PWS FSC-556 on a 14.5" Barrel-How Loud?

[OhThatGuy]

I had the PWS FSC-556 muzzle brake on a 10.5" barrel and it was loud as hell. I tried it on a 16" and it wasn't bad at all. I'm wondering how it will be on the 14.5" barrel I'm using tomorrow.

[RetreatHell]

I had the PWS FSC-556 muzzle brake on a 10.5" barrel and it was loud as hell. I tried it on a 16" and it wasn't bad at all. I'm wondering how it will be on the 14.5" barrel I'm using tomorrow.

You just couldn't wait until tomorrow to find out, eh? Impatient SOB.

Just ****ing with you;)

I have the Surefire MB556K brake on my BCM 14.5" middy, and it ain't bad. So the PWS FSC556 won't be bad either, and it's also not as bad as the SF brake in general. It's not gonna be much different from your 16" honestly.

Besides, so long as you're the shooter, who gives a shit!:D

[ALCOAR]

You just couldn't wait until tomorrow to find out, eh? Impatient SOB.

Just ****ing with you;)

I have the Surefire MB556K brake on my BCM 14.5" middy, and it ain't bad. So the PWS FSC556 won't be bad either, and it's also not as bad as the SF brake in general. It's not gonna be much different from your 16" honestly.

Besides, so long as you're the shooter, who gives a shit!:D

Agreed......and I am not sure why the fsc556 has taken on such a mythical loudness level....perhaps I just have to much chest hair and eat my steaks to pink:D

[Rated21R]

Agreed......and I am not sure why the fsc556 has taken on such a mythical loudness level....perhaps I just have to much chest hair and eat my steaks to pink:D

I know right? It seems like every forum has at least 3-4 threads inquiring how loud it is. You would think folks ears were bleeding because it's so bad. :D

[OhThatGuy]

Okay, I'm thinking that it won't bother me at all on a 14.5" barrel. I hear some people say that it is noticeably loud on a 16" gun and I didn't find that to be the case on two different 16" guns as a shooter or bystander. I did find it to be very loud on the 10.5" barrel rifle though. Double hearing protection was required when that went off.

[BWT]

Honestly... Depending what metric you follow...

Hearing safe is rated by OSHA at 140 dB, over at nfatalk.org I was following a thread, and it seems that realistically.... you want around 115 dB's for hearing safe, which, after firing some suppressed AR's, honestly I can believe that they're not hearing safe, hate to burst bubbles, but that's just what I've experienced.

Definitely better than the alternative, but YMMV.

That being said, I was looking at a suppressor test in nfatalk.org's reviews, and a 14'' LWRC M6A2 read right at 160.5 dB's unsuppressed.

So, it's going to be loud, I honestly wear ear plugs and 30 dB rated hearing muffs when firing rifles indoors.

But, I'd imagine you'll notice the difference in muzzle blast more than the sound.

I would imagine it would seem easier on the shooter than 10.5'', but I don't know how appreciably.

[Stickman]

I'm currently using a FSC556 on a 14.5" BCM Middy for duty, its not bad at all, though it is louder than an A2FS.

[ROGOPGEAR]

it's just fine.

[OhThatGuy]

Just back from the range. Here is my super scientific assessment of the loudness of this brake on a 1-10 scale with 10 being loudest:

10.5" barrel-10 (loud as crap, muffs and plugs must be worn, kind of a pain in the ass)
14.5"+perm attach-8.5 (pretty damned loud but not quite where you need plugs and muffs)
16" barrel-5 (not a lot of difference between it and some muzzle devices that do nothing to tame muzzle hop/ recoil)

[Surf]

I find that outdoors it really isn't that much louder. Outdoors, shooting under a covered bench area, definitely notice it more. Indoors / enclosed shoothouse, it is quite a bit more noticeable especially for the guy next to you. Not saying that it is deafening but very much more pronounced. If you mostly shoot outdoors you will notice little.

I just dressed up another guys 6920 and installed the FSC556 that he purchased. Test fired the rifle and it just reconfirmed my feelings on them. I don't really care about the noise but I just don't like the nasal type of concussion that I get from them, nor do I care for being the guy who is shooting in close proximity to it. IMO they really don't kill flash that well nor do they have that much affect on recoil at least for myself as recoil really isn't an issue on this weapon. On a full mag dump on full auto I get some benefit, but again not enough that it overcomes the rest of the things I don't care for. And no I don't mag dump on full auto often. ;)