Manufacturer Surefire has formally announced a new variant of their successful Warcomp combination flash hider/compensator. The new muzzle device, called the Warcomp 556 CTN, sports a closed six tine “birdcage” style flash hider configuration, versus the original Warcomp’s open three tine configuration. This change is highly reminiscent of the change from the M16’s initial production three tine flash hider to the six tine A1 “birdcage” flash hider, which led to the now familiar four tine closed bottom A2 flash hider.

Unveiled to a limited audience as early as late last year, the Warcomp 556 CTN was reportedly developed at the request of a military unit that wanted the same combination of flash suppression and compensation that the Warcomp provides, but with a snag free closed profile. The possibility of the open tines snagging on gear and jungle foliage was also the reason for the move from the three prong early M16 flash hider to the birdcage typical of rifles from the latter Vietnam War period.

The Warcomp 556 CTN evidently does not suppress flash quite as well as its open tine counterpart, as seen in the video embedded below. However, this is not unexpected: Open tine designs do generally suppress flash better, due to the different way they handle escaping gases at the muzzle. Therefore, the closed tine design should be considered to trade off the best possible flash suppression for a snag free profile.