Anyone who has wondered if there is a practical use for a flash hider, see the pic below. This was at dusk, out of a Bushmaster 16" post ban.


this was quite a flash. It was Black Hills ammo. There was NO flash seen from a Colt 16" with an A2 flashider on it.  

Same as my experience with preban and postban Colt 16" carbines.

The preban with the flash suppressor is much more pleasant to shoot, IMHO.  Without the muzzle blast, the preban allows me to concentrate on the target and I'm not distracted by the orange basketballs of flame.

I've never shot genuine M193 out of my postban.  I'll have to give that a shot and see if is better (flash retardent) or worse (hotter ammo).

also in a night time combat situation it would reduce the enemies ability to see your postion.

position

Corey, Yeah I was wondering how the USGI ammo would do. Any one tried it either the 55 or 62 Green tip stuff? The flash was even brighter when it got completely dark but we couldn't get the camera to focus as the flash would throw off the night-vision focus system in the camera.

Yes the work. They are a neccesary must have. Your fireball should be self explanatory. Muzzle brakes suck unless your a paper puncher. There is nothing I hate more than assaulting an esconded dryer and being 2 feet away from me on both side guys with AK brakes. Get 7 of us in a line and G@d damn, muzzle blast is , I dont know, disfiguring.
GG

I fired a Ruger Mini-14, and it was a sight to behold.  Huge fireball & lots of report.  The flah suppressor should cut down on both. I forget what ammo as it has a been awhile since I fired the Mini.

This weekend, I was fortunate to be part of an impromptu flashhider experiment.  We were fortunate that 4 of us showed up for a shoot in the dark all armed with AR-15's.  We also had 3 different types of FH's (GI, Vortex and Phantom) and a post-ban.  We also had 4 different types of ammo, Q3131A, PMC, American Eagle and Hornady TAP(sp?).

We did a side-by-side comparison.  There were some differences between the FH's depending on ammunition.  IMO, the Vortex slightly beat out the Phantom which slightly beat out the GI A2.  Hornady TAP beat out the Q3131A, PMC and American Eagle for lowest flash.

As far as the post-ban goes (Bushmaster 16" dissipator), the owner first fired Federal American Eagle 55 gr.  Actually the flash was not bad at all.  You could see it but it was a dull red.  Q3131A was a little worse.  By far the biggest flash was with PMC 55 gr.  It was like a friggin' flashbulb going off!  

Too much fun.  

Regards,
SOL

Quoted: also in a night time combat situation it would reduce the enemies ability to see your postion.

I really don't think that makes too much of a difference.  With or wihtout a flash supressor, it is pretty easy to see where fire is coming from in the dark.  Granted, my experience has been more with 7.62mm, so the corresponding muzzle flash from a 5.56mm may be a lot less (feel free to correct me, anyone).

But, if you are talking about a unit of ANY size, it's not hard to pinpoint a position once the shooting starts.  For a lone soldier/sniper, it MAY make a difference, but in my experience, most dedicated sniper rifles do not have a flash supressor (I could be wrong).