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DMViergever
20 January 2014, 09:38
In the never ending quest for the "perfect muzzle device" I have found myself let down time and time again. It seems if one mitigates muzzle rise the flash is blinding and the ones that hide flash do very little to contain muzzle rise. About the time you find one to do both the concussion is so bad you check your nose for blood and your training buddies quit texting you. Typically every one has ended up in the equipment exchange or parts bin.

Enter the AFAB Mini. When I started hearing whispering about the hybrid muzzle device from Precision Armament I figured it was another too good to be true brake but after while curiosity got the best of me and I got my hands on one.

My first impression out of the box was good. It was well packaged and shipping was quick. The machining on it is very good. The lines are very clean with no machining marks to speak of and the finish was smooth. As you can see in the photos it has several squares cut into it and several holes to vent gas. With prongs on the end. Another attractive feature was at the 6 O'clock position there is a pre-drilled hole that has just a little bit of material left to be removed for pinning on a 14.5 barrel. After confirming with Rainier, I found out that the cost of pinning this Brake is slightly cheaper at 39.95 since less work is required.
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww27/DMViergever/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_99679893368732_zps7vsqwb9l.jpeg
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww27/DMViergever/Mobile%20Uploads/Image_2014-01-14_zpswugua8zo.jpeg


Enough about looks...lets talk performance. The 6 O'clock position on it is solid and closed so as not to allow gas to push up on the muzzle. As mentioned before it is also where the hole for drilling is, which helped with timing. Another thing that helped timing was Precision Armament's Accu-washer system. They are a set of washers that help with proper alignment and are different thicknesses and adjusted in 20 degree increments. At first I thought this was overly complicated, then I quit being a dude and read the instructions. After getting it timed up we started the fun part, running drills. It was easy to see how smooth this comp was. Muzzle rise was nearly non existent with a good aggressive forward stance running a 16 inch, mid length PredatAR upper with H2 buffer. The other nice thing was the concussion was not noticeable from behind the rifle or to the side. We have officially killed two birds with one stone! After that I put it on my 10.5 Ultramatch barrel with the Adams gas piston kit and again muzzle rise was negligible and double taps were all very tight. Concussion on the 10.5 was a little more noticeable but nothing like a FSC556 or another shooting buddies Battlecomp on his 10.5.

After doing a little bit of shooting, multiple targets and the obligatory mag dump it was time to try out some shooting positions. These were done on both very loose dirt and also very fine gravel. First and foremost was regular prone, which proved to be no issue for stirring up dirt or throwing it in your face. Next We did a little bit of junkyard prone and urban prone. With the rifle on its side it definitely stirred a bit more dust. The dirt was not too bad at all but the dry, dusty gravel got stirred up a bit more. Nothing ever hit me in the face or glasses though and visibility was never compromised. Throughout shooting I never felt like the recoil changed, obviously muzzle rise decreased, but I didn't feel more of a push with this sort of brake as you do with a linear style comp. I also never noticed a change in ejection pattern so there is no worry about turning your ol' reliable into a gassy hog.


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So far we were all very happy with the AFAB but now it was time for some night shooting and we were sceptical just on account of previous experience. The AFAB mini is supposed to be different though.

AFAB stands for Advanced Flash Arresting Brake and we were really hoping it was more than just a clever name. After loading up some mags, shooting some other comps and hiders for a basis it was time for the AFAB to sink or swim...and in our eyes it swam.

While it doesn't completely eliminate flash in the pitch black it does keep it very negligible. Using the A2 as our basis we went back and forth several times and to the shooter there is no difference in the two. Another thing I noticed was it also seemed to disperse smoke so as not to smoke out a light at the 12 O'clock position. To the side the AFAB had a slightly larger signature but I believe it is more the way it is contained. With the A2 it is more of a long slit where the AFAB puts it in more of a ball. On the shorter barrel (10.5) the flash was more noticeable to me while shooting but still was no obstruction. That is why it has the "mini" added to its name. Precision Armament is currently in the works of making a slightly larger model that will make the flash not noticeable like the mini does on the 16.

The overall thought on the AFAB mini were positive across the board for everyone that participated in the evening shooting. Out of the 3 guys there one walked away with an AFAB and two were saying "I am gonna have to pick one of those up". Me being one that was going to have to pick one up. I am excited and interested to see how it stacks up against the Griffin Flashcomp and am working on getting my hands on one. Curiosity also has be looking at the Lantac Dragon.

As far as what I know though, the Precision Armament offering is excellent, lightweight and also pretty affordable at $104.95 from Rainier Arms.

DMViergever
www.facebook.com/almosttactical

Mrgunsngear
21 January 2014, 14:28
Great review.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/191/ba8t.png (https://imageshack.com/i/5bba8tp)

DMViergever
21 January 2014, 18:27
Thank you sir!

UDT
22 January 2014, 07:04
Thanks, for sharing.