to have better heat tolerance while 625 will be more resistant to environmental factors like seawater corrosion. 625 is used in the core of the SilencerCo Velos LBP, and 718 is found in the CAT WB 718 (hence the name).

Stellite / Cobalt 6

This material is primarily cobalt and chromium, with some other things mixed in like iron, molybdenum, and nickel. Like Inconel 718, using cobalt allows for very high temperatures. It has a melting point of around 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is similar to Inconel 718. Stellite is also used as a lining in belt-fed machine gun barrels to extend their life. Cobalt has many material properties that lend well to silencer use. It is wear resistant and also maintains its properties at high heat eler.

Dead Air uses Cobalt 6 in many of their suppressor models, including the Sierra 5, Wolverine, and the Sandman family. The YHM Fat Cat uses a Cobalt 6 blast baffle while the rest of the silencer is made from 17-4 stainless steel. That helps control costs by limiting the exotic material to the part that is subjected to the harshest heat and blast while using a more common and less expensive material for the rest of the design.

Haynes 282

Finally we come to Haynes 282. It is 57% nickel, 20% chromium, and 10% cobalt, with 3% left over for a smattering of other materials like titanium, aluminum, and boron. It has a melting point of around 2,400 to 2,500 degrees Fahrhenheit. Haynes 282 hit the market in 2005, and was originally designed for high heat, high wear uses like inside gas turbines. It also shows up in aviation turbine (jet) engines because it is specifically made to remain strong while enduring very high heat.

Another use case for Haynes 282 is in concentrating solar power plants. Those the solar farms where a large array of mirrors focuses the sun on a central tower where it is harnessed to create electricity. Think of it like burning ants with a magnifying glass, but much more focused and productive. Haynes 282 is used in those power plants because it has little “creep” despite spending 100,000 hours at 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit at 14,500 PSI. With those kind of specifications it is little surprise that it has found its way into silencer applications.

At least three manufacturers at SHOT Show this year had Haynes 282 silencers. AAC’ s Ranger 5 RBP, Dead Air’s Sandman X, and Radical Firearm’s Cheytac suppressors are all made of Haynes 282 using additive manufacturing. These are not the first silencers to be made using this material (other designs like the Dead Air Lazarus 6 predate them), but it seems to be moving from the edges into the mainstream. Given the extreme durability of this material, particularly when it is hot, it seems like a natural fit for silencer construction.

All of these super alloys come in powder form for additive manufacturing. Though they can be machined in some processes, using lasers to “weld” very fine particles together layer by layer seems to be the dominant manufacturing method in the silencer space. Printing out a silencer is also easier than routing a tool bit to make cuts, particularly for the crazy internal designs that are becoming increasingly common. Haynes 282 can also be welded, so we might see it incorporated in other silencers as a blast baffle coupled with a body made from less expensive steel.

Thanks for joining us for another edition of Silencer Saturday. We’ll see you back here next week.

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