Compensators on semi autos? Yay or nay...

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I've got an M&P9. I was thinking of getting one of those compensated storm lake barrels, or getting a threaded barrel and attatching a compensator.

But the question is,

Are compensators really that effective on handguns? I'm talking about Glocks, M&Ps, Hks, SIGs, ex. in the 9mm/.40/.45 calibers.

Who's got experience with this?
 
In Open race guns used in IPSC and USPSA they are a must if you want to be on the podium at the end of the day. So they DO make a difference. For other classes of competition shooting they are not allowed by the rules. For use in casual plinking they really serve no purpose other than the desire of the shooter to try something different or because they happen to think they look cool and want one just because they can. All are good enough reasons if one of these fits. But the only real gain with them is during rapid fire where they reduce the muzzle rise and provide a faster return to a proper sight picture. But if you watch some Production or Standard class IPSC videos of the better shooters you will see that you can shoot guns without compensators pretty darn fast and still hit what you're trying to hit.

I don't have a race gun or compensated gun of my own but I've gotten to shoot a half dozen of them to try out that belonged to the other guys I shoot with. There's no doubt that when the gun and ammo are tuned to work with each other that the lack of muzzle rise is impressive. You can basically fire as slow or fast as you wish and the red dot hardly jiggles at all. So they DO work. But keep in mind that to work really well the ammo needs to be matched to the compensator. Also the ammo needs to generate a sufficient volume of gases that it has the pressure and volume behind it to work well with the compensator. If the rounds do not deliver enough then the slots have no "fuel" to work with and the reduction in muzzle flip won't be as much as you might be expecting.

In the end if you're holding the gun correctly where it sits deeply in your hands there's really not a whole lot of muzzle flip anyway with either 9 or .40 or even .45. And while the compensator does reduce the muzzle rise during firing it either does not affect the rearward kick or at most only reduces it slightly. So if you're really after recoil reduction then it won't help much or won't help at all depending on the ports or compensator design and ammo being used.
 
this may add to the confusion, but allow me to try.
It really depends on what you are going to do with it. If you are ok with recoil on big caliber like 44mag etc, and only do target shooting, I don't think handgun compensator is necessary.
If you are sensitive to recoil, AND/OR you are going into competition in the divisions where the compensator allowed, you would want one because even with 9mm where the recoil is minimum, compensator will still help reduce it further, especially in competition, you will want every edge you can get.
my personal example, on my glock 30s, when I first ran full load 45acp, given the tiny gun, the recoil is a little bit much. so I did put a compensator on it which helped, but once I am get used to the recoil, AND I don't do competition, but just target shooting, I just take it off and haven't used it for a pretty long time. Similar for rifles, from small recoil 223/556 to big recoil 308 and bigger, compensator/muzzle brake will help reduce recoil which is useful to help you stay on target while doing rapid fire.
 
I had one of these comped barrels for my M&P 9 Reduced flip, more accurate. Tighter chamber made checking handloads important. No longer have this gun.
Have one for my Pro. Once again, flip is reduced. Accuracy improvement less than with M&P; Pro factory barrel seems to be inherently more accurate, has a tighter chamber than the standard.
It is not a game changer, but can make a difference.
 
and to add, for example, on my x95, when I replaced the standard A2 bird cage with a good muzzle brake, the grouping became tighter and the measured muzzle velocity with the exact same ammo was actually increased. So, the device does make a difference.
 
I converted a Glock 22 (40 cal) to 9mm with a ported Storm Lake. When shooting rapid fire with this gun and then an un-ported 9mm the difference is very noticeable. The ported is back on target much faster.
 
Had a beretta custom with a comp barrel...didn't really notice much difference with it on...an all steel pistol with good balance shoots pretty softly anyway...imho
 
Depends on the load. If you're shooting hot 9mm loads, there's enough gas to make the comp work. In a