Howdy, I'm probably adding an RC2 mini to the stable later this year. My GP is a 14.5 with a surefire 3 prong war comp. Looking at adding a muzzle device for my "SPR" which currently wears an A2. I would run the RC2 mini on either of those rifles.

Surefire seems to make several devices that all work with their suppressors. I don't want a dedicated brake, I want a flash hider. Anyone out there have a preference of the 3 prong Flash hider vs the 3 prong Warcomp vs the A2 style? How about experience with Labyrinth seals as well?

Thanks,

I have the standard Surefire RC2 and used to have the SFCT-556 closed tine flash hiders on all my rifles - ranging from a 10.5” SBR to an 18” SPR. Then I started reading some threads over on AR15dotcom showing how fast various suppressors start to develop serious wear on that first internal baffle of the can when mounted to open ended FH’s, whether they were 3-prong or A2 style. This was true across all brands. So I switched all my FH’s to the SF muzzle brake - the NON-Warcomp version. The MB essentially gives you two more “relatively cheap and replaceable” sacrificial baffles.

I avoid the Warcomp mounts as they’ve been shown in slo-motion videos to have literal flames coming out the back of the suppressor during firing. Probably due to a combination of all those little ports being so close to the rear of the FH and the lack of Labyrinth seals on those mounts.

I don’t plan to ever shoot my rifles unsuppressed after realizing how much better it is so I'm not concerned with the typical downsides(louder, teeth-rattling muzzle blast, etc) of muzzle brakes.

Pew also says the warcomps are substantially louder so i would avoid any of those. I prefer to
run the closed tine FH version.

I don't anything Surefire, but I use brake QD mounts on all my suppressed rifles, for the same reason that m499 mentioned.

The brake acts as a sacrificial first baffle and prolongs the life of the suppressor.

The amount of erosion on some of my high round count brakes is pretty astonishing.

On the topic of sacrificial baffles, how many rounds are we talking about when a suppressor is "shot out". And what are you saving, in round count, by having a brake? I travel a bit for classes and shooting, I dont always bring a can over state lines, so a brake is a fairly hard no for me.

This is just my opinion with no facts/studies/evidence, in the surefire line IMO you probably don't gain much. They are known for very long lives by ancedotal evidence, military selection and reselections, some reliable postings on rounds and overall reputation. I've got a 10K round RC2 and it don't seem any worse for the wear though I have switched to the RC3 so its unlikely to get many more.
I personally think the surefire numbers are well into the 20-40K range or more (there are allegedly 100K examples) which makes the suppressor cost a tiny item in the overall cost picture.
I doubt I will wear one out and if I do I have multiples, but if I do good on me for having the funds for the ammo and barrels and bolts etc. and being above ground to do it. I'm a surefire guy for a long time and think they are a very well made product, not sure why you pick the mini, its my least favorite surefire, but everything on these is a tradeoff.
YMMV of course.

I have a SF brake on a 10" 5.56. It does exhibit erosion. Of course the brake serves to take some of the punishment that'd otherwise be hitting the blast baffle. However, I think this is something that is minimal enough to be a non-issue on barrels 14.5" or longer. Like hrcjon said, the SF cans have proven themselves in the durability department.

The "Warden" is always an effective option, when taming an unsuppressed brake at a class in a different state. Also, it seems highly unlikely that you'd be attending a class in a state that prohibits silencers. I guess you may need to travel through a prohibitive state though.

I use the open 3-tine SF hiders on my rifles other than the 10". Surefire muzzle devices are expensive, and can get even more spendy if you're wanting one of the "less typical" ones.

I have a 5.56 RC2, 5.56 Mini, and SOCOM 7.62 Mini. The 5.56 RC2 is the best. The Mini 5.56 is neat, but the proper RC2 is preferred, even on a 16" gun. I use the Mini on the 10", to maximize the compactness. I use the 7.62 Mini on a 7.62x39.

