I am looking for the most effective comp on the market. I don't care about muzzle flash reduction or noise directed back at the shooter, I just want the best recoil reduction I can get.  What are my options?

JP Howitzer/Sherman Tank Muzzle Brake





 

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PursuitSS

http://www.multigun.com/articles/

this is a great test from the USPSA/IPSC monthly magazine,  by Pat Kelley

http://www.multigun.com/articles/pkcompensation.pdf

Supposedly the KAC Triple Tap reduces recoil by somewhere between 40-60% (still can't find actually specs from KAC) while directing the blast forward and away from those who may be shooting next to you therefore keeping everyone else next to you happy. It's extremely expensive (about $425). I haven't had a chance to try mine out yet since it's on my SBR upper and I'm still waiting for the tax stamp to come back. I'm just basing this off of how it's supposed to perform and the reports of others

I've shot the KAC comp back to back with the PWS FSC556 and the PWS is better at reducing recoil and movement.....and it costs A LOT less.

I don't have one yet but check Spike's Tactical Warthog.

I don't know if it's the best, but I really like the PWS FSC 556, and it seems to be a very popular comp being used.  I heard the DNTC works a little better than the FSC, but I haven't tried it so take it for what it's worth.

I've heard they are pretty similar in recoil reduction by some but haven't compared personally. I've heard the blast from the FSC556 is much worse though. I hate being next to someone

with a comp that blast out to the sides so I paid the extra for the Triple Tap. It may not be worth the price to most but it was worth it to me.

FYI: I believe that the tank break is only legal for open class when it comes to 3-gun/ Multigun.....

PTK

I believe that's correct. Being that they are banned from most competitions, that ought to speak VOLUMES about how effective they are!

PursuitSS

The blast from the PWS556 is minimal, no more than the KAC.  The Surefire is great but it's loud and has a lot more blast than the KAC or PWS.  The KAC is nice, i've shot a few (including Costa's) but I personally prefer the FSC.  Both do the job...

There is no doubt in my mind on this one - SJC Titan.  It's fucking unbelievable.  My double taps during matches are now just hammers.  That thing keeps the gun so flat that I don't have to take the time to acquire a second sight picture.  Once I'm on target, my muzzle doesn't flip AT ALL.

http://www.cpwsa.com/s_&_j_customs.htm

Yep, what he said.

Here is some video off the comp in action.

Titan compensator in action

So is the sjc comp better than the TTI eliminator?

NO.

There no such thing as the best comp! There are to many variables that will change how effective a comp is. For example: I switched form "the best" open comp (JP Tank Brake) to a PRI MSTN brake and never looked back... The problem is to find out what you like the best and what is the best for your rifle (and shooting style).

Fore the money the DPMS Miculek comp is a great deal and a good start.

Front sight magazine just showed that the least amount of movement occured using an Arendondo (sp?) and reduced recoil by 60% or so.

In my experience the TTI comps are outstanding.  Prior to designing the Titan comp, I used a TTI comp.  I found the TTI comps needed a little more tuning to get a neutral return, but once that was done, they are excellent designs.

USSA-1

My vote goes to the Titan. Been using one in competition since it came out. Can't find anything better. A couple come close...but not better. I own at least one of every comp on the market and have compared them on many rifles and recorded results. I find it to be the most effective comp available. But obviously YMMV.

Here is a video of the Noveske Shooting Team in action and all are running the SJC Titan

A2 birdcage .I do not find 5.56 to be so uncontrollable that I need a special Compensator .But a good question for the AR10 .

For competitive shooters, it's a very valid question.  When fractions of a second matter, the difference is night and day.  Thanks for your oh-so-helpful reply, though.  

Well i didnt respond to this thread as some kind of joke but as a person who has owned Ar's since the early 90's and shot 10's of thousands of rounds and i have used different compensators .To me there just isnt that great of a difference .But for the money i guess i would recommend a phantom 52C.

I think you might have compensators(muzzle brakes) confused with flash hiders.

Thay actually work fairly well for muzzle climb .

