Compensator Design

[Rhyno]

I have been looking at a lot of compensators for 50m recently and was wondering if anyone knew the design principles for these. I am a design engineer and enjoy making most of my equipment for my guns and was curious what the "secrets" were if you are willing to give some out :)

[Andre]

The "secrets" are in fluid dynamics. The goal is to redirect gas from outwards to up and slightly back to counteract, but not reverse recoil.

[Gwhite]

They are also a pain in the neck to keep clean, and many people don't use them for that reason. It's not at all clear how much they help your scores in a single shot event like free pistol, but they will definitely hurt your scores if you let them get too clogged with powder fouling & lead.

[David M]

Back in the early 90's I played with several design's on the first Morini freepistol,
yes the compensators do work.
The design I settled on is still fitted to my pistol and has been used at very high
level competitions with some success.
Yes they do lead up but it is easy to clean with big gas holes.
The comp helps stabalize the pistol as the shot is fired, has less muzzle lift and makes
calling the shot easier. It also seems to help with shooting in a cross wind.
It is a alloy body with two divergent cones, the first is created by four large holes
drilled at an angle to the barrel and in a radial pattern, two up, two down.
Then forward of that is a second divergent cone.
The bullet passes the first drilled holed and most of the following gasses can escape
out of the angled holes equally. It then passes a near bore size section to the second
cone where any following gas is disipated.
It uses the gas to stabalize the muzzle and stop gas overtaking the bullet out in front of the muzzle.
I will get a photo later and post.

[BEA]

I am not trying to poo poo the idea of muzzle brakes. Nor am I trying to start an argument. I think they are interesting and they do have a positive effect on recoil. However, the most precise shooters in the world as far as sophisticated equipment goes, that being benchrest shooters, do not use them. But to them high level repeatability is paramount, not recoil management.

[Deigeh Nisht]

I too, have experimented with these. This concept behind the compensator is to direct the hot burning gases into the eyes of your competition. It is a guaranteed win. If that doesn't work, eat lots of beans and insert the compensator (you know where) and exhaust gases. That will eliminate all the competition within a radius of 50 meters.

Hope this helps.

[Rover]

So that's why so many on here support and wish to use them...

[Rosee143]

The goal is to redirect gas from outwards to up and slightly back to counteract, but not reverse recoil....??

[David M]

The goal is to redirect gas from outwards to up and slightly back to counteract, but not reverse recoil....??

That is what a recoil compensator does on a high power pistol/revolver by porting the top of the barrel.
What we are doing with a free pistol/air pistol is a gas stabilizer, to steady the muzzle equally in all directions
(up/down/left/right) and stop gasses overtaking the projectile on exit from the barrel.

[joel]

The compensator on my free pistol is a cone shaped piece, much like a nozzle for a rocket. I believe as stated directly above that it is designed to exhaust gas in all directions for stability, not muzzle jump.

Joel

[Gort]

In Free Pistol the goal is to strip as much of the turbulent high pressure gas form the base of the bullet so as not to disrupt its trajectory (flight). Remember, propellant gases have the same mass of the powder charge, and are traveling two to three times the exit velocity of the bullet.
If you think about it, gases released symmetrically about an axis will not "stabilize" the muzzle, as they counter act each other and do not add or subtract form the radial forces.
Since gases that are redirected from the axis of the bore do not contribute to the gas rocket thrust component of recoil, the total recoil is less.
Gort