Most assembled uppers and AR15 build kits come with flash hiders, many of them with A2 flash hiders.
The primary purpose of a flash hider is to reduce the muzzle flash when you fire. This helps prevent temporary blindness, which keeps the sight picture clearer for the operator, and unobstructed.
But, beyond that, flash hiders really don’t do very much. The good news is that unless your barrel has a permanently pinned flash hider, it has threads, which means you can swap the muzzle device.
There are many good reasons to do so, and a really good alternative to a flash hider is a muzzle brake. Here’s why you should make the swap.
Recoil Reduction
The main benefit of an AR15 muzzle brake is recoil reduction, but to better understand this, we need to take a closer look at the principal mechanics of how a muzzle brake works.
A muzzle brake is a muzzle device with special ports. There is more than one type; some have radial ports that vent gasses in a circular configuration around the muzzle, some have ports that open upwards, and some have ports that vent at 45 degree angles so as to split the sight picture.
Normally, when you fire a rifle, the gasses behind the bullet expand around it and direct the force of felt recoil straight back through the rifle and into the operator. This creates maximum recoil with no reduction efforts.
With a muzzle brake, the device changes how gasses are vented at the muzzle which in turn helps to minimize the force of felt recoil.
In other words, regardless of the type of muzzle brake, it will reduce felt recoil, which is a big bonus for smaller-framed shooters, lighter shooters, and anyone else who is recoil sensitive. It can also be a big deal for AR-style rifles that are not chambered in light-kicking cartridges like .223 or 5.56.
Also, an AR15 muzzle brake doesn’t just cut recoil; it can cut recoil by as much as 50% without adversely affecting shot power at all.
Muzzle Flip Mitigation
The other side of this coin is that a good muzzle brake doesn’t just cut recoil; it can also significantly cut back on muzzle flip.
Muzzle flip refers to the phenomenon that occurs when you fire a rifle or handgun and the muzzle of the gun jumps. Typically, the higher the recoil produced, the greater the effect of muzzle flip is.
The good news about mitigating muzzle flip is that the less the sights move when you fire, the more closely they will remain aligned with the intended target, facilitating rapid, confident and accurate follow-up shots.
Therefore a muzzle brake can serve a decided advantage not just in competition, but in defensive engagements as well.
Just Be Aware…
There is one note here for those of you that would replace your flash hider with an AR15 muzzle brake, and it is that a muzzle brake will considerably increase the apparent volume of the firearm when you shoot.
A rifle is loud enough without one, but will be insufferably louder with one. Make sure you never shoot a rifle with a muzzle brake without hearing protection. It’s also a good courtesy to your range mates to let them know if you have a brake installed because it’s even louder next to the rifle than behind it.
Consider a Suppressor
One alternative to an AR15 muzzle brake that will offer some of the benefits (as well as other novel ones) is a suppressor.
Suppressors are NFA items, so it is a little harder to get one, but they offer a number of benefits of their own.
For one, and the main reason to consider a suppressor, is that where a muzzle brake will make the rifle louder, a suppressor will make it quieter. Hence the common name “silencer”.
However, a suppressor will also somewhat reduce recoil (though not as significantly as a muzzle brake) and because it will increase bore pressure, will increase muzzle velocity slightly, adding a little bit of extra firepower.
All in all, suppressors offer many of the potential advantages of muzzle brakes with the added bonus that they will increase muzzle velocity a bit while reducing volume.
Here for an AR15 Muzzle Brake?
If you landed here because you are considering outfitting your rifle with an AR15 muzzle brake, check out our collection of muzzle devices here.
We carry a number of practical muzzle brakes that will effectively reduce recoil with no further action needed from you. We also carry gas system and buffer system components that can be installed to compound the effects of recoil reduction.
Check out our collection and if you have any questions about anything we sell, get in touch with us directly and we will be more than happy to help.