7 Best AR-15 Muzzle Brakes – 2024 Buyers Guide

Most AR-15s come with some type of muzzle device. It could be a flash hider or an AR-15 compensator; muzzle brakes are the most common. There are also combinations of two of the three. In this article, we will focus on the Best Muzzle Brakes and compensator/muzzle brake hybrids. The primary function of a muzzle brake is to lower and limit recoil and muzzle rise by redirecting gasses that escape from the muzzle of your gun.

Guide To Buying The Best Muzzle Device For AR-15

Here’s our list of the best muzzle brakes on the market today. Whatever you need, we’re sure you’ll it below.

What is A Muzzle Brake?

Muzzle devices use chambers and baffles (holes on the side and/or top of the device) to disperse the gasses that come out of the barrel when the bullet is fired in such a way as to lower the recoil felt by the shooter.

After the cartridge is fired, as the gasses leave the barrel, they exit through the baffles on the side of the muzzle brake and are directed backward, pushing the gun forward, significantly lowering the recoil, but not fully eliminating it.

There are multiple devices you can attach to your barrel in order to increase your accuracy and shooting comfort.

Besides muzzle brakes, there are flash hiders and compensators.

• Flash hiders, as its name suggests, limit your flash signature and are best suited to be used in low light conditions or during the night.
• AR-15 compensators limit muzzle climb after the bullet is ejected from the muzzle.

Most current muzzle device producers also make hybrids, which are combinations of two device types. The default A2 flash hider used by the military which comes as the default muzzle device on most AR-15s also works as a compensator because the ports at the top of the device push the barrel downwards.

Why You Should Upgrade Your AR-15 Muzzle Brake

You’ve probably asked yourself what is one of the most significant improvements you could do in order to increase your accuracy and lower recoil. Why install a muzzle brake, when AR-15 firing a light 556 or 223 round is already using a system of buffers and recoil springs that do the job really well already?

A lot of AR15 shooters choose to upgrade their muzzle devices in order to reduce recoil even further, lessen muzzle climb or limit your flash signature when firing in low visibility conditions.

The army and police are the first groups to come to mind when considering who would greatly benefit because, during shootouts and other high-stress situations, the ability to quickly reacquire their target after each shot usually decides who will return home that day. Hunters are also naturally interested in upgrading their muzzle devices, because most of them use calibers larger than 556, so reduced recoil and flash means more confidence that their shots will end up on their target.

For tactical and competitive shooters, often involved in speed shooting competitions, the advantage of being able to acquire their targets faster, even for a split of a second means they could see a great advantage in improving their muzzle brakes.

Difference Between Muzzle Brakes, Compensators, and Flash Suppressors

Novice shooters often have difficulty telling the difference between the myriad of muzzle devices out there on the market, which is completely understandable because the differences are subtle and hard to identify.

FLASH HIDERS

• Flash hiders (or a flash suppressor), in short, manipulate explosive gases that leave the barrel of the rifle after the bullet is ejected in order to reduce or eliminate the flash signature.
• Especially useful for people who are shooting in low visibility conditions or at night, or for military personnel on assignment, where a large flash can expose their position to their adversaries. Night blindness is also avoided, improving the ability to focus on the target.
• The downside of a flash suppressor is that they don’t offer reduced recoil or muzzle climb, and during normal activities or during the day, the flash hider becomes an unnecessary dead weight.

COMPENSATORS

• A Compensator is a muzzle device that has gas ports along its top side, so when gas exits the device it pushes the muzzle downward, thereby counteracting natural muzzle rise and keeping the rifle in the same position.
• After each consecutive shot you make, you won’t have such difficulty reacquiring your target. This is because the compensator keeps the barrel on the target, giving you tighter groups.
• The downside of AR-15 compensators is that they can be loud, much louder than normal, and they don’t offer flash suppression.

MUZZLE BRAKES

• What does a muzzle brake do? Muzzle Brakes use baffles, or large ports, located on their sides to push gases backward from the muzzle, thereby pushing the entire rifle forward, mitigating the effect of recoil.
• Most modern muzzle brakes lower the recoil by 50% or more. Shooters who have high-caliber rifles find this extremely useful, but it is also extremely useful for novice shooters as well as people of a slighter build who can’t control their rifles so easily.
• The advantages are obviously reduced recoil. As such, the best muzzle decives let users shoot heavier caliber weapons.
• Most muzzle brakes offer some reduction in muzzle climb, too.
• On the negative side, the noise coming from a rifle that uses a brake is substantial, on the range and indoors, so it is not recommended to use one in situations of home defense unless you have also invested in a good set of earplugs.

AR-15 Muzzle Brake Installation

Disassembly and reassembly should follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Depending on the manufacturer, there are multiple ways to mount a muzzle brake, but the basics of all of them are the same.

A crush washer is not a washer per se, it’s more like a cone-shaped spring, and as the name suggests they are designed to be crushed when pressure is applied to them, creating a lock between the device and the barrel shoulder. If you want a muzzle device that doesn’t need to be fiddled with to align it during mounting, then using a crush washer is the way to go. One thing to notice, if and when you decide to replace your muzzle brake, you’ll need to buy a new crush washer to replace the old one.

