I am getting an 8.5" barreled upper for a .300 pistol. The upper comes with an A2 flash hider. I am wondering if there's a relatively inexpensive way to improve upon that. I have no prior experience with AR pistols. It's a project/range gun. I will load my own 125gr rounds so I can tune in some milder plinking loads, not going to regularly shoot anything fire-breathing.

From a lot of searching, it seems I might want to remove the A2 hider and get a linear compensator. Two things catch my attention.

1) KAK flash can (micro) - anodized Al, ~1.5 ozs. 1.75"L
2) Tacfire linear comp - nitrided steel, ~6ozs. 2.25"L

Both have good reviews from a large number of users from what I can tell. Some of my thinking is that these are decent sized - KAK is the same size as an A2, and the Tacfire is only 1/2" longer. KAK makes a bigger flash can (3.5"), but if I wanted to add that much length I'd just buy more barrel instead. So sticking to something around A2 hider length is desirable. I'm also uncertain of the effect of the weight difference between the two as inertia in handling.

Opinions on this route, or either of these two?
Or another modest suggestion?

This is an economy build and fun/interesting project to see how I like the platform, caliber, enjoy shooting it. If that's all a go I will consider a suppressor and sbr tax stmps in the future (we already have an NFA trust w/one suppressor in the trust, so it's not completely theoretical).

KAK micro flash can:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101952051

Tacfire unit:
http://www.tacfireinc.com/5-8x24-308...de--p-855.html

Thanks for thoughts.