Faux flash hiders and AWB.

N

Nickel Plated

New member
I was just wondering if a flash hider that is modified to not act like a flash hider anymore and just be there for aesthetics would be OK as far as AWBs are concerned.

For example, if I took an AK-74 muzzle brake (which the ATF classified as a flash hider, despite the fact that it clearly isn't) and put a clear plastic tube inside of it to essentially block the ports on the side. The bullet would pass through the inside of the tube, but the muzzle blast would only go out the front, without being redirected anywhere else or in anyway dissipated (since the holes for that are now covered over). Would that no longer count as a flash hider/muzzle brake since it doesn't function as one? I guess it would be just a pretty ornament on the end of your barrel. Which IMO is still better than nothing.

On a side note, what if you were to make a bayonet mount that is somewhat out of spec so it still looks like you have one, but it can't actually fit a bayonet. Not really a bayonet mount then.
 
Clear plastic wouldn't last for one shot. Permanently attached metal would be a better option, although it would look strange.

Also, how is the muzzle brake attached? I'm not familiar with NY's AWB, but they tend to constrain threaded muzzles as a "naughty" feature.

Another option might be fitting a different muzzle brake.

A faux bayonet lug is a weird idea. It seems like a lot of work for a tiny little nonfunctional nub no one would ever notice.
 
There are compensators that are NOT classified as flash suppressors. I remember discussing this with a supplier of AR-15 uppers at one point. I was looking for a post-ban upper and they were advertising mostly pre-ban configurations. Of course, I was only talking to a salesperson, not a BATFE agent (not that BATFE agents would all give consistent answers anyway), but what I was told was that they made post-ban uppers by replacing the flash hider with a compensator and welding it in place.

I have no idea how NY state (or any municipality within the state) would view home-brewed attempts to sanitize a flash hider, but I suspect it would not go well for you. As to a bayonet lug -- I know the Federal AWB didn't say the lug had to be functional. Bayonet lugs were not allowed -- period. Isn't NY's law basically modeled after the old Federal AWB? And why would you want a non-functional bayonet lug anyway? My AR-15 was bought during the Federal AWB period so it has no bayonet lug. This may sound unbelievable but, in the 12 years I have owned it, I haven't once wanted to fix a bayonet and found myself cursing the fact there's no lug there.

In fact, in a full combat tour in Vietnam back in the 60s, I carried an M16 and I don't believe I ever attached a bayonet to my rifle.
 
This may sound unbelievable but, in the 12 years I have owned it, I haven't once wanted to fix a bayonet and found myself cursing the fact there's no lug there.
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Maybe you carry too much ammunition. :D

On a serious note:

This is one of those cases I would tread very lightly on, if at all. If the appropriate authorities are not convinced by your modifications, you could lose everything you have trying to defend yourself and may never be allowed to own a gun again.

If the only purpose is for show, then get one of those plastic models and hang it on your wall.
 
Honestly it would just be there to look nice. Some guns just don't look right without their flashhiders. Of course it would be welded on. BTW when I said "plastic tube", the bullet wouldn't come in contact with it on the way out. The bore of that tube would be larger than the bullet so it would just fly through.
Would the muzzle blast be enough to break it? Guess it depends on the tube.

I know the Federal AWB didn't say the lug had to be functional. Bayonet lugs were not allowed -- period.
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Well if it doesn't actually attach a bayonet, then it's not by definition a bayonet lug. That would be like them seeing the sling loop on the bottom of your barrel, proclaiming it a bayonet lug and hauling you to the station. Either way the bayonet lug part was just out of curiosity. I agree it would be too much work for just that little nub. Especially if you still can't mount a bayonet anyway.
 
Nickel Plated said:
Well if it doesn't actually attach a bayonet, then it's not by definition a bayonet lug.
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Mate, you're talking about the BATFE -- the same people who once ruled that a shoelace was a machine gun. Find me the definition of "bayonet lug" in the Federal code of laws and regulations that differentiates between a "real" bayonet lug and something that looks just like a bayonet lug but isn't one.

Good luck finding it.
 
It is going to depend on your specific state law. During the ban, there were several faux birdcage flash hiders that were modified not to reduce flash that ATF approved. Another modification that some of the hardcore collector types did was to mill the wings off the side of the bayonet lug so that a bayonet would no longer lock up. I don't know how ATF ruled on that last modification; but it is irrelevant since it would be whatever state agency oversees your ban and not the ATF that you would have to please.
 
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