Peel washers are used with muzzle devices that need to be carefully aligned during installation. They get their name from the fact that they come in layers and you have to heat them up and peel the un-needed layers off, so you can correctly align the muzzle device. This can be difficult because you have to consider what amount of torque you will need when adjusting the device.

Locking nuts use two opposing nuts to lock the device onto the barrel. First, you will need to insert the nut, screw it down, then slowly thread the device on until it reaches the nut, align it and lock the nut in the opposite direction towards the device until it’s solid and tight.

Considering that most of the devices we covered in this article requires a crush washer, the following instructions will focus on them, but as mentioned previously, the basics of installation are the same for all types of muzzle barkes.

Tools needed to install your AR-15 muzzle Brake:

Upper Receiver Vise Block	Armores Wrench	Bench Vise	Crush washer
PSA Custom Series AR-15	Brownells AR-15	5-Inch Bench Vise Ductile Iron	Thread Steel Crush Washer 1/2″x28
Check Latest Price	Check Latest Price	Check Latest Price	Check Latest Price

The upper receiver of your AR-15 has to be placed in a vise block, which you will put in a vise. Once in, make sure it’s properly tightened. If you happen to have a spirit level, place it on the upper receiver to make sure it is level in the vise.

Take your washer and thread it onto the barrel but make sure that the cup or the cone is facing forward. When that is done, it’s time to screw in your muzzle device, all the way to the washer by hand, but before you use your wrench to tighten it down, check if the muzzle device is properly aligned to the barrel.

Position it correctly, make sure that all of the exit ports are placed correctly according to the manual, then take your wrench and make anywhere between a ¼ to a ¾ twist and all of the ports are facing up and the baffles are facing sideways.

What Features to Look for in an AR-15 Muzzle Brake

Depending on your needs, the type of muzzle device you will want to use will vary. If you’re into hunting the best choice would probably be a muzzle device that mitigates recoil and vertical climb, in case you’re a tactical shooter, a standard muzzle brake will do the job just fine.

Check out the Wilson Combat – AR-15 Muzzle Brake Q-Comp

Most law enforcement officers and members of the military rely on a muzzle device that serves both as a flash suppresor and a compensator. In street to street, house to house, and close-quarter fighting scenarios, the increased noise that is common for most brakes can be a disadvantage.

When choosing a muzzle brake you have a few priorities to keep in mind. It should be made from good quality materials that provide durability and corrosion protection. All the ports and baffles should be located on the sides and the top of the brake, in order to deflect the gases away from the shooter and reduce recoil, keeping the weapon stable during firing. Most muzzle brakes today can be divided into two categories, the good ones and the great ones. All of them perform the job effectively. The bottom line is whether they reduce recoil by 50% or 60%.

Materials: carbon steel, stainless steel and titanium

Just as there are multiple designs for an AR 15 muzzle brake, there are different materials used for making them, the most common being carbon steel, stainless steel, and titanium. Which one to choose? Let’s take a look.

Most of the devices we reviewed in this article are made from stainless steel. The ratio of price to the quality you get with it is unsurpassed. The main advantage of stainless steel, besides the price and ease of manufacture, is that it’s easy to maintain, and the weight of the device does not affect the balance of the rifle much.

Considering that the bullet doesn’t come in contact with the brake itself, excessive wear won’t be an issue as is the case with the barrel. Nevertheless, it is always recommended that you clean the brake properly and often, in order to avoid carbon build up in the ports and baffles.

Titanium muzzle devices are popular because, besides all of the characteristics of stainless steel, they also have the added benefit of significantly reduced weight and increased resistance to wear. Being harder unfortunately also makes them much more difficult to produce, therefore they are usually much more expensive.

Carbon steel is also really good. Muzzle devices made from this material are usually slightly harder than the regular steel ones because, during the manufacture of this type of steel, a certain amount of carbon is also used, hence the name. On the downside, it is slightly more susceptible to corrosion, it oxidizes easily compared to the previous two, so regular maintenance and cleaning is mandatory.

What is the Best AR Muzzle Brake?

Phosphate, also known as manganese phosphate, is a mil-spec finish used in military rifles like the M4 and its predecessor, the M16. Phosphating involves submerging the metal parts into a phosphoric acid solution at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Phosphate provides longer-term resistance to corrosion, and it is widely used because it is cheap, durable and easily applied. The only downside of this type of protection is that the surface of the device becomes grainy and coarse, full of small microscopic holes that can retain dirt and filth, making the cleaning process longer and more laborious.

A nitride finish, like on the VG6 Precision Muzzle, involves a heat-treating process that hardens the surface of the metal by infusing nitrogen into it. The final product is an extremely smooth and hard surface that is long-lasting, tough, and corrosion-resistant. A noticeable difference is the ease of cleaning, but the price can be higher than a brake with a phosphate coating.