#FlashHider

Good evening everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the brand new YHM 338 Bad Larry Suppressor. Last week we jumped in the Delorean, put on our new AR googles, rubbed the crystal ball, or whatever future-predictors do and took some educated guesses at the next 20 years of silencers. This week, with the groundhog giving us a bit of a Spring preview, we get back out on the range to test the flash hiding capabilities of the SureFire RC3 suppressor. After the sun starts to drop behind the trees, I’ll be back with some results.

Place this one in the ‘it’s not new, but it hasn’t received any press’ column. SureFire muzzle devices, especially their muzzle brakes and three-prong or four-prong flash hiders have been industry leaders for many years. The wide adoption of the SureFire SOCOM series of suppressors across the armed forces has driven the continuous refinement of flash and/or muzzle rise reduction (the WarComp family of muzzle devices combines both flash hiding and muzzle brake characteristics). For those who are more minimalist-minded, SureFire has released the SFA2-556 flash hider and SOCOM suppressor mount.

Brownells have released a couple of new flash hiders that are compatible with the Dead Air Silencers Keymount quick suppressor attachment system. The two models are a classic birdcage and three-prong flash hiders merged with the KeyMo interface. These Brownells Keymount flash hiders are compatible with the Dead Air Sandman suppressors, as well as most Keymount compatible suppressors.

SureFire announced the formal launch of their new  SF3P-50BMG flash hider today. This flash hider is explicitly designed for use with M2 .50 caliber machine guns. In addition, there are two versions now available, one for the military and one for the commercial market.

Circle 10 AK and Mrgunsngear teamed up to create a new AK three-prong flash hider called Tri-Tip. It has a rather interesting and unusual design with the lower prong being much longer than the other two. Let’s see why it is designed so and what advantages it provides by watching Mrgunsngear’s review of this muzzle device.

Silencers can do an excellent job of suppressing flash on a host firearm.  They provide a large expansion chamber for gasses that are rapidly expanding behind the projectile.  Not only are they able to suppress the sound, but a vast majority of the muzzle flash as well.

Advanced Armament Corporation has introduced a new shotgun flash hider called Brakeout 2.0 SG12. It is designed for Remington 870, 1100, 11-87, V3 shotguns or any other 12 gauge shotgun that utilizes choke tubes compatible with Rem Choke thread pitch. In the image embedded below, you can see that the flash signature reduction is really impressive compared to the bare muzzle.

When it comes to AR-15 rifles, an often overlooked, but pivotal component to any solid build is an effective muzzle device. Whether you need something to allow for the quick attachment of a silencer, a muzzle device to mitigate recoil or something to curb the flash or dust signature while shooting prone, there are pieces out on the market for everyone. One of the newest ones hitting the market is the BRO MFR ( Black Rain Ordnance Muzzle Flash Regulator) with a Master Key.

Matador Arms has introduced a new muzzle device called Flarestack. This device combines the features of a muzzle brake, muzzle rise compensator and flash hider.

Gun accessory manufacturer Geissele has revealed its first ever production suppressor. The new can, called the “Super Night Owl”, was revealed at the Modern Day Marine 2017 industry demonstration. Soldier Systems Daily broke the story with a teaser post, and a single image:

Nexgen² Defense has designed an interesting muzzle device called MZLMAX. According to the manufacturer, it provides recoil mitigation, muzzle rise compensation and flash hiding – all in one package. It utilizes their AFD (Advanced Flow Dynamics), VFD (Vent Forward Design) technologies and 3D (Delay Diffuse and Direct) gas management principle. Too many abbreviations? Let’s watch the NG2’s video and see what they mean.

Mad Dog Weapon Systems has introduced a new muzzle device which is a combination of a  compensator and a flash hider. It is called Hybrid Muzzle Device (HMD).

Manufacturer Surefire has formally announced a new variant of their successful Warcomp combination flash hider/compensator. The new muzzle device, called the Warcomp 556 CTN, sports a closed six tine “birdcage” style flash hider configuration, versus the original Warcomp’s open three tine configuration. This change is highly reminiscent of the change from the M16’s initial production three tine flash hider to the six tine A1 “birdcage” flash hider, which led to the now familiar four tine closed bottom A2 flash hider.

At the 2017 National Defense Industry Association’s annual Armament Systems Forum in April, representatives of the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) presented a new method for measuring and quantifying gas blowback with suppressed firearms. The testing was conducted in the service of creating a new standard test procedure for gas blowback, for the Army, NATO, and the industry. Importantly, the test procedure involved mounting air inlets in locations corresponding to the shooter’s face when firing the rifle, which gives accurate measurements for what quantity of toxic gases reach the shooter’s face during operation.

Allstar Tactical is based out of Rochester, NY and its owner, Mike Centola, designs and makes everything he sells.