Gentry's brake has the vents angled SLIGHTLY away from the shooter. This makes a little difference but not much (and has been tested). Some other brakes have the same feature.
That said, there isn't much that can be done with a conventional muzzle brake to make it a heck of a lot quieter, though some are definitely louder than others.he loudest I have ever experienced was the original brake on the Browning BOSS. Man, that sucker would blow out a stone monkey's ears, even if they were plugged and muffed.
A number of years ago, Gentry designed a thin covering for his brake. This allowed the inital gas to escape normally, but then it was re-directed toward the muzzle. He brought it up to my place to test it one day. It was a LOT quieter--but didn't reduce recoil much! Which is probably the reason he never brought it out.
MD
