Surefire Warden Review

There is not a lot of information out there on Surefire’s highly anticipated Warden. I know because I’ve been searching for any information on it since it was shown at the 2015 SHOT show.

What is the Warden? It is a blast regulator designed to attach to Surefire SOCOM Muzzlebrakes to take all of the concussion and side blast and channel it forward in front of the barrel. For those who don’t know what a muzzlebrake is or how it works; it isn’t pleasant to be near someone shooting one because you’ll be blasted with an obnoxious amount of concussion coming from it. The purpose of a muzzlebrake is to reduce and eliminate muzzle rise and recoil, allowing for better accuracy and quicker follow up shots. Some public ranges, especially indoor ranger, will not allow rifles equipped with a muzzlebrake.

There are many similar devices out there: Ferfrans CRD (Concussion Reduction Device) and Griffin Armament QD Blast Shield. Both of those devices work well according to friends who have them. Those devices are proprietary and will work with their specific muzzlebrakes.
The Warden is highly anticipated because a lot of people run Surefire’s muzzlebrake on their rifles. They showed one off at the 2015 SHOT show and since then there hasn’t been much information on it. I called Surefire and was able to preorder one back in early June and was told it would ship at the end of July. July, came and went then it was end of August, then it was the third week of September. I finally got mine last week. I was patient and with all new products, I understood that it takes time to get a new product out in the market.
I got my Warden in FDE to match most of my rifles’ furniture. The very nice feature of the Warden is that it is Multi- Caliber compatible so it works on both my AR and my SCAR 17. I have the Surefire Warcomp on my SCAR 17 and it attaches quickly, you just line it up with the notch on the muzzle device and then twist the ring until it ratchets on all the way.

I found out that my Surefire muzzlebrake on my LWRC M6A2 was a legacy brake (MB556K) and not a SOCOM brake since it didn’t have the notch. I was still able to attach it and once it was on, it was solid.

I was able to test it out at the range. I first shot the M6A2 with just the muzzlebrake. There was hardly any felt recoil at all and no muzzle rise. I then cleared the weapon and attached the Warden, checking to make sure it was aligned then shot a single round to make sure it stayed on and didn’t shift. I cleared it again to check on alignment. It was good so between me and my friends, we unleashed about a hundred rounds through it.

With the Warden attached, there was a slight increase in recoil, but there was no more side blast or concussion. It however did shoot a visible cone shaped flash in front of it, much like that of the Noveske Flaming Pig linear compensator. The flash was not visible to the shooter.

After a few magazine were empty, it was too hot to touch. I noticed that the Warden would rotate around the muzzle when I made quick checks to see if it was still secure. It was still aligned with the barrel and other than a rotating motion, it was still secured. We shot another set of magazines without any issue.
Since it was too hot touch, I wasn’t able to transfer it over to the SCAR 17. I don’t expect it to do anything to improve the performance on the SCAR because the Warcomp is mainly a flash hider with compensator ports at the top. It would probably negate the function of those ports. I will test fire it anyhow at the next time I’m at the range just to know for sure.

The Warden works as advertised and it is a great solution for everyone who runs a Surefire Muzzlebrake and cannot obtain a suppressor. It is not a suppressor and not an NFA regulated item. It makes all rifles equipped with a muzzlebrake much more practical to use for Law Enforcement, home defense and for anyone who wants to shoot it at a public range without irritating everyone around them.