Crush washers or peel washers, when would you use one over the other? Is it personal preference or are some muzzle devices designed for one over the other?
Thanks -Geo
Crush washers are designed to deform and are not/parallel.
Generally used with flash hiders where bore alignment is not critical.
Peel washer and shim washers are flat and should be used whenever bore alignment is critical, such as suppressor mounts and some brakes.
A peel washer is laminated (like plywood) and is peeled down to the thickness needed.
Shim washers are solid, one piece washers made in various precision thicknesses and are generally selected from a set for the thickness needed.
Neither. Use shims.
Not only do crush washers squish unevenly, they are easily over crushed and can get jammed into the muzzle threads making their removal difficult.
Peel washers delaminate from heat, solvents and torque and often come apart during the trail fit of muzzle devices that need to be positioned just so, like the A2
PA shims…
As GH41 noted, I used these to time my last one:
https://precisionarmament.com/product/accu-washer-system/
Worked slick.
Crush washers for everything that doesn’t mount a suppressor. Ideally suited for timing any other muzzle device. Shims are completely unnecessary, and peel washers are just a more convenient version of shims.
As has been stated crush washer are cheap and easy, but may not give you definite concentricity. If you need to be as concentric with the bore as possible then they may not be the best choice. Fit something like an A2 where concentricity is not critical they are perfect.
If you’re mounting a brake on a precision rifle or a suppressor mount shims are the way to go. Quality shims are manufactured to have parallel sides so the degree of concentricity you can achieve will depend more on the quality of barrel. I’ve never used peel washers, but I’d bet how they are laminated (layers or coated on the OD) will have an impact on how well they maintain torque and concentricity.
Wrong! Some of the best brakes have tight bores and the manufacturer’s specify the use of shims. Your incorrect statement suggest one size fits all. Wrong.
No, not wrong. Never seen a crush washer put a good muzzle device off-axis. Maybe you’re just using garbage brakes or barrels with substandard threading.
Maybe you have NO clue WTF you are talking about. Just more evidence that a high post count doesn’t make someone an expert.
Thanks guys. I will use shims. I will be attaching an ALG Single Chamber Brake (SCB) on a 20" AR precision build.
I find crush washers frustrating. If you go past, even a little bit, you can’t just back them off because they won’t hold with the proper torque. You have to use a fresh crush washer, or go all the way around again which ends up pushing the crush washer into the muzzle threads. Just Say No To Crush Washers
If I’m not mistaken that brake ships with a peel washer.
Yeah it does. I picked it up for $10 lightly used with no peel washer, looks new. It’s to hold me over until I have the funds to buy the comp I really want. You never know, I may like it!
And a high post count does not give you a reason to make personal attacks, which you have demonstrated a repeated tendency to do. Read and head your PM’s.
Eff Peel Washers!! Damn I remember those dark times. :shout:
Shims for sure. I’ll only use a crush when it’s a FH that wont easily shim on.
Bolded above, I do the same.
don’t like peels if used with a white light mounted above/behind it, because then the light blindingly reflexs off the silver washer
I do the same.
I’ll default to what the muzzle device manufacturer specifies. If they say no crush washer then I’ll use shims. This isn’t rocket surgery.
I personally like how the Precision Armament washers work though, and since I have some on hand I’ll probably use those again in the future just because I already have them. No way I’d buy them to mount an A2 or some other type of flash hider, unless it was a suppressor host. Muzzle brakes/comps almost always call for shims in the instructions.