Flash Supressor - Yes/No?

[sonofeugene]

I'm hoping to purchase my first .308 soon and my first choice is the Mossberg MVP Patrol which has as an option a medium bull barrel with a flash supressor. I know that muzzle brakes make it louder for the shooter, but what I'd like to know is does a flash supressor make it louder as well?

On a side note, one of my other options is an MVP Flex but I can't find one to handle before making a decision. Does anyone know of a shop in the SF Bay Area that has one? Caliber not important.

[sonofeugene]

Bump.

[joe_gman]

I'm hoping to purchase my first .308 soon and my first choice is the Mossberg MVP Patrol which has as an option a medium bull barrel with a flash supressor. I know that muzzle brakes make it louder for the shooter, but what I'd like to know is does a flash supressor make it louder as well?

A muzzle break redirects much of the muzzle blast back in the general direction of the shooter to partially offset the recoil of the rifle. This causes the shooter to hear a louder blast. The Mossberg has an A2 flash suppressor which redirects a little of the blast up and to the side which will cause the shooter to hear more of the blast than no muzzle device, but far less than a muzzle break.

[sonofeugene]

Thanks for that! And I suppose that if it bothered me too much, I could remove it and put a cap or something in its place to protect the threads on the barrel.