Words: Rich Norman

New product from HAO, releasing very, very soon.

I’ve been following the development of this item for some time and it continues to impress.

Replica cans tend to utilise aluminium bodies, right? This product started out in aluminium but because of the authentic processes used to make it, it just didn’t work out. Instead HAO has gone with steel, like the RS.

After sandblasting and laser engraving, it’s Cerakoted and looks great.

Short behind the scenes teaser video:

The story of the product’s development is an interesting one and I spoke to Bismarck (HAO boss man) about it earlier today.

Before that, though, suffice to say that this product is a building block which will help lay the foundations to a major, major receiver set release in 2018.

More on that project, soon.

Over to Bismarck.

In 2015 HAO started to make a replica SF 3P-4P.

I didn’t have an RS suppressor to examine until late 2016. But our 3P-4P was perfect, so I knew I could rely on its as the foundation for a more extensive can project.

Prior to getting hold of an RS sample, we produced a prototype suppressor which was a tracer unit.

We will release the tracer unit at a later date 🙂

Some months later we got the most difficult part of the can done, using our newly purchased turning machine. Again, a prototype – because we still didn’t have an RS unit to derive accurate measurements.

When we were finally able to inspect the RS in August 2017, we first made a “Warden” in aluminium.

As a professional high tech valve manufacturer, we have our own high frequency welding machine. So I decided to make the can in aluminum and weld it together.

So, we industrialised the process and went into full production.

We were going to make these models as FPS reducers.

But I made a mistake. Since aluminium’s melting point is 600 degrees C, and very hard to control, we lost a lot of raw material and would make the can off-axis very easily.

So I went to Plan B.

Make it “JUST LIKE RS.”

Not just a photorealistic replica, but replicate the actual materials and processes.

We used stainless steel 304.

Yes, the whole can is made from pure stainless steel 304.

It has better rust resistance and is easier to weld then 303, but it is very hard to machine.

Welded:

Finally, Cerakote:

Every welded joint will be different, just like the RS. So if you want a smooth one, just grab one from another brand. No one else welds their SF can, aside from SF themselves.

Big thanks to Bismarck for taking the time out to speak to the blog!

And yes – even though the prototypes shown here are FDE, the can will be available in black.

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