07-07-2020, 06:54 PM
SDW Wrote:Interesting subject. Apparently, a slight reduction in sound (compared to the same gun with a bar muzzle) heard by the shooter is measurable using decibel meters. But I am a little puzzled as to why. I often read the "reason" explained as "it directs the blast forward". But I don't believe sound works that way. I mean, what would do that better than a bare muzzle, right? Maybe swap out that linear compensator for four more inches of barrel? It would still be loud AF. Once it leaves the muzzle and enters "our world", the blast goes in all directions. I did read one explanation that made a little more sense. Something about the LC behaving like an expansion chamber. The blast is still in a tube, but the tube got a lot fatter, maybe taking away some of the energy? I don't understand it well enough to explain it well at all I'm afraid.
This is what I wonder as well. I would love to see a comparison of the barrels & devices listed below to measure the volume and "blast" experienced with each of the following:
- 12" barrel with a range of linear compensators
- 12" barrel with bare muzzle
- 14-16" barrel (roughly equivalent to the length of the 12" barrel + linear comps) with a bare muzzle
I suspect that most linear compensators do little to actually mitigate the soundwaves versus a bare muzzle, but I don't know enough about the physics of gas expansion to do anything but speculate. I have a handful of thread protectors and muzzle devices that I've tried over the years, but I haven't really felt the need to go for a linear compensator over a bare muzzle yet.
If the benefit could be measured & quantified, I might consider it. But as far as I can see, it seems like linear comps are a mostly cosmetic choice to make an AR pistol look like a Honey Badger, which I'll admit looks pretty dang cool. But if a longer barrel is about as loud (from the shooter's perspective) as the shorter barrel + linear comp, I'd rather have the additional velocity from the extra barrel length.