In light of the new political landscape, I went on a buying spree to set up my 300 AR pistol and my wife's 16" 5.56 AR exactly how we envisioned them before parts get even more scarce.

My wife is very recoil sensitive and she likes to carefully take her time to set up her shot and focus on precision.

I bought her a Lantac Dragon based on the reviews that suggest it will help with her recoil sensitivity (she hates muzzle rise) and also aid in keeping her on target very nicely. I have no doubt it'll do that job well.

However she also doesn't want to be the annoying person at the range that everybody hates.

She's shooting 5.56 out of a 16" barrel, and the range is a covered outdoor range that we only go to on weekdays when it's a bit quieter. Haven't been in a while but iirc there's a mesh between lanes.

I think the anxiety of annoying other people or having someone talk to her and make her feel like she's doing something wrong is worse than her recoil anxiety LOL.

One review I read suggested that it's not bad at all. That normally when people show up to his classes with poorly designed brakes that the shooters are shunned and relegated to the outer edges, but that the Lantac Dragon doesn't instill that reaction at all.

I realize I can always remove it and put the A2 back on it, but she's a new shooter so I want only the best experiences for her so she'll actually want to go to the range and continue encouraging all this parts buying we are doing LOL.

Thoughts?

It’s not as bad as some of the gamer brakes out there (Miculek!!!), but on a covered range, it’ll get your attention.

Is recoil from a 16” 5.56 really a thing?  

I’d be tempted to let her try with just a flash hider first, or maybe look into a linear brake the deflects the blast forward rather than to the side.

I like my Dragon.

The guy next to me?  Meh. I don’t get ‘complaints’, but it gets noticed.

FYI, mine lives on a rifle I built for 3-gun, not for shooting from a bench.

Get a can.. In fact, buy two for a his and hers.

Frankly, 223 has shit for recoil. What she'll 'feel' and be sensitive to is the blast from that damn brake.

If you want to make her comfortable with it, nothing beats a suppressor. IMO, there aren't many things more welcoming to a new shooter than a suppressed 223. Otherwise, I'd go with the birdcage.

Edit: fuck that is an expensive MD. You could have put that towards the aforementioned can. A FC A2 with Keymo is like $100.

Midlength gas system with h2 buffer will do more for felt recoil than a compensator.

A Vortex Flash Hider will also reduce felt concussion imo.

Thanks all! We are headed to the range mid Feb with the A2 flash hider on it, and will throw the Lantac on it for the next trip out so she can see the difference. But she's learning towards really wanting it on there so if that 3/10 level of annoying holds up then we're good ;-) I'll be in the lane next to her anyway so that's one less neighbor to worry about if anything lol.

...

I shot a class with a woman that had one on her AR.  She was on my right and a guy was shooting a 308 Tavor ejecting directly into my neck.  Indoors, they were both equally bad.  I'm not one to complain about noise, but I needed a nap after 8 hours of those two.