Surefire flash suppressor & sound suppressor.

[Coolhandluke]

I am new to the AR market, I have shot every variant of the M16 (A1, A2, A3, and A4) and what I believe to be every variant of the M4. I was a knuckle dragging grunt so I never did my own advanced maintenance on my rifle, just the many hours cleaning and functions testing. My question is if most off the shelf AR-15's have a removable muzzle brake/flash suppressor. I have been very interested in Surefire's line of flash/sound suppressors and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them or it is even worth it to purchase either. Since I never did any of the armorer work I don't know if AR's fitted with a 16" barrel even have removable muzzle brakes, every time I have seen one it looked pretty permanent to me. The rifle I am most interested in purchasing at this moment is the Bushmaster MOE Midlength .223/5.56 rifle that is on their home page, I was unable to find anything regarding a removable muzzle brake. Thanks for any advice ahead of time.

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[Garg]

Most (not all) ar units with a 16" barrel or longer have a removable flash/brake. If the unit has a 14" or less barrel, (unless it's a pistol, or an atf stamped SBR) would have a fixed non-removable flash/brake. There are flash suppressors that will acomidate a sound suppressor without removing it. There are also quick dis connect sound suppressors out there.

IMO, sound suppressors on an ar is a waste of money. The rounds are supersonic and the suppressors will make it quieter, but not really by a huge amount. You will still be making a lot of noise. Subsonic ammo is really better for sound suppression.

 

[civilian75]

I am not an ubber expert but my understanding is pretty much all A/R-15 5.56 NATO/223REM chambered barrels mfg after the infamous AWB sunset (2006, R.I.P.), has 1/2"-28tpi threading. If the ad reads "post-ban", stay away from it. Right after AWB sunset, it was common to see "pre-ba" and "post-ban" ads. But today, it is pretty safe to assume that if it does not say "post-ban", it has a threaded barrel. Bottom line, you should be safe with a Bushmaster MOE.

 

[civilian75]

IMO, sound suppressors on an ar is a waste of money. The rounds are supersonic and the suppressors will make it quieter, but not really by a huge amount. You will still be making a lot of noise. Subsonic ammo is really better for sound suppression.

Yes, it is still pretty loud, but you can shoot them w/o hearing protection pretty safely, as long as it is in the open. I'd advise you "test drive" one, if at all possible.

C. H. Luke,
There is another drawback about suppressing 5.56 NATO AR-15: the unpleasant face gas blasting. Suppressor increases back pressure, the gas that cannot escape thru the muzzle gets released at the upper receiver thru the gas tube. This is a drawback from gas impingement system. Two work around are: gas piston conversion (don't think it's worth it), or, a Noveske Switchblock, or similar. I consider the latter a better solution because it will also address the excessive gassing inherent when suppressing a barrel with a gas port diameter tuned for un-suppressed fire.

Read move about the Switchblock here:http://noveskerifleworks.com/switchblock/

 

[Coolhandluke]

Would a piston system erase this problem?

 

[Nwcid]

I have not noticed any gassing problems with any of mine, but I do use a .30 cal can because .223 cans for the average guy just dont make sense. With a .30 cal can I can use it on many different guns, pay one tax stamp and size and weight are very close.

Love my silencers and wish I could afford to have them on all my guns.

While Surefire makes some great stuff there are better cans for less money on the market. You might spend some time doing some serious research on silencers before you decide to buy. There are a lot of costs involved that you can not make you money back on if you are not happy with your initial purchase.

 

[TapRackNGo]

I have a Surefire MINI in the process right now. I like it so far... I have a few others including a 308 can I can use on multi calibers. If I had to do it again I would probably just buy the dedicated can for weight savings. As for better quality cans for the money, I haven't seen one.