Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Linear compensators, quieter??

That's been my experience as well. However, someone posted something about one that actually cut the decibels down quite a bit, in another thread. I don't know if it's true, as I had not tried that brand. There's really no difference between a linear comp, and non threaded barrel. But there is a substantial difference between a loud brake and a linear comp. Keeping in mind, that with a linear comp, the felt recoil may be a little more, than what a brake would be as well. My reasons for getting one would be to get rid of the concussion and noise, both to the shooter and people to the sides of the shooter. I've shot some matches where guys are using an obnoxious brake, and I just step aside, let them shoot, then when they are done, quickly throw my 10 downrange. My buddy's AR10 308 with the VG 6 Epsilon Brake is obnoxious like that.

I'm curious to know what differences you find!

I've no use for a muzzle brake but I did swap a flash hider for a L.C. I never measured the sound difference, before and after but it was cheap so why not switch.

Is it actually quieter than a flash hider or is it the placebo affect?

I wonder if adding a 3" bloop tube/L.C./ flash can, is quieter than a barrel that's 3" longer?

Is it just marketing a way to move the blast a bit further from your face?
(should I have bought a longer barrel?)

Let us know what you find with testing!

I shoot with plugs as a bare minimum regardless.

If it drops the decibels the ATF is gonna call it a suppressor and want to see your tax stamp. The long sound moderator the old XM177 used is in fact a suppressor and does nothing more than barely take the bite off the bark.

What they will do is make you cuss any and all brakes that direct the concussion back to you.

But as stated if you want to shoot without ear pro, get a suppressor, comps aren’t gonna do it. Ever.

"Linear compensator" is just some dumb name that someone came up with because they had to call it something. A "blast forwarding device" would be more descriptive of what they do. And yes, they DO work. They do not lower the total sound level, but they DO direct it forward, at least a little, so to the shooter's ears, the decibels are lower. Not much, but a little.

I can DEFINITELY tell a difference between a bare muzzle and the device in place. Again, with something like a 9mm carbine the difference is quite dramatic. On a .223 rifle, it is much less so, unfortunately. But still, it does make a difference. I can shoot an AR with the KAK "flash can" without ear plugs, and I'm ok, though I would prefer to not do it for very long. Bare muzzled, I don't really want to shoot it even once, though I can.

My flash can should be here in a few days and I will definitely test it with a decibel meter against no muzzle device, flash hider, and might even throw a brake on there just for fun.
Not looking to shoot with no ear pro but want to do what I can in case hunting and possibly have to take a quick shot with no ear protection.