Help..Flash suppressor vs muzzle break

[Calishinobi]

I bought a new thorsden stock. To be commiefornia compliant. I was told that if my gun came with a flash suppressor to be sure to change it to a muzzle break. What the hell is the difference. Are they defined by law ? How does DOJ define one vs the other.

[Exdc]

Help..Flash suppressor vs muzzle break

Show a picture. Any muzzle device that says flash suppressor or hider is obviously off limits, but it's safer to buy something specifically advertised as a compensator or muzzle break. They serve different purposes. A comp is to reduce felt recoil and muzzle rise. A flash hider prevents flash from night blinding the marksman, among other things.


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[shootsocal_dave]

If it was advertised or sold as a Muzzle break or a flash hider go with that. USUALLY the end of a muzzle break is the same caliber as the bullet, where a flashhider is open. Rule of thumb, not law. Most ARs come with a A2 Birdcage flashider. Gives you a place to start

[Calishinobi]

[hermosabeach]

Take it off- get a thread protector.

Unless the caliber has enough recoils to need a blast enhancer / hearing destroyer- no brake is needed

CA DOJ does not rule on devices as a brake / flash hider until after a case is presented for prosecution

[edgerly779]

Lots of posts on this. Use search. A muzzle brake costs 15 bucks shipped on ebay.

[LTC-J]

As above, lots of discussions on this.

One that I saw basically said:
If advertised as flash hider, no go.
If advertised as muzzle brake/compensator, it MAY be okay. But it isn't 100% foolproof as a LEO could try to find characteristics of a flash hider.

I think the CA Semiauto Ban(AW)ID Flowchart above shows some of those 'bad' characteristics.

[ChuckDizzle]

If it looks like a flash hider, acts like a flash hider, OR talks like a flash hider it is a flash hider.

If it has an opening conspicuously larger than the bore. Or slots or prongs, flash hider.

If it perceptibly lessens the flash or directs the flash away from the shooters vision, it is a flash hider.

If it advertises in any way to mitigate muzzle flash, it is a flash hider.

[Exdc]

You could get a linear compensator. Directs sound forward. No way it can be misinterpreted.


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[Tere_Hanges]

"Flashhiders" or A2 "birdcage" muzzle devices have ALWAYS been defined as an evil feature since CA enacted assault weapon laws/bans many many years ago. The problem is that people got so used to them during the bullet button days that they either never understood they were an evil feature or they forgot. But yeah the A2 flashhider has been an evil assault weapon feature for a long long time. Thats why CA legal M1As have muzzlebrakes when they have flashhiders in other states. Really nothing new here, way old news.

[Calishinobi]

Sure I get all of this but how the hell do you actually define the difference . The standard birdcages are not marked as illegal by any definition or description. The law just says flash suppressor.

[Quiet]

I bought a new thorsden stock. To be commiefornia compliant. I was told that if my gun came with a flash suppressor to be sure to change it to a muzzle break. What the hell is the difference. Are they defined by law ? How does DOJ define one vs the other.

I understand the purpose of them . But it’s just so hard to define. As long as it doesn’t say flashider how can it be illegal ?

Sure I get all of this but how the hell do you actually define the difference . The standard birdcages are not marked as illegal by any definition or description. The law just says flash suppressor.

California Code of Regulations Title 11 Division 5 Chapter 39 Article 2 Section 5471
(r) “Flash suppressor” means any device attached to the end of the barrel, that is designed, intended, or functions to perceptibly reduce or redirect muzzle flash from the shooter's field of vision. A hybrid device that has either advertised flash suppressing properties or functionally has flash suppressing properties would be deemed a flash suppressor. A device labeled or identified by its manufacturer as a flash hider would be deemed a flash suppressor.

[ja308]

The California legislature was extremely concerned that calgunners were flinching after the first and subsequent shots, because of heavy recoil produced by some light weight centerfire fires equipped with flash suppressors.

Therefore in their busybody mode, decided calgunners equipped with muzzle brakes would out shoot many folks in free states that allow the dumb flash suppressor!

The democrat legislators were so serious that Californians should outshoot folks in free states that it’s a felony to have a flash suppressor with other features!

[Mystery_Milk]

There's a lot of things that sit in a gray area in this state. The DOJ responses are hilarious - they always say they feel as if the regulations are clear and that people should contact an attorney for the proper interpretation.

Even a lot of featureless stock/grip options sit in a gray area, since the whole webbing of the hand thing got the guy free at the county level, not the state level.

But, there's not a well-defined difference between a flash hider and a muzzle break. At least not from a California law standpoint. But I think if you get something that's labeled "muzzle break" and doesn't advertise any flash hiding capabilities it'd be a lot easier to protect yourself in a court of law if it ever came to that. Or you could just get a thread protector and forego a muzzle device entirely to be safe.

[Jimi Jah]

I used all linear brakes before the laws changed. I value my hearing.