Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Linear Compensators ?

So what's the scoop?
They've been around for awhile, do they help keep the muzzle noise down to a dull roar? My concern has been the potential of having to using the ar in the house before I get some hearing protection on, guessing it would be something of an experience.

They are more like a sound forwarding system. They can be much quieter than a regular muzzle brake. As we know, some muzzle brakes can be a lot more obnoxious than others. If you have one really noisy bastard, a linear comp may be for you. My girlfriend had an AR that she could not use because of the damn blast from the factory muzzle device. This was a Ruger AR 556 MPR I believe. I had to put a linear comp on it for her, just so she could shoot it. It did help that one tremendously. I don't think a lot of guys here use them, but I like them. I had an 18" barreled AR that was obnoxious as well and put a linear comp on it and it tamed it right down. I don't like getting gasses back in my face. Its hard on the eyes. Others are not bothered by it. I recently sold a 6x45 barrel and it had a Kaw Valley linear comp on it:


I'm currently running one on my 6.5 creedmoor:


You are likely not going to get a lot of feedback on these, as I don't think they are popular here.

I have Kaw Valley Precision linear comps on a 12” pistol and a 20” rifle, they work very well. I hunt with these two and I find a regular muzzle break (VG6 Gamma is my preferred) to be a little much if I’m not wear hearing protection.
peak98

I have a few of the Kaw Valley comps. As far as I’m concerned you can’t hunt with a standard muzzle break without hearing protection. It’s hard to get them on and communicate with partners while predator hunting. For me it’s either a linear comp/forwarder or a plain old thread protector especially with MSRs.

I have one on my coyote rifle for above reason.

Here’s an Ultradyne linear compensator on a Ruger AR556:





Does a pretty fair job of projecting noise and corruption forward. Don’t think it would be of much help indoors, though.

Witt Machine and Tool makes the best one I've tried.

It's a muzzle break with a screw on compensator.

It's made my .308 much, much, more comfortable to shoot, sound wise. Hunting hogs at night, I used to rattle people's windows at 2am, a mile away... But after installing this, I know for a fact the sound is directed downrange and behind the muzzle, especially with some distance, it's not near what the report would be without.

https://www.wittmachine.net/sme-sound-mitigation-equipment-slimline.html



I'll not shoot my .308 without it now.

Firing in the house you will never know the difference, your eardrums will be severely damaged either way.

I will add that my reason for choosing the Kaw Valley versus some of the others is the smooth end. Some of the forwarders/linear comps have very jagged ends with sharp points. I guess that looks Uber cool to the city slicker Rambo types but is a huge PIA when casing the rifle and I’m not looking to stab coyotes as they run by.

Compared to any sort of side or top ported muzzle brake, they are whisper quiet and will make a huge difference.

Compared to a bare muzzle or normal flash hider, the difference for me is pretty subtle. I have several Kaw Valleys, a Hera, a V7 Helios...probably some others I'm forgetting. Not sure I noticed a huge difference between any of them, and not sure I noticed a huge difference (sound wise) from a flash hider or bare muzzle.

I think I have the Hera on my 18" because I convinced myself I could hear a difference at the range, and I have a Kaw Valley on a 10.4" PS90...again because maybe I convinced myself?

I also shoot suppressed on just about everything anymore so that sort of sets the bar at a different place.

Unless you are running a decent sized suppressor, prepare for permanent hearing damage. A linear comp will do nothing except direct some small portion of the blast at the opposite wall, which will then direct it back to you. Even a 5" suppressor is loud in a shoot house. Though nothing like shooting unsuppressed.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll check out the different variants and see what I come up with. I didn't expect them to make things bearable indoors, it is what it is, but thought I'd check regardless.

I have a linear on a 7.5".
It's still loud, but I don't feel the concussion like with a flash hider.
It's a great flame thrower too !

I have linear comps on all my hunting ARs. The don't make the firearm any quieter but direct the blast and concussion forward away from the shooter. This lessens the precieved noise and concussion by the shooter and anyone else to the side(think range line). Good for range and hunting situations.

For your reasoning of wanting one for in the home, after doing many shoot houses, I think that the noise and concussion from such an indoor space would be about the same due to the echo effect and over pressure depending on room size. For your purpose I think a suppressor would be a better option.