The Mini on the 10" is loud, but the gun is not one I shoot recreationally. It's a sort of camping gun. Small, packable, light. It works out for the intended use of the gun.

The 7.62 Mini on the x39 is not very quiet either, but I like it well-enough.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
I'm a surefire guy for a long time and think they are a very well made product, not sure why you pick the mini, its my least favorite surefire, but everything on these is a tradeoff.
YMMV of course.

I already own a full size Silencerco and when that's on the end of a 14.5 or 16" gun, it's a little unruly for me. I was able to shoot a friends RC2 Mini and found that it was quiet enough and didnt make my 14.5 (which carries arround that pic of an ATACR) feel too hefty.

I like Surefire silencers. I think the RC2 is a standard bearer in the industry. However, I think there are better "K" cans than the Surefire Mini. Something like a Polonium K. I get being married to the "ecosystem" though. But if you don't have a SF can already, I see no reason to enter the SF "ecosystem", unless it's for the aforementioned standard bearer.

Is that 14.5" with the warcomp a P/W barrel? If not, you may be better off considering a different K can.

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
I like Surefire silencers. I think the RC2 is a standard bearer in the industry. However, I think there are better "K" cans than the Surefire Mini. Something like a Polonium K. I get being married to the "ecosystem" though. But if you don't have a SF can already, I see no reason to enter the SF "ecosystem", unless it's for the aforementioned standard bearer.

Is that 14.5" with the warcomp a P/W barrel? If not, you may be better off considering a different K can.

I am not a Surefire guy. Not yet, anyway. That said, I have a good bit of experience with the Polonium and Polonium K now. A Polo K on a 14.5 pin and weld being shot next to an 11.5" with a full size Polonium has no distinguishable difference in volume or tone, whether at the shooter's ear, right next to the shooter standing off to either side, or standing about 20ft away.

The same test repeated with two incredibly similar 11.5" AR's with stock gas and H2 buffers was performed when we compared the full size Polonium with a Surefire RC2. No perceptible difference in volume, or gas to the shooter, and the only notable difference was a very slightly higher pitch to the Polonium, but not to an unpleasant degree. We didn't perform flash reduction testing, but Brassfacts has on his channel, and the Polonium is actually incredibly close to the RC2.

If the RC2 Mini is, like the Polonium K, the same exact can but with fewer baffles, I feel fairly confident in assuming the Polo K compares favorably to the Surefire, possibly even beating it. The Polo K has a rabid following. I think for $500 or a little under, it's really, really hard to beat.

As for muzzle devices... I think if you have the budget to wear out a can, you'll have gotten your money's worth and by then, Surefire will probably be happy to rebuild it for you, possibly for free. An "unless you were abusing it and really fucked up, we'll cover it for life for whatever goes wrong" style warranty seems to have become the norm in the suppressor industry. That said, I still have comps of some sort on my suppressed rifles because why not? I don't shoot unsuppressed anymore anyways, so having a flash hider is kind of meaningless.

With the availability of Surefire HUB adapters, the ecosystem issues have been somewhat mitigated. Pew seems to have the data so you can look at a mini versus a Polonium K, and just about everything else on the planet, but the difference between those two seems pretty nominal. Oddly on a short barrel AR the K is just as quiet to the shooter as the full size Polonium.
The Surefire trainer is another option to consider when you are not suppressing the gun and don't really like the muzzle device you have on it. I like the Surefire QD system. its not perfect but its pretty darn good over steady usage. And it surely doesn't suffer like Keymo and a few other alternatives...

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
Is that 14.5" with the warcomp a P/W barrel? If not, you may be better off considering a different K can.

Yessir, sure is.

As I noted above with the availability of surefire hub adapters the (hub suppressor) world is your oyster for choices. Excluding the extra cost have at it. That said in the end I suspect finding something that sounds substantially better and is more durable than the mini is probably not in the cards, but finding something that is way cheaper is an easy pickup. I run several non surefire cans that way.