I have been told by some credible and none credible sources that the true CAR flash hider is considered a sound suppresor because it contained internal baffles. Is this true? A SPEC OPS person at a gun show sold me a 4.5 inch flash hider that was as "indentical" to real thing as he has ever seen, with exception to internal baffles. This person showed me pics of him in Vietnam with his "commando" m-16 with the 4.5 inch CAR flash hider.
I was wanting to put this on my SBR because legally it would be a 15 inch barrel.

Have any of you ever heard of that flash hider?

That is correct.  The XM177 (CAR15) project revealed an enormous amount of muzzle blast from the shorter barrels, so a 4.5" flash hider/suppressor was utilized.  It did contain internal baffles to help cope w/ the noise.

Thank you spider for your response,

Woould anybody hear have a pic of one?

Now before you get the idea this is a "real" sound suppressor, all the internal baffles did was reduce the sound to that approximating an unsuppressed 20" barrel. Or so I've gathered as I have no direct experience with them.

Kinda' makes you wonder why they bothered to restrict them, doesn't it?

F'n beauracrats

IIRC, the XM177 had the muzzle device fitted to, of course, deal with flash but it was designed with internal baffles to produce back pressure for proper function of the carbine.

for the civilian market, the ATF determined that the ~2db sound suppression produced by the device made it fall into the category of Sound Suppressor, therefore a restricted device.

others will know more on this subject.

Here ya go:



ColtShorty

GOA KABA COA JPFO SAF NRA

"I won't be wronged,  I won't be insulted
and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do
these things to other people and I require
the same from them."

This guy did me right then, My flash hider is Identical right down to the two piece design. Excellent!

Thanks guys!