If your main use of an AR is for range work. Why are flash hiders used?
I understand comps and such, but for HD on a 16" or just normal range work why not just put a thread protector on like you see on pistols?
Are you serious? Because that’s how the weapon was designed. Many people consider the range work to be training for the real thing i.e. using the carbine for self defense. The reasons for wanting a flash hider on a defensive gun are pretty straightforward. Muzzle flash can blind the shooter especially when shooting in the dark and give the shooter’s position away. Not to mention an A2 flash hider is likely cheaper, like $5, than any muzzle protector would be. Why, barring some retarded state laws or wanting to use a comp, why would anyone not use a flash hider.
because an A2 flash hider is cheaper than a thread protector, and protects the threads just as well.
my question would be: why would anyone use a thread protector (unless a flash hider is prohibited in certain states) when a flash hider does the same at 1/2 or 1/3 the price?
edited to add: what mkmckinley said above.
youre low light vision will be destroyed when shooting without a flash hider in low light/night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KhlQYU4TIE
imagine what happens to your vision at night when I blink a flashlight at your eyes, same thing
Ok, thanks guys…
… yes I was serious
… I thought flash hider meant hide flash from the receiving end. I didn’t think about less flash from the shooter side.
… cost was not a concern,… I just read so many threads about 16" vs 14.5" and for HD or target use and thought why not just take the flash hider off.
I get it now. Thanks for the replies.
ETA: I guess this relates to another question I have had. Why do FH’s need to be “timed”. The answer being to be sure flash is directed away from shooters field of view??
Well, depending on the length of the barrel, you sometimes NEED some type of muzzle device anyway due to NFA laws. In some areas flash hiders are specifically prohibited for some reason, so people will pin on a muzzle brake/comp to make up the extra length required to be a legal 16" barrel. For target/range use you are fine running a regular bull barrel as long as it is at least 16".
My understanding is that flash hiders are pretty much only for the benefit of the shooter. I read that in some military mag somewhere, and it fits with what I’ve seen during night shoots. When standing to the side, I could see the other shooters just fine.
Timing a flash hider such as the A2 puts the solid side down to keep from raising dust/dirt when shooting prone (supposedly, that was the problem with the A1 flash hider, which vents 360 degrees). I’ve heard the vents that point up add some recoil assistance, though I’ve never noticed any. Maybe it’s there but small.
Lately, I put a Vietnam-era 3-prong on my self-build just for looks. I timed it to have the prongs at 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00. I was quite surprised to see it hid the flash better than the A2 on my Colt, which gives a slight semi-circle of flash.
No flash hider can completely hide the flash on the receiving end. Not even a silencer can do this.
OP, If you are thinking of a pure target AR then there is no purpose to the flash hider and most CMP service match rifles use a target crown barrel instead of a flash hider. This is purely for reasons of accuracy. Take the manufacturer Les Baer for example their service match (Target AR) is guaranteed to shoot 1/2" MOA and they don’t use a flash hider.
LesBaer Match Rifle
Colt MT 6700
Plus the added bonus of getting a rise out of liberal in-laws…
Ok, thanks again.
I guess I was out of whack on that timing thing any way you look it. Forgot about kicking up dust.
I’m trying to finalize my decision on an upper and realized I really didn’t know much about flash hiders so had no idea which one to pick if any at all.
The reason you see bare barrels on target rifles was from 1994 to 2004 we had the federal AWB. If you didn’t have a pre ban rifle, you couldn’t have a flash hider, and flash hiders were required under the CMP rules for service rifle. The CMP modified their rules to allow ‘ban’ rifles without flash hiders to be used in matches, and most shooters decided to leave the flash hiders off when the ban expired because why pay for something that’s not necessary.
I will smile to these.
Then why are a lot of target only ARs still sold without a flash hider and have a target crowned barrel instead? The LesBaer and Colt rifles that I posted above are both current models that I pulled right from the manufacturers web site.
That dust thing is complete horse shit. I have a video of a 14.5 with an A2 flash hider just kicking it up like crazy.
Thanks, yet again to everyone.
So what exactly does “timing” a FH do? Is that just personal preference, aesthetic, or maybe specific per FH design?
It gets the flash hider right side up on the barrel. Any brake or Flash hider that has ports/chambers/slots that need to be up or on the sides requires timing.
The A2 Flash hider has a solid bottom. Thus, you want the slots to be oriented up, not down.
It may be true that the A2 still kicks up dust, but that does not mean the original “intent” wasn’t there. Think back over the history of the military (and especially the M-16), and you’ll see a lot of times when the “intent” did not bring about real world results. Perhaps the A2 dusts less than the A1, which helps but does not eliminate the problem. I don’t know because I haven’t side-by-side tested for that.
The military switched from the 3-prong to the A1 to the A2 for a reason (or actually several reasons). Otherwise, they would have stopped with the 3-prong or at least gone no further than the A1 birdcage. The only other reason I’ve heard for the A2’s solid bottom is to produce some sort of recoil control. If that’s the main reason, my experience in actual side-by-side testing is that there’s no discernible recoil control difference. If the effect is there, it seems minimal at best (at least for me). Perhaps again we have a case where the “intent” did not bring about real world results?
The A2 has a solid bottom for a reason. It must be timed, whereas the A1 does not. Timing is an extra bit of attention for the A2 that the A1 does not need. I doubt the A2 was chosen simply to make the manufacturing process take a little bit more time. If the intent of the A2’s solid bottom is not to produce some sort of recoil control or to lessen dust kick-up, I’m curious to learn what the intent was, because at this point I certainly don’t know it.
Regardless, for the OP, the A2 is supposed to be timed with the solid section at 6:00. If the solid bottom doesn’t add recoil control or lessen dust kick-up, it’s simply a matter of style.
Thanks, so it’s basically a non-issue with symmetrical FH’s.
I would think so. I know some people have chosen A1 birdcages for that reason. I haven’t heard anything about any other symmetrical FHs, but the same logic should apply.