Ever since I first laid eyes on the Opsgear Dishka, I've had this wild hair to make my A-5 is loud as possible. I've been running with an 8" Lapco Bigshot for a while now. Being a minimally ported, short barrel, the Bigshot does add quite a bit of volume as well as being a sturdy and good looking barrel for my CQB setup.

Anyway, I must have had $35 burning a hole in my pocket, so I recently picked up the Dishka. The package from Opsgear included the Dishka, set screw, and an allen wrench for the screw. Major props to Opsgear for providing a tool to attach the Dishka! My initial impression was that it was ugly, but I already knew that. It appears to be modeled on a Russian flash suppressor altho I don't know if that was intentional or a consequence of designing a barrel tip that was loud.



My second impression, which closely followed the first, was that it was BIG! It was impossble to gauge how big it was on the Opsgear site as it is in the above picture. Here it is next to my 8" Lapco Bigshot for comparison.



For those of you not familiar with the Bigshot, it's a pretty substantial barrel. The walls of the barrel have quite a bit of materal which gives the barrel some heft. I really didn't like how puny it looked next to the Dishka, and I started to wonder if I had made a mistake at this point but decided to push forward.

I have to apoligize for the blurriness of the next picture. If you look closely, there's a lip of material inside of the Dishka where the openning narrows. It's positioned right behind the funnel section of the Dishka. This lip of material acts as a stop for the tip of the barrel.



The internal diameter of the Bigshot and the lip of material are pretty much the same. Using my finger I could barely feel a seam where the two pieces met. I don't expect any problems at all.

Next is a picture of the Bigshot inserted all the way into the Dishka. The barrel tip is against the lip of material inside of the Dishka.



The Dishka is designed to fit a 1" outer diameter (OD) barrel, altho there is an optional adapter sleeve (not included) to fit 7/8" OD barrel. The Bigshot's tip is 1" OD that abruptly tapers to what I'm guessing is 7/8" OD where the porting begins. The Dishka fits smoothly over the tip of the Bigshot. Unfortunately the collar section of the Diska (that ribbed section behind the funnel) extends past the 1" OD tip of the Bigshot and covers most of the porting. If you look closely, you can see part of the last row of ports exposed. In this configuration, the set screw is situated right above the ports. Since the porting is in the 7/8" OD section of the barrel, there's a bit of a gap between the inside diameter of the Dishka (which is 1") and the outside diameter of this section of the Bigshot (which I guess is 7/8"). I supsect any barrel breaks would probably deposit some hard to remove paint in this gap.



As you can see in the above pic, I decided to move the Dishka forward of the porting and tapered section. I think this has a much better and cleaner look. Unfortunately sliding the Diska forward creates some issues inside the Dishka. Remember the lip of material that acts as a barrel stop inside the Dishka? With it slid forward, there's now a gap between the lip and the end of the barrel that will easily collect broken bits of paint and will probably be impossible to clean in the field with a squeegy. Also, I'm not sure what this gap would do to the sonic quality of the Dishka if anything.

Having finished dry fitting the Dishka, I concluded that I had two choices. I could cut off a bit of the collar so it would look like the above pic but with the barrel fully inserted. This of course would require drilling a new hole for the set screw as well as tapping new threads. I think this would be the best mod as far as looks as well as preserving the sonic qualities of the Dishka. Unfortunately, I don't have the tools to tap the new threads so I had to go with a second option which is to use black electrical tape to close off the porting as well as to build up that tapered section to close off any gaps and get a good fit. This approach has the benefit of protecting the finish of the Bigshot from the set screw and improving the fit as well as making the barrel even louder by sealing off the ports.

Since only one set screw is used to secure the Dishka onto the barrel, I decided it would prudent to snug up the fit to keep it from sliding off the barrel in case the set screw became loose. A 1" square piece of black electrical tape (applied to the side of the 1" OD section of barrel) was all that was needed to achieve a snug fit. I then built up the section over the ports to achive a good fit. The Dishka now stays in place without the set screw. I then applied some blue locktite to the set screw and screwed it in to place.

The remaining shots are of the Dishka-Bigshot combo mounted on my A-5. I haven't had a chance to test fire and probably won't do so for another week or so. The Opsgear page previously stated that the Dishka made the A-5 sound vary similar to a .45 ACP being fired. Assuming it's even remotely comes close to that claim...it's not exactly something I want to fire off in my backyard! Even more so with an R/T! (hehehehe...).

Now that it's done and I've looked at it a bit, it's kinda growing on me. With the barrel fully seated in the Dishka, the total length of the barrel is now 9.5". I still think trimming down the collar would have made it look less bulky on such a short barrel. I'm sure it would look just fine on a longer barrel. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course, but chances are that if you are thinking of getting a Dishka it's for function and not fashion.





edit: for clarity

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Hmm, looks interesting. I wasn't familiar with this product until I read this, and being the owner of a bigshot, I now know that I will have mounting issues and what it will look like if I ever get this item.

You'll have to report back after you field test it.

Rep for you. Thanks for the good writeup.

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Loud and proud!

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AMEN!!!!

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Just a quick follow up. I finally got to play with the Dishka yesterday. It was noticebly louder...to the point where I had a slight ringing in my right ear after a few shots. I might have to switch my radio earpiece to that ear in the future for a little protection. Overall, it was great. It didn't have any affect the performance of the Big Shot which is good. Of course, everyone noticed and commented on the loudness. This is definitely not a mod for those who are shy! I'm happy with it.

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We need to get a "loud and Proud" group on here!

I have so much fun with me flatline-ed Dishka. @30 bps, I is the awsomest sounding gun I have ever heard!

Are you running semi?

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

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sounds like fun

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No you can see his R/T in the pics.

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Your right, I missed it.

Any one know how to set up a group? like the "dog legs of war"?

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I'm a Christian baller. Put this in your sig. if you are. ____________*Loud & Proud* group, click here! http://www.a5og.net/5-mods-upgrades/...ggestions.html

Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

"I'm sorry; I have a cold" John Cleese

pretty sure we don't have the privileges to setup groups. You would need a admin to create one I'm sure.

If anyone can get there hands on a decibel meter I think this thread could be even more fun

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