I was letting my friend shoot my su16 and I was standing behind him, off to the side.They will increase the perceived noise (mainly due to redirecting the gasses sideways or backwards as opposed to downrange) and may piss of people shooting next to you![]()
Flash hiders on rifle lenght barrels (~20 inches) are useless as there is no residual powder burning outside the canon. .223 as very soft muzzle flip so a brake is not super important unless you shoot full-auto or mag dump to avoid "climb". Thats why most AR will sport a flash hider. On a shorty AR 10.5 inch or less, flash hider or not there will be a fireball. On .30 cal. rifles it is intirely a personal choice. Muzzle brake will give you a faster follow up at the cost of increased noise perceived. It is a rational choice to have one but not entirely necessary for target use.
Flash hiders are not useless on barrel lengths of greater than 20 inches. It depends on your need for them. Take a look at some night shooting video's...this one will do....
[Youtube]LxZ4jCLlPoM[/Youtube]
These days, I mostly shoot timed drills with my AR. I can tell you, from first hand experience, that a muzzle brake/comp greatly improves my scores and times. Even though my AR is "soft recoiling".
I have a 10.25 inch AR. I've tested a lot of flash hiders. I can tell you that certain flash hider designs work very well to reduce flash on that rifle. Others I've tried on 12" barreled VZ virtually eliminated flash.



