I got two of the FSC556 that mate with the G5/SpecWar2 suppressors and have been surprised at their effectiveness.
An excellent choice if suppressor use is also desired.

Walli,
I assume you're referring to the PRI/MSTN Quiet Comp.  If so, how does blast (for the shooter) compare to the Miculek.  I was happy with the Miculek's performance, but the blast was too disorienting for me.  If you've also used the PWS FSC556, I'd appreciate some feedback on that one too.

I'm not Walli but I do have a ton of testing experience amongst various comps. The PRi/MSTN has about the same amount of blast as the Miculek. The FSC is pretty manageable in blast. The worst blast comes from the TTi and the Titan. They are horrendous. But they also work awesome.
The BWA X comp sounds much like the FSC and works about as good but doesn't do as good of a job at flash suppression so my pick would go to the FSC. For tactical and work guns...I prefer the FSC. Its pretty damn impressive for what it does.

There is a new test just out in the new "Front Sight" IPSC Magazine that I just got.  They tested more than a dozen comps.  I only wish they had tested my new Surefire comp.

So far one of the best objective attempts at such a subjective perception.

Thanks for the feedback.  

It'll be going on the rifle I use for 3-gun.  What's the point of an amazing comp that makes me feel physically ill after shooting it, ya know?  I just need something more than the 5C2 I have now.

I also see the FSC is available for QD suppressor use.  

This month's Front Sight has an even better article on them showing muzzle flip.

Looked to my like this: PWS DNTC, Arredondo, McArthur PGRS-1, Middlebrooks Jet Comp, DPMS Miculek, TTI Recoil Eliminator, Triangle Rolling Thunder, Nordi's two entries etc etc.Very good article.

ETA: I realize a lot of guys think the .223 is not worthy of a comp. If you shoot competitions, double taps are a Hellva lot quicker with a comp and you hits are a hellva lot better as well.

Those two reasons can also migrate into home defense and general shooting as well.





Bill

For me as a shooter and being the one behind the gun....I don't notice the blast. I have good molded earplugs that do like 40+db reduction. They help alot. The advantage of the Titan in competition is too great for me to let a little blast bother me. Sometimes blast is a good thing. Keeps the RO's away from you. Take a look at the two comp offerings from Nordic componenets too. They have less blast than most comps and are pretty effective. Especially given their rather small size.

While a good objective attempt.....not hardly in the correct order. Too many variables not accounted for.

ETA my opinion on order based on my testing and feel..

SJC Titan
TSS Rolling Thunder
Surfire
TTI
Miculek and Middlebrooks
Nordic Corvette
PWS DNTC
Cooley
Nordic Tactical
Dreadnaught F2
Arredondo

 

While he did not rate the comps, he did include the photos of the laser attached to the barrel which showed the muzzle flip.
Based on those photos I listed the comps in the order that I percieved then to be. I was surprised how well the PWS did, flat as hell.





Bill

OK.....realize he is shooting offhand at a distance of 12 feet from the target. Still shows too much subjectivity for a test to have rock solid results.

The laser was his way to trace the arc of recoil and muzzle rise but it also incorporated his pre shot wobble zone from shooting offhand as well as trigger press from a stock mil spec trigger and finally captures his post shot follow through. All done offhand after giving the command to his wife to trigger the shutter on the camera.
The laser was captured while the shutter on a camera was triggered and remained open for 1/2 second.

The laser was zip tied to a smooth free float tube and aimed at a black square 12 feet away. Picture was also taken from 12 feet.

There is no one "best" brake because there is no single AR config. Each rifle has different recoil characteristics that depend on the load, barrel length, weight, carrier weight, buffer weight, and a variable that I haven't quite tracked down yet, but I think it has to do with the squareness of the back of the buffer tube. Some lowers (yes, it's the lower) will cause the muzzle to jump to the right on recoil no matter what brake you have on (or how you turn it, what ammo you use, shoot with a naked muzzle, or if you use a silencer.) or how you hold it.

Anyway, what you need to do to get the best recoiling AR is to pick up a few of the top brakes listed in this thread and shoot them, paying careful attention to what your sights do during recoil. It is difficult and not even desirable to keep the gun perfectly level during recoil, but you can get it to return naturally very quickly back to the target.

I've settled on the Miculek with a 16" barrel, rifle extension, and rifle buffer with a full auto carrier. When I get some cash for a lighter carrier I'll have to modify this but it works awesome as it is. The Miculek isn't the best at taming muzzle jump but THAT'S OK, because when the carrier slams back into battery, it puts the muzzle right back down on the target. If the muzzle was already perfectly level when the carrier started forward, the front sight would dip down and I'd have to raise it back on target. Serious 3 gun shooters run a light carrier and buffer set up to minimize this.

That is awesome. [runs off to get a copy of Front Sight...]

Actually most don't as to not give up any reliability. I know a large group of serious,top placing shooters that do not run lightened reciprocating mass.

How do I subscribe?  Their website doesn't have a subscribe button that I could see.

Anyone scan the article yet?

Link to article on the Brian Enos Forum

I'll look at Nordic's stuff too, thanks.

For me, the issue isn't the volume of the brake - my ears are fine.  The blast that I find disorienting is from the concussion of the shot.  I feel it in my head, my sinuses, my teeth.  Surprising, since my wife says I have a thick head.  

This new article in Front Sight looks interesting.

I love mine

I will have to go back and re-read the article as I thought the laser test was done in the sled as well as the recoil test.

Only the recoil test was done in the sled. That seems like a pretty objective test with decent results. I'm just not satisfied with the other half of the test. Still too subjective....but a neat try at an objective test method.

that's what I thought too,    . . . . but   I just looked and it does say "offhand"

I really liked both these articles.

For now,  I'm keeping my $30 Jerry Miculek Comp.

When it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of rifle comps there are two primary effects to evaluate.  How close to neutral is the muzzle rise and how soft is the recoil.

Just about any rifle comp design on the market can keep the muzzle relatively neutral.  Rifle cartridges have such a large volume of gas at relativly high pressures that even a poorly designed compensator will still keep the rifle muzzle in a relatively neutral position.  The real question is how much recoil does the comp mitigate or in layman's terms, How soft does the rifle shoot with the compensator.  To really evaluate the effectiveness of a certain compensator, the trick is to shoot it from a very poorly balanced shooting position, not from a solid, squared up stance.  As it's been stated before, the .223 is a very light recoiling rifle.  If you get a good, aggressive shooting stance, you are doing the work of the compensator through your stance and just about all of the comps will be pretty effective.  Try shooting the different designs from a very off balance shooting position (i.e.- standing on one foot leaning around a barricade.)  In this position, even the slightest bit of recoil can move you off the target substantially.  This is where compensator's "earn their money."  The softer the recoil, the less movement and energy that is transferred to your body and the easier it will be to maintain your balance.  The better you maintain your balance, the quicker and more accurate your successive shots will be from that shooting position.  The Titan compensator was designed to maximize this effect.  It has three large baffles that trap the expanding gas and while most comps on the market vent the gas at a 90 degree angle, the Titan's ports have a 30 degree back angle.  This back angle vectors the expanding gases on such an angle so as to use the gases like jet thrusters to pull the rifle forward away from your shoulder, making the rifle very soft to shoot.  If you read the previously mentioned article, you will notice the Titan was tied as the most effective design at reducing reward recoil.  That's what is was designed to do.  That's what makes it the best and most effective comp on the market....IMHO (but then again I'm a bit biased )

USSA-1

Jerry Miculek was running (may still be) a Progressive Machine & Tool TITANIUM bolt carrier at 5.1 ounces.

I did a review of this carrier, here is a LINK

Also, I've heard (I don't shoot 3 gun) that J.P. Enterprises OWNS 3 gun, they market a lightweight carrier aimed at 3 gun matches.

PursuitSS

There are a number of videos on Youtube that show how effective this comp is. Bias is ok, as long as it's justifiable