Mini-14 with Smith Brake - how bad is the flash?

[dave3006]

I am looking at putting a Smith Enterprize Muzzle brake on a 16" barreled Mini-14. I will be using it to hunt coyotes at night. For those that have this brake on a short barreled Mini-14, how bad is the flash at night?

(I want the shorter barrel for accuracy purposes)

 

[WillBrayJr]

The only thing a muzzle brake does is reduce recoil and with the Mini-14 there is no recoil. What you want is a flash hider which will cost less then a muzzle brake. Hornady's new TAP PD 223rem loads should be perfect for hunting at night.

 

[Waffen]

This dosn't really apply to your smith brake, but you might find it usefull.

When I applied my AK-47 type muzzle brake (bushmaster) to my mini it supressed the flash more than my previous flash hider. Like the above poster said, the mini dosn't have any recoil, so the brake did not help there. It did however help with accuracy. After installing the brake I have much more confidence with the gun at 50-150yard ranges. I havn't taken it out to the range yet, but I have free time this saturday and I plan to group it. I have hardly taken this gun to the range so I don't really know how it will do. I do know however it has taken over 2-3 thousand varmits on our family's ranch.

Another side note, the brake will make a mini sound like thunder just struck in front of you. With 45gr JHP's moving at 3600FPS it is LOUD. Substantially louder than my Rem 700 in 30-06

 

[dave3006]

Unfortunately, I live in California. Flash hiders are evil. They told me so. I am trying to find a muzzlebrake that has flash hider properties.

 

[Waffen]

right what I'm saying is that my muzzle brake works as a better flash hider than my flash hider was. The muzzle brake also made it much more accurate. It would not be considered a flash hider at all in terms of marketing. I guess it was just an accidental effect of the brake.

This is what I have.
http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/10-22/mmt-0018.asp