I have tried for years to get into the habit of using muzzle caps on my ARs, but it seems that I often unintentionally shoot through them or leave them on the range. When I first saw the Guardian Muzzle Cap from Strike Industries, I thought it might be a solution to at least half of my problems with muzzle caps.
Overview
Guardian Muzzle Caps are fairly simple devices. They are made from a single piece of flexible, rubber-like material. The cap part is ridged and flared to give you a good grip when you need to remove it. The muzzle end of the cap is also noticeably thinner than other parts of the cap to provide shoot-through capability. There is a retainer ring extends out from the cap and sits loosely on the barrel. The ring allows you to remove the cap but keep the muzzle cap hanging from your barrel for future use.
Observations from Use
I used the Guardian Muzzle Cap much like I would a normal black plastic muzzle cap with one exception. Instead of removing it completely, I just left it hanging from the barrel. It sounds like a small difference but I haven’t lost track of one yet and I can’t say that about my other muzzle caps.
The Guardian Muzzle Cap fits extremely tightly. In fact, it is probably too tight. They do loosen up a bit over time and, like any other muzzle caps, they benefit from a couple of drops of lube. They fit tightly enough that they require some effort to remove which means they often come flying all the way off the barrel in your hand. Then you have to put it back on to hang it from the barrel. That can be a little annoying.
If you don’t like how the Guardian hangs from your barrel, you can wedge it somewhere out of the way.
The hanging Guardian Muzzle Cap really doesn’t seem to get in the way as much as you might think. In fact, because it is so flexible, I found that it can be tucked into the front sight base to secure it. You don’t need to leave it flapping in the breeze. Just be careful that you don’t wedge it between the barrel and your free float hand guard (or anything mounted on your free float hand guard like a flashlight) as this will change your zero.
If you have an SBR, Dissipator, or any other configuration where there isn’t much barrel in front of the front sight base, the Guardian may not work perfectly. It is flexible enough to fit on shorter barrels but it might not be ideal.
This dissipator upper has enough barrel in front of the front sight base to utilize the Guardian.
Wrap Up
The Guardian Muzzle Guard solves a problem for me. I haven’t lost one yet. It certainly does what it is intended to do. Check out the Guardian Muzzle Guard on StrikeIndustries.com.
Disclosure: The Guardian Muzzle Guards were provided to me free of charge for review by Strike Industries.
