Some compensators will be designed similar to a muzzle break just with more upwards or angled facing ports, while others will have ports facing in all directions. Of course, compensators will help to reduce recoil, but they’re mostly popular on AR15 type or other firearms where recoil isn’t a huge issue to begin with. A compensator will be the best muzzle device type for reducing muzzle movement and muzzle rise, helping to keep you on target.

Where the main goal of a muzzle break is to reduce recoil with some added benefits of reducing muzzle rise and muzzle movement, a compensators goals are swapped.Īlthough a compensator works in the same ways as a muzzle device, reducing recoil is not its primary function. I mean very loud, no one wants to stand next to you.Like this Precision Armament Severe Duty Muzzle Brake with large side ports and smaller upwards ports for some reduced muzzle rise. I recommend Muzzle Brakes with side ports if your goal is to reduce recoil as much as possible. This is why the terms compensator and muzzle break are so often interchangeable. However, they do make muzzle breaks with angled or ports on the top of the device which can also reduce muzzle rise and movement on top of recoil. Angled Ports – Reduce recoil, muzzle rise, and muzzle movement.Upwards Ports – Reduce muzzle rise and recoil.Side Ports – Reduce recoil and sideways muzzle movement.The gasses leaving the barrel in this way will pull the firearm forward, working against the natural backwards motion of the weapon, causing the shooter to feel less recoil. The muzzle brake is connected to the end of barrel and will direct some of the expelled gasses to the sides, backwards, or upwards to reduce recoil and muzzle rise. Just keep in mind that many shooters will call a comp a muzzle brake and vice versa. I say almost because there are differences unique to each. The term muzzle brake and compensator are almost interchangeable now. I recommend the Noveske Flash Suppressor if you’d like to reduce flash, and some noise on the firing line. I’ve gotten them here, Flash Hiders from OpticsPlanet for under 10 dollars on multiple occasions. But that’s not the only type of flash hider available.īirdcage type flash hiders are the most common, least expensive, and easiest to find flash hiders available. You’ll most likely see a ‘birdcage’ type flash hider on a standard AR and it’s the same flash hider used by the military on the M16 and M4. That way, a large expanding gas bubble is never formed in the first place. The hot gasses expand rapidly, creating a bubble which is illuminated.įlash hiders work by disrupting this bubble from being formed in the first place, by dissipating the gasses into different directions. The muzzle flash is not actually unburned powder leaving the barrel, instead it’s caused by the extremely hot gasses meeting with cooler air. This is the most common type of muzzle device because most AR type weapons come with one from the factory. Flash hiders are designed to reduce the amount of flash seen from the end of the barrel when firing.

Barrel shroud flash hider