The Vortex Flash Hider or Vortex Flash Eliminator is a

flash suppressor A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a muzzle device attached to the muzzle of a rifle that reduces its visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersing the burning gases that ...

made by Smith Enterprise, Inc. for a variety of different rifles, carbines, machine guns and handguns. Vortex Flash Hider made by Smith Enterprise

History

The Vortex Flash Hider was developed in 1984, and a patent was secured in 1995. Sonja Sommers and Ron Smith of SEI developed the Vortex Flash Hider that incorporates a 5-, 10- and 15-degree twisted helix design, which eliminates up to 99% of visible muzzle flash. The Vortex is somewhat reminiscent of the original "three-prong flash hider" found on the original Vietnam-era

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

. However, the Vortex is more robust and makes use of four solid tines, which are four equally spaced and angled 6° from a centerline of the body. The Vortex is the only flash suppressor in the world with a helical flute design that breaks up the flash at multiple locations and angles. SEI makes the Vortex for M16s, AR-15s, M14s,

Steyr AUG The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG. It was adopted by the Austrian Arm ...

s and certain pistols such as the

Heckler & Koch USP The USP (''Universelle Selbstladepistole'' or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns. History Design work on a new family of p ...

Tactical model.

AR-15 rifles

The Vortex Flash Hider made for

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

type rifles weighs 3 ounces, is 2.25 inches in length and does not require a lock washer for attachment to the barrel of an AR-15. The use of a lock washer or crush washer was rejected as their use can increase visible flash from the shooter's perspective. The Vortex is tightened by hand and repeated firing of the rifle causes the Vortex to tighten to the barrel. The Vortex Flash Hider has been called the "most effective flash hider available short of a (sound) suppressor" by writer and gunsmith Patrick Sweeney, when used on an AR-15. In a 2005 article appearing in ''

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

'' magazine it was deemed to be superior to the

M16A2 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

"bird cage" flash suppressor and the Yankee Hill Machine

Phantom Flash Suppressor Phantom may refer to: * Spirit (animating force), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy un ...

. Peter G. Kokalis of '' Soldier of Fortune'' magazine and ''

Shotgun News ''Firearms News'', formerly ''Shotgun News'', is an American shooting and firearms interest publication owned by Outdoor Sportsman Group. The magazine was called ''Shotgun News'' until December 2015. History and profile ''Shotgun News'' was estab ...

'' wrote that he installed over 300 Vortex Flash hiders while working as a military advisor with a Central American paramilitary unit in the 1980s. The Vortex Flash Hider is used by the US Military on

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

s and

M16 rifle The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

s with the NATO Stock Number of NSN 1005-01-591-5825, PN 1001V.

M14 rifles

The Vortex Flash Hider has been used on the US Army's SOCCOM

M14 rifle The M14 rifle, officially the United States Rifle, Caliber 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire battle rifle chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 in) cartridge. It became the standard-issue rifle for the U.S. military in 1959, ...

as the SEI 2000V and was chosen because it reduces visible flash by 99%. Installation of the SEI 2000V requires removal of the factory front sight and shooters in need of a front sight for their rifle can replace the rifle's gas block with a unit from Smith that includes an attached front sight post. The Crazy Horse rifle and the

Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle The Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR) is an American military selective fire battle rifle, and a designated marksman rifle chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. It is a variant of the M14 rifle, M14 battle rifle and ...

(both made by SEI) utilize the M14 Vortex as well and the

Wind Talker sound suppressor The Wind Talker sound suppressor is a direct-connect sound suppressor made by Smith Enterprise Inc. for use by the US military on M14 rifles and M4 carbines that utilize a Vortex Flash Hider. It is an improvement over the older M14 Direct Connect (M ...

and its predecessor, the M14 Direct Connect, were designed to fit over the Vortex in a direct connect fashion.

50 caliber rifles and machine guns

In 2011

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane Division) is the principal tenant command located at Naval Support Activity Crane (NSA Crane). NSA Crane is a United States Navy installation located approximately southwest of Bloomingt ...

adopted the Vortex Flash Hider for use on 50 caliber machine guns and rifles after it was rated the number one suppressor in their test report. The testing performed by CRANE showed that the Vortex maintained a 95% flash reduction threshold through 10,000 rounds of machine gun fire and was proven to not adversely affect normal combat functions, weapon firing or cycling, or interfere with mechanical sights. The US Military's NATO Stock Number for this flash hider is NSN 1005-01-603-1401, PN 6021.

Other rifles and machineguns

Smith Enterprise manufactures the Vortex for a variety of other rifles such as the

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

HK91 The Heckler & Koch HK41 is a semi-automatic version of the Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle; it was produced by Heckler & Koch for the civilian market in the 1960s.

Steyr Aug The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG. It was adopted by the Austrian Arm ...

FN-FAL The FAL (a French acronym for (English: "Light Automatic Rifle")), is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal (simply known as FN). During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of th ...

and

Galil The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...

. Additionally, the company makes flash suppressors for installation on the

M240 machine gun The M240 – officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 – is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The M240 has been used by the U ...

and

M249 SAW The M249 light machine gun (LMG), also known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), which continues to be the manufacturer's designation, and formally written as Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the American adaptation of the Belgian F ...

with the NATO Stock Number 1005-01-600-857, PN 1041V. Vortex Flash Hiders can be installed on traditional bolt-action rifles and rifles such as the

Ruger 10/22 The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box ma ...

Ruger Mini-14 The Mini-14 is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. Introduced in 1973, it is based on the M14 rifle and is essentially a scaled-down version chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. It is made in a number of variants, inc ...

and Ruger Mini-30, if the barrel is cut for the appropriate threads.

References

{{reflist

External links

Smith Enterprise, Inc.Fox News 4 report on the Vortex Flash Hider
Firearm muzzle devices