What is a Compensator?Ī compensator is a type of muzzle device that works in a different way than a muzzle brake. Three gun shooters like muzzle brakes as they can allow for faster follow-up shots and a reduced recoil impulse. However, this is not always the case and they have been used successfully on rifles where a muzzle brake would have been uncommon even a decade ago.Ĭompetitive long range shooters tend to favor muzzle brakes, as the redirected gas and flash allow them to maintain a better sight picture. Originally, muzzle brakes were meant for use on calibers that generated a lot of felt recoil and they were commonly found on belted magnum rifle cartridges intended for big game or dangerous game hunting or bolt-action pistols chambered in 308 Winchester and 30-06 Springfield for use in handgun hunting.
This is typically a result of the other parties feeling the shockwave generated as opposed to the sound itself. In some cases, the shooter may find the report of the weapon to be louder but most of the time it is the other shooters in close proximity that will find the shots fired to be louder. The drawback to most muzzle brakes is that they can change the direction of the sound of the fired round. This tends to prolong the life of the suppressor. This is not the same as a sound baffle, which decreases the sound signature of the firearm, but rather that the brake takes the brunt of the muzzle blast and fired gasses as opposed to the baffles in the suppressor itself.
Some muzzle brakes, when used in conjunction with a suppressor, can act as a sacrificial blast baffle. Secondary benefits of muzzle brakes are byproducts of this as the reduction in felt recoil can aid the shooter with regard to accuracy and allow for faster follow up shots.
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Although construction varies, the primary identifying characteristic is a series of cuts that direct the burning gases and muzzle blast of a fired round away from the shooter and most often toward the side or 180 degrees from the muzzle itself.Īs most of the felt recoil from a firearm originates at the muzzle, this effort is primarily done to reduce recoil. a Compensator for Use with a SuppressorĪ muzzle brake is a device which threads onto the end of a firearm’s barrel. At any rate, it shows how official definitions can be changed or overlooked over time. This may have had more to do with the bottom port on that muzzle device being sealed or solid to prevent a Marine from raising dust or sand while firing from the prone position. Ironically, when the author served on active duty with the United States Marine Corps, the “A2 flash hider,” as it is known today, was referred to as the rifle’s compensator. Some come equipped with thread protectors and many come with a muzzle device.Īlthough the included muzzle device is typically a flash suppressor, some jurisdictions cling to antiquated and ill-informed laws that regard these devices as an “evil feature,” whereas a muzzle brake or compensator is perfectly legal.
This has recently extended to bolt-action and lever-action rifles more commonly found in the hunting as opposed to the tactical arena. Most rifle barrels in the past several years have come threaded from the factory so the shooter can add a muzzle device such as a muzzle brake or a compensator.
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