Muzzle Brakes vs Flash Hider Mounting Solutions

Overview:

There's a ton of options for mounting suppressors, but most frequently you are faced with a choice between muzzle brakes and flash suppressors. Having a suppressor mounting system that lets you transition quickly from suppressed to unsuppressed (and vice versa) is a big advantage. Rob helps you pick the right mounting solution for your suppressor and rifle in this Suppressor 101 episode. Rob goes beyond recoil reduction and flash signature and dives into various aspects of performance that effects the user as well as those people near by.

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Skip To Video Topic:

00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Recoil Reduction
01:29 - Flash Hiders
03:09 - Muzzle Brakes
04:33 - Night Time Flash Signature

Transcript:

Hey, everybody. Rob Orgel. In this video, we specifically wanted to talk about muzzle devices within our Suppressor 101 series. Now, there's a lot to know about suppressors, particularly when it comes to mounting solutions. And in this video, I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into the things we ought to know about the specific muzzle devices, not just in the suppressor you choose, but also in who he's going to mate with at the end of that rifle. So as I look at muzzle devices, one of the things I look for most is recoil reducing. So if you look at a suppressor manufacturer and say, I'm going to go with a proprietary this or a hub that, if it's proprietary, then within that brand, you have to find a muzzle device you like. If it's a hub system, then you could open the door to all the other different brands that will pair with the hubs. Having said that, I like most recoil reducing devices. This means, should I choose to do a range day without my suppressor, I still get some recoil reduction via the muzzle brake, as opposed to a flash hider. Flash hiders do a good job at reducing the flash signature, but not a good job at reducing recoil. Rob is a big advocate of make the recoil go away if you can. So recoil reduction comes from a good muzzle brake. All righty, so here you can see from this side over, there are muzzle brakes. And then these mounted to each rifle are also muzzle brakes. Now, this serves a couple purposes. Every time I fire, it pushes the blast at the side, pulling my gun forward, therefore reducing recoil. And then you can see on this side, these are more flash hider types. And they're meant to reduce the flash signature. They don't really do much for recoil, but they do reduce flash. Now, the pros and cons of that is that at night, you get a smaller signature if it's just the rifle and no suppressor. During the night with the muzzle brakes, this will create quite a large fireball. One of the things I like looking for in my flash hiders is that they're non-directional. This way, I don't have to time it onto my rifle when I install it. You can see that this one has cuts all around it. This allows me to not necessarily time that muzzle device. Now, certainly you can if you want to, because the BNT should face up. Therefore, the index point for the Surefire style mount will face down. And that will mean the Surefire logo will face you. So you can index that if you want to, but you're not doing it wrong if you don't index it. If you think about a muzzle device, you have to index it so that the ports point to the sides. Kind of like the example you see here and here, the ports point to the side so it pulls forward and doesn't point up and down. This would kick up a lot of dirt should you shoot in the prone position and undermine a little bit of what that muzzle device is supposed to be doing. So there are flash hiders that we would consider bird cage style flash hiders, and that means they're sealed off at the bottom. And when they're sealed off at the bottom, that's just to help you shooting from the prone position. And if you're a prone shooting kind of guy, like a lot of people are in the military, then it's a good idea to have a bird cage style. For most of us, we're on our feet or taking a kneeling and not so much in the prone these days. So we like the slits to go all the way around that muzzle device. Several examples of that are here on the table. If you add the suppressor, you get several more gains with the muzzle devices, particularly the muzzle brakes. Because what it's doing is with the sleeve going over the top of the suppressor, this can serve as additional baffles within your suppressor. And this can protect the first baffle of your suppressor, which is known as the blast baffle. This can also lead to a little bit more carbon lockup, but this way with or without your suppressor, you'll end up with some form of recoil reduction and you get more longevity out of your suppressor if you have a muzzle brake instead of a flash suppressor. And in the end, it comes down to personal preference. As always, you get to pick your adventure. It's just a matter of making informed decisions so that you can get the adventure you want. All right, so now that we've gotten a chance to look at a muzzle brake versus a flash hider, let's compare which one serves best in each role. So first, let's look at timing it. Timing it means as you screw the jar lid onto the pickles, we don't care how the lid ends. When you're looking at certain muzzle devices, you might care how it ends. So you'll have to use little shims in order to create the right amount of space so that you can tighten it with your adhesive and have it face the right direction when firing. Now, this is going to apply to muzzle brakes. In some cases, it will also apply to flash hiders, depending upon if your flash hider is closed off at the bottom or 360 degree of ventilation ports. So when it comes to timing, your muzzle brake will require timing. It is less likely that your flash hider will require timing. As it pertains to night shooting, a muzzle brake is going to create a very large muzzle blast. That's like a fireball going off to the sides. And this is not going to help your nighttime signature. Whereas a flash hider is designed specifically to reduce that flash. So at night, it's a little bit more friendly to you and to the people standing to your left and right. Next is going to be about those people to your left and right. Are they receiving a muzzle blast like that fireball I mentioned before? And that can also be in the form during the day as a concussive wave. So if you look at a muzzle brake, while I like that it pulls my gun forward and reduces recoil, my neighbor to the left and right might be getting muzzle blasted every time I fire, and they might not enjoy that. A flash hider does not have that problem, or at least it's not quite so bad. Now, we touched on it a moment ago, and that is recoil. I'm a big fan of let's get rid of recoil to any degree that I can. And a muzzle brake helps me reduce recoil, or at least felt recoil. A flash hider really doesn't do any good for reducing that recoil. Now, when we add a suppressor to this system, we've got to look at two categories. One, does it protect my blast baffle, meaning that first baffle within the suppressor? And two, is it likely to have a carbon lock on? If you have a muzzle brake, those first couple of ports of your muzzle brake can serve as the new blast baffle, therefore doing damage to your muzzle device and not your suppressor. If you have a flash hider, it's not going to help that first blast baffle. Lastly is carbon lock up. A muzzle brake, again, pushing that blast to the side is likely to push some rearward and get on the shoulder and locking mechanism of your suppressor. So depending upon which mounting system you have, it can create an increased likelihood of carbon lock on. Flash hiders typically don't have this problem, because they're pushing that blast all the way around and forward. So it's less likely to have that carbon lock up. Having said this, you gather that it's my preference to have a muzzle device that reduces recoil and doesn't lock on. This is what's led me to the certain directions I have gone. In the end, it doesn't matter. It's your preference. Just understand what you're signing up for in the purchase of your suppressor and muzzle device and how you pair them. This will reduce the likelihood of the problems at day, problems at night, and carbon lock up. If you like this video and want to see more, please like, comment, subscribe. As always, stay safe, and we'll see you in the comments section.