[Jemfic]

Hi everyone, it has been a minute since I've visited these forums.

I just recently bought a S&W MP15 556, and quickly learned that I have spent way too many years only shooting .22s and my 4095. So, there is a little bit of a learning curve for me, and I remembered there many helpful people here and a few of them are even knowledgeable.

I have an ex-military friend that is going to get me up to speed on the care and feeding of the rifle, when he becomes available next month.

What I would like to learn about is muzzle breaks. The rifle doesn't really kick at all. It just sorta bounces. I know practice and improving my shooting technique will counter a lot of that.

My first question is will a muzzle break actually reduce that "bounce" any? If so, what am I looking for and what should I stay away from?

I am also curious about suppressors but a little intimidated by the red tape. Can anyone shed any light on how painful the Federal Colonoscopy is, what the hidden costs are and how long that process takes?

I am thoroughly enjoying the rifle and will get to be as competent with it as I am with my other weapons. But I am also aware that I have entered new territory with the AR format, which to me is just an excuse to learn new and exciting things.

Thanks in advance

 

[TNTRAILERTRASH]

The A2 muzzle device is an excellent all around piece. It is designed to fight muzzle rise, and kicking up dust when shooting from the prone position. (look at the bottom of it) You get the ones that shoot out left and right everyone next to you at the range will hate you.

 

[FlashBang]

My first question is will a muzzle break actually reduce that "bounce" any? If so, what am I looking for and what should I stay away from?

In short, NO. The bounce is referred to as 'bolt bounce' and is caused by the bolt movement in the buffer tube.

I am also curious about suppressors but a little intimidated by the red tape. Can anyone shed any light on how painful the Federal Colonoscopy is, what the hidden costs are and how long that process takes?

If you're going to enter the NFA game of suppressors etc., I would recommend that you do so using an NFA Trust and include anyone who may end up in possession of the item(s) should something happen to you. The process is:

• Have an NFA Trust done by an Attorney knowledgeable about NFA Trusts
• Have photographs and fingerprints done for each member of the Trust
• Purchase the suppressor and complete the NFA Form 4 along with the fingerprints and photos of each member
• Submit the Form 4 with all required items and $200 payment
• Wait for the Tax Stamp to come

You'll spend around $300 for the Trust to be drawn up, the costs for the photographs and fingerprints, the cost of the suppressor and the cost of the tax stamp. As for how long it takes.... the fastest I've seen one come back is 45 days and I've also seen them take as much as 1 year to come back. Electronic submissions are typically quicker to come back, but not guaranteed to do so.

 

[ajole]

I just find it completely insane that an innocuous little tube of metal becomes illegal to possess upon the death of the owner. Clown world.
When I bought mine, it was 20 minutes of filling out paperwork on a computer, the store did the photo and fingerprints, and then $200 extortion/bribe for Uncle Sam. 6 months later, on Jan 1, I picked it up and paid for the suppressor that day. Not even hard.

As to the “bounce:
Do you have the Sport with Carbine gas, or the not-Sport, with mid length gas? The mid length will bounce less, all else being equal.

You want to tune the gas system with the buffer spring and buffer weight. You CAN get some change using a muzzle device, but the real sweetness happens when you use a buffer that properly absorbs the bolt mass and momentum/inertia/energy….whichever the correct word is.

So…buy a few buffers, or one adjustable buffer, and start experimenting. Too much weight leads to shortstroke and reliability issues, so you have to balance things.

Then, any muzzle device that has no holes on the bottom, or sides, but only on top, will maximize the ability of the brake to stop barrel rise.

 

[Jemfic]

Thank you all for the response.

I am really digging this rifle, just some stuff I need to learn, as well as some things I need to re-learn. It has probably been 35 years since I have shot a "real" rifle. In recent years it has just been my 4095 and my Rossi .22. But I learned on a Savage .243, graduating up to 30-30's and a 30.06 (which is probably why I don't like bolt actions; that thing beat my ass. Though it did teach me the value of getting a good cheek/shoulder weld).

Ajole, it is the Sport model.

What about linear compensators/sound mitigation devices as an alternative to a suppressor? Or are they just gimmicks? I know they don't actually reduce the noise, just push it in a different direction. But I don't particularly care if my target goes deaf. But do they actually work?

As for the bounce, I think I will work on adjusting myself to it before I start trying to modify the rifle.

 

[TNTRAILERTRASH]

Whitmer machine(?) something like that has a device that isn't a "can" that sends the sound straight out and reduces the decibels some. No stupid forms and waiting for approval.

 

[moona11]

The recoil on the AR platform is about as mild you're going to get on a rifle. The spring and buffer sounds can be annoying but really its not bad. You just need to tuck the rifle in goid and shoot the shit out of it. Wear hearing protection its a rifle not a 22. Muzzle breaks piss off everyone around you. Cans arent bad but not necessary

 

[Delbert]

There's a couple ways to help reduce the recoil bounce. One is to install a heavier H2 or H3 Buffer to help slow down the BCG a tad to not give that harsh rearward/forward motion slam. The negative of going with too heavy of a Buffer is, if you like a certain(cheap) ammo, the rifle might not, or be able to fully extract, eject and insert the next round as the Buffer will short stroke. You want the rounds to be somewhere around the 3 to 5 o'clock mark to know it will run well when using decent ammos. If you shoot reloads(your own or known, well made reloads), Tula, Federal or other possible underpowered type ammo, you need to try to determine if you can use it reliabily.

Another is to install a new "adjustable gas" gas block and carbine gas tube. This gives you the best, as you won't need to change out the factory Buffer, and you can adjust to your liking with the type of ammo you use. Cheap underpowered ammos you open it up and harsher more powerful ammo, you dial the gas block down until you get short strokes, bad ejects, weak extraction, then open it up just a tad.

With an adjustable gas block system, you will need to use a free float hand guard system, along with the correct hand guard barrel nut system and change out the Delta ring.

You can also install a AK barrel muzzle(the top front is angle cut to help with muzzle rise), or install a "forward direction" barrel compensator. This type of muzzle device redirects bullet gas towards the target instead of upwards like the regular AR15's flash hider. This type of compensator pushes the gun into your shoulder, while not truly stopping barrel rise, but it does focus the sound away from the ears. Some compensators have both drilled holes forward while some holes are drilled to be towards the top to help with muzzle rise. Barrel muzzle device shims may be required if one can't get the correct clocking to work when tightening the device down.

 

[ajole]

What about linear compensators/sound mitigation devices as an alternative to a suppressor? Or are they just gimmicks? I know they don't actually reduce the noise, just push it in a different direction. But I don't particularly care if my target goes deaf. But do they actually work?

As for the bounce, I think I will work on adjusting myself to it before I start trying to modify the rifle.

Linear comps work, but what they do is send everything right out the front. Not down, not up, but forward. The one thing they actually DO, is reduce concussion on the shooter with short pistol barrels (unless you shoot indoors), but it really isn’t “quieter”, and is no help for muzzle jump or recoil. In fact, technically they increase recoil, but it’s so light no one cares.