Good Morning.
I have a 16" barrel on my AR. It came with the standard A2 birdcage type flash suppressor. For me, that setup was painfully loud. I put on the Levang and now it is just loud. There is a reduction in noice, but with the 16" barrel it's still loud.
I have not seen a shorter one than the one I got from Bownells.
As far as a downside, it may all be in my head, but I think my groups opened up a bit after going to the Levang. I'm not sure though. Accuracy is still adequate. If I remember right, another gentleman had a similar situation where his groups opened up too. He simply unscrewed the Levang, applied Lock tite and reapplied the Levang only he didn't torque it down, just left it hand tight.
Let us know how things turn out for you.
M
