Muzzle brake suggestions

If you don't care about having a brake, or prefer not to have one because you don't want to deal with the blast, then I would say go find a gunsmith with a lathe and just have him put a target crown on. Or buy a barrel with a target crown in the first place.

Free state guys use whatever the F they want and you'll see all of the above.
 
If its already threaded and 16” you can pin and weld a thread protector.
If your looking to get to legal length its probably not much more to buy a 16” target crown barrel
 
and those with 3 cuts on top actually help to prevent muzzle jump. i think i have that on one of uppers.
like it was said - no need to overthink that for 5.56.

I shot a MA compliant upper with one of those brakes, they actually push the rifle DOWN a lot compared to a more traditional side port brake.. def an obnoxious, fireball inducing brake, although not as bad as some others. Basically zero recoil, not that there much to begin with.
 
What brakes are not super obnoxious??? Honestly I just don't like how an AR looks with a bare muzzle/target crown/thread protector.
 
What brakes are not super obnoxious??? Honestly I just don't like how an AR looks with a bare muzzle/target crown/thread protector.

Least obnoxious brakes I've used have been linear compensator style. Pushes gas forward, not back. Provides almost no recoil control, so don't spend a lot on one. Doesn't look like a bare muzzle.

AR-STONER Linear Muzzle Brake 1/2 - 28 Thread AR-15 5.56/223 Matte -- for instance.

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i'm of that school of thought that when you order an upper, a bird cage comes on it. people are inclined to...and no names here...leave them on and just roll with the punch. ;) i'm also thinking the average 5.56 ar style rifle builder goes for the cool factor but on a skinflint budget. my first build, i put a battlecomp 2.0 on the end and all hell broke loose. the poor bastard on the bench beside me was shell shocked with sideways muzzle blast and noise. dust floated down onto to us from the corrugated tin roof covering the firing line. it's the little details like that the company literature don't tell you. i have a few different "devices" besides the battlecomp and birdcages but i'll tell you what my favorite one is...and still continues to be. ready? the stag arms 3g muzzle device. i saw it when it was first introduced on their 3 gun rifle, looked interesting, was sold separately at the skinflint price of under 40 bucks at inception so wham, got one. it did everything stag said. the hardest thing was sighting follow up shots quickly cause the muzzle actually recoils downward so you're sighting coming back up to target, not coming down to it. i know i'm not alone experiencing that phenomena, it's mentioned in some reviews also. but it's not cool looking, it has what i call "breaching points" out front that i don't think serve a purpose. i've always said i'd grind them off one day.

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I have this brake and love it. It is however the loudest 556 brake I've heard to date. Everyone I shoot with hates it. Double muffs needed. People 5 benches away have yelled about it. I still love it.
 
Even on a PCC, brakes can be obnoxious. They can be loud, but I personally feel it's the pressure wave that's the most annoying part if you're shooting next to one. It's just this blast that hits you, even if you're not in immediately line of sight of the brake. This is so much a recognized issue that you see many "what's the least obnoxious muzzle brake" questions on the internet.

The one I landed on for 556 seems to often come up often as a decent compromise between OK effect and moderate blast. VG6 Gamma. Also, this place seems to have them for only $40. I paid $60 for mine. Although, I'm not familiar with this website, so YMMV.


EDITED to say: I got this for compliance purposes. If MA were free, I'd skip brakes all together in favor of a flash hider.

Have you tried the cage for the VG6? I picked up a VG6 + the cage, but I haven't put it on anything yet.

Least obnoxious brakes I've used have been linear compensator style. Pushes gas forward, not back. Provides almost no recoil control, so don't spend a lot on one. Doesn't look like a bare muzzle.

AR-STONER Linear Muzzle Brake 1/2 - 28 Thread AR-15 5.56/223 Matte -- for instance.

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Agreed. I have a similar one on my 14.5".

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What brakes are not super obnoxious??? Honestly I just don't like how an AR looks with a bare muzzle/target crown/thread protector.

Sounds like you may want a compensator.

Basically it boils down to this:
Brake: diverts blast to the side and back, reducing felt recoil. Obnoxious
Comp: diverts blast to the side and up, reducing muzzle rise and very slightly felt recoil. Much less obnoxious
Linear comp: directs blast forward. Does pretty much nothing for felt recoil or muzzle rise. Least obnoxious.

I personally like comps for post-94 builds. Some options here, although people will have varying opinions on whether Massachusetts would call it a flash hider or not.

Safest: BattleComp. The ATF formally declared it not-a-flash-hider back during the federal AWB. Pricey, but I used to have one and it worked well at controlling the muzzle and wasn’t too obnoxious.
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Probably fine: BCM Gunfighter Mod 0/1. probably less muzzle control than the BattleComp, but less chance of driving the muzzle too far down, like the BattleComp can do.
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I think it’s fine, but some disagree: Black River Tactical Covert Comp. It’s a linear comp. It does have a baffle, but they advertise it as reducing flash. But independent testing shows it doesn’t reduce flash beyond some devices that the ATF has classified as comps and not flash-hiders though. Make you own decision here.
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BRT-Covert-Comp-Interior-575x381.jpg


There are some others out too, that I’ll update with later.



What do people typically use on a 5.56 AR in free states? Is it common to have nothing or a flash hider? Suppressor?


Most people run flash hiders, but many do still run comps.

Silencers are becoming very common in many states. And in those cases, people frequently use brakes that include a quick disconnect feature for the silencer. The brake can act as a sacrificial baffle to reduce wear on the silencer baffles.
 
ALL brakes are loud . Its by nature of design. I have my 300WM with a Witt machine clamp on . Works awesome, loud as hell. Most experienced brake guys try to isolate themselves from other shooters on the firing line if possible. When i shoot 600 yds on an open firing line , brake noise is not too bad, but the side blast can be frustrating to your shooting neighbor. As an event RSO, ill send the braked shooters far down the line so as to minimally disturb the other non brake shooters. After a while you do get used to the boom and blast . Last tip only buy a "3 port" brake if your going to shoot prone in the dirt.
 
I am overwhelmed by the choices. Someone on here sent me links to a series of tests measuring the distance the rifle pushed back compared to no break. That was helpful but does not narrow it down much.
Does anyone have suggestions for these rifles? Note I am also concerned about how loud these are since I may be shooting next to others.
5.56 16" barrel looking for a tactical style
300 BO 11" barrel same as above
5.56 20" heavy barrel longer range regular style
Is barrel length a issue?
If not go with a plain target crown , no one to your sides to worry about.
Recoil/muzzle flip. Is this a real concern for you? Are you shooting under timed events that might need a few tenths of second shaved of your time?

If not a plain old crowned barrel will do…..i know its boring and not cool
 
ALL brakes are loud . Its by nature of design. I have my 300WM with a Witt machine clamp on . Works awesome, loud as hell. Most experienced brake guys try to isolate themselves from other shooters on the firing line if possible. When i shoot 600 yds on an open firing line , brake noise is not too bad, but the side blast can be frustrating to your shooting neighbor. As an event RSO, ill send the braked shooters far down the line so as to minimally disturb the other non brake shooters. After a while you do get used to the boom and blast . Last tip only buy a "3 port" brake if your going to shoot prone in the dirt.
Eh you should put them every other spot so you dont have that one guy to the left or right suffering alone,lol

I hate brakes but I dont care if they are next to me unless its spitting shit into my face. , heck I cut my own brake off and recrowned tthe barrel cause it was flipping up my own hat…
 
I'm a fan of linear comps. I have a KVP (Kaw Valley Precision) linear comp on one of my 10.5" rifles and it makes it much more tolerable. A big linear comp on a PCC is amazing at reducing concussion and projecting sound downrange. You can hear target impacts and a major difference in report between sub and supersonic ammo on my Ruger PC9. Not nearly as good as a suppressor but much better than a brake or bare muzzle.
 
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