My buddy bought his first AR the other day. it was a post ban bushy m4.  When we took it to the range it was twice as loud as mine. i am asuming it is from the the mini y comp. It sucked because we stoped at the range on the way back from the gun shop and we didn't expect it to be that loud so neither of us had ear protecdtion my ears were ringing for 2 hours and i didn't even shoot it and he only shot about 10 rounds.

[ROFL]
Sorry for laughing, but looks like you found out the hard way.  I have a mini y-comp on my Bushy too and that damn thing is extra-loud, but it does work.  You should have stopped shooting immediately after the first shot and bought some earplugs.  Well now you know how loud it is.  [:D]

Never shoot any thing with out ear protection. I don't care what it is, you are doing damage to yourself. I can not hear a lot of things now because I didn't think it would hurt anything. Unless you just have to keep it, muzzle brakes are loud on you and everyone around you.

The range you shoot at doesnt have eye and ear protection available to you?

Jeez, I wouldn't shoot any AR without hearing protection.

Pardon my extremism.... but you are an IDIOT for shooting a rifle with a muzzle brake without any protection.

I also have a mini y-comp and was really suprised not by the noise but by the smoke that blew back into my face. It was so bad that it was coming from the handguard vents. I thought I had a major gas tube leak! If you notice the ports on the mini y are angled back and thats where the smoke travels. At an indoor range with poor ventilation, it just becomes to umbearable. Bushmaster is in the process of exchanging my mini y-comp barrel for an AK-47 brake barrel. Even the tech guy that I spoke to at Bushmaster thinks the y-comp sucks and was understanding enough to exchange barrels outright no questions asked. Bushmaster's y-comp sucks but their service is A-1.

Jim I also have the mini y-comp which came standard on my M4A3 upper.  Do you thing they will switch mine out also?

I have the Mini-Y, and it's fine for me.  Sure, it's LOUD AS HELL, but that's kind of cool in an annoying kind of way.  Sure, I'm going to trade out my Mini-Y with one of Kurt's FFS's in the near future, but for now, the Mini-Y is fine.  It actually does its job, which is to reduce the nearly non-existent recoil as well as the muzzle-rise after firing.  Is it loud?  For me, it's the loudest weapon I own.  However, it does do its job, and it's a functional weapon for me with it on there.

Just my two cents...

I am interested in this Switch-A-Roo thing. I sure would like to get rid of the mini Y on my M4. Who do I contact? Or if Bushmaster won't exchange barrels can the Y comp be removed and a fake brake be put on?

I at first asked if the brake could be removed but was told it would destroy the barrel. My advice is to contact the tech dept. at Bushamster and explain your experience and dissatisfaction with the y-comp. They will probably offer a barrel exchange for a small restocking fee. In my case though, I had known the tech guy before due to a mistake by Bushmaster of sending me the same part accidentally twice. In appreciation for it's return, the tech guy gave me a coffee mug and hat. A few days later I decided to phone Bushmaster about removing the y and was told that they offered an exchange on a barrel that had less than 100 rounds fired through. Well I was transfered to the same tech guy and we spoke for about fifteen minutes. He actually seemed genuinely interested about it and even asked how other people reacted to the y when fired. Anyway he went ahead and gave me a new barrel outright. I even sent it in the same box as the part that was mistakingly sent to me.

If your post-ban y-comp was installed by bushmaster like mine was, just push out the roll pin and twist it off.  They just put it on with a little loctite.  Of course you will have the drilled rollpin notch under the comp but a fake FH will cover it.

I have one on my M4.  Yep, loud as hell.  At your hip, it throws a concussion back at you that takes a bit getting use to.  On the otherhand, it does about the best job of braking I've seen so I guess I will put up with the other issues and make sure to wear plugs.

LOUD?! You guys don't know what loud is until you shoot a ported Marlin 45/70 Guide Gun.[:D]

I'm glad somebody mentioned this.  Like some of you I don't like the mini-y, I was getting a lot of blowback and I figured it was just something I'd have to put up with. Now that I hear Bushmaster might be willing to do a retro-fit, I might look into it.

that sounds like a good deal ill have to tell my buddy about this.  He hasn't fired 100 round through it yet so maybe he can get a new barrel.  Bushmaster might be kind of pissed though if everyone keeps calling them and asking to give them a new barrel but oh well

Oh G*D, the mini-Y thing again!  I wish they would just attach a warning that says "KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF WHINERS" and get it over with.  If you go to the "designated smoking area" of any building and complain about the smoke, you deserve what you get.  If you complain to me about the noise my gun makes at a shooting range, well...enough said.

DILBERT_556