did the socom come with a muzzle brake because it was made during the pan or does the short barrel require a brake not a flash hider.can a hider be installed and does anybody make one.I would rather have a little more recoil than the noise the brake produces.
edit for spelling

With some work you should be able to install a flash suppressor. The problem is the front sight is mounted on the muzzle break of the SOCOM and the gas piston plug goes through this piece. If you came up with an optional front site or went with optics only you might be able to use a spacer\bushing to replace the site\break unit. At that point you just get a FS that has the same thread as the end of the SOCOM barrel.
I've been thinking about this a bit myself while going over the idea of installing a sound suppressor.
Keep in mind I'm no expert and there may be something I'm overlooking. If you'd like I'll post some pics of what I'm talking about when I get home later.

I spoke to Smith Enterprises about this today.  According to them, the only way to change the comp is to change the barrel.  SA threaded it in such a way that nothing else will thread on.  Smith ENT will install a new barrel in 18" with vortex for $275 barrel, $75 install.  The actual length only winds up being about an inch over the SOCOM 16" though.   Turn around said to be about a month. Something to think about I guess.  I think I want to fire the thing though before I decide to put more $$ into it.

Nothing against Smith ENT but it seems to me I could have someone thread a FS\SS\MB to work with the SOCOM threading pretty easily. Not to mention a tad cheaper.
Of course going with the Smith option would leave your stock bits for later use.

C_F
I thought the same thing as you but didn't want to argue about it since I haven't even taken the comp off to see why it couldn't be done.
pjc

Quoted: C_F I thought the same thing as you but didn't want to argue about it since I haven't even taken the comp off to see why it couldn't be done. pjc

Probably a wise choice. There could be some odd bit that makes their statement true and, speaking for myself at least, not being a gunsmith..., well , you know. Foot in mouth time.

Bill at Smith ENT is the guy I spoke with and he seemed to know the intimate details.  I would have liked to ask him more but I didn't want it to sound like I didn't believe him.

Here's the pic with the sight\muzzle break and the gas plug removed. Now it just doesn't seem that hard to come up with something for a FS. Anybody got thoughts on this?

http://www.sspenguins.org/cannon/SOCOM_MB.jpg

From the pic I would tend to agree.  Check out smith ent website because they have a ghost ring site that looks like an HK site.  It slips over barrel and gas system and gas plug and new hider hold it in place.  The only thing to do I think is get barrel rethreaded and select a hider.  Can you measure the thread length on the barrel for the sake of knowing how much real estate were talking about?

Here is the deal.  It was mentioned previously that a spacer could be used to fill in space where gas block should be (where gas plug inserts), problem is there isn't room on barrel threads to install the top prtion of gas block and a flashhider.  If a spacer was used on gas system that wasn't also connected to barrel there would be risk of force of gas system blowing the gas plug out.  

C_F

Thanks for the pic. I was getting lost there for a minute.

Quoted: If a spacer was used on gas system that wasn't also connected to barrel there would be risk of force of gas system blowing the gas plug out.

Ahh, this is the tech I wanted. A reason it couldn't/shouldn't be done. Or at least something to take into consideration when forging ahead. Thank you very much.
But:
I wonder if you couldn't use a thinner piece between the two? Something like a thick figure-8 washer. Thin enough to allow a good grip on the barrel threads for the FS but thick enough to act as bracing for the gas system.

**Pause**

Hmm, after looking at a few pics of standard M1A rifles and mine I better understand the support for the gas system. I wasn't aware the standards have, what appears to be, the threading on the barrel right by the gas system like the SOCOM just for that little gas cylinder lock. Small detail but one I wasn't aware of but now am. Pretty stupid since I had a standard M1A in my hands over the weekend and didn't even look.

Seems I'll have to think harder on the "how-to" part. Perhaps a similar Springfield design but use a FS instead of a MB? And perhaps I should buy a regular M1A for comparisoon purposes?