As always, THANKS for the update! That Smith Enterprises flash hider is called a “Vortex” right? I’m thinking about installing them on a couple of the rifles that we have here. Where did you purchase yours if you don’t mind me asking? :-)
Yep, that's the Vortex flash hider from Smith Enterprises. Brownells sells a lot of SEI products, including most flash hiders. But after reading how much of the SEI product line is marked "limited or no civilian sales" due to all the government M14 work they are doing, I decided to buy the flash hider direct from them with a credit card. They have no online ordering, so you have to phone them.
Those people are doing God's work through the M14, and I figured they earned my full retail price. Brownells sells a lot of SEI stuff (they are the sole distributor for some of their products), but there is just so much more at their site to drool over.