There’s no one close - other than the range officers - and hearing protection is mandatory, making them an excellent choice. It’s why they are prolific in 3-gun competitions where speed and repeatable accuracy is critical. If you want your barrel to stay put with less recoil, they are the perfect choice. Muzzle brakes should be limited to competition or high-recoiling rifles and never used in close proximity to anyone without hearing protection. You get zero recoil mitigation and they are still loud if nearby, but they are the most cost-effective choice and will work for 95 percent of shooters out there. These are well suited to patrol rifles with longer barrels, precision rifles or DMRs. Short barrels - 11 inches or less - benefit little unless the ammunition is designed specifically to mitigate or eliminate flash. Flash is as much (or more) about the powder, atmospheric conditions and how fast you pull the trigger as barrel length, so that factors in even with long barrels. Anything 14.5 inches or longer benefits the most depending on ammunition. What Should I Use? Flash Hidersįlash hiders make for a more pleasant shooting experience than bare muzzles in most cases. With increased demand, these continue to get smaller, lighter and better. NG2 Defenses MZLMAX is one of the best to date at doing all three well, but even it remains pretty oppressive on very short barrels (7.5 to 9 inches). Most major suppressor manufacturers have both a brake and flash hider that do this. Many work as a brake, compensator or flash hider and will accept a specific suppressor. Muzzle devices like the SureFire Warcomp (pictured above) have solid flash suppression with some compensation for muzzle rise while accepting their SOCOM suppressors. They may have great recoil mitigation and less blast at the shooter, or some flash mitigation. Most lean towards one effect or another (recoil, flash, muzzle blast, etc.) with varying effectiveness for the rest. Hybrids are some combination of flash hider, muzzle brake and/or compensator. They are great at what they do, but what they do is not always great depending on application. Most are geared towards magnum rifles or competitive shooting, but they are popular all around, often with zero consideration as to what can be serious effects if ever used without hearing protection. The shooter experiences the least blast effect depending on the design. Shoot in the snow or soft dirt and they spread debris all over you and into the next county. Many ranges and training academies ban them from use. Depending on caliber and proximity it can be both deafening and debilitating. The downside? The muzzle blast is punishing. If all you want is less recoil and barrel movement, they are great. They all but eliminate recoil and muzzle movement on smaller calibers. One of the best on the market is the LANTAC Dragon.Ī must on high recoiling calibers like. They direct blast to the sides and rear to act as a “brake,” stopping the rearward movement of the rifle and lessening felt recoil. Designs range from big slots to complicated machining based on high-tech computer models. Muzzle blast ranges from distracting to punishing. Flash hiders are deafening in confined spaces the shorter the barrel the worse it gets. They do nothing to mitigate recoil, muzzle blast, or barrel movement. The better ones eliminate it on 14.5-inch or longer barrels. Most are more marketing than application. Thick or thin, twisted or straight, simple or complicated, some look like modern art. It prompted numerous designs and improvements using various numbers of prongs, open or closed. They’re about worthless on anything shorter. Flash hiders work OK on the 14.5-inch barrels depending on ammunition. Standard on most ARs, it was designed for a 20-inch barrel. Early flash hiders were mostly prongs that were later closed into what is the “bird cage” we see today. As barrels grew shorter the unburned powder created a rather impressive fireball that could be seen for miles by an enemy - not optimal. Military rifles have been using flash hiders for decades, but the AR made them mainstream. So which muzzle devices best between flash hiders, compensators, muzzle brakes and flame throwers? Let’s discuss.

But with hundreds to choose from, what they accomplish is quite different.

However, none have a greater effect on a rifle’s usability than a muzzle devices. Some accessories are functional and many cosmetic. With thousands of accessories available, consumers can pretty much do anything they need or want to their rifle.

Human muzzle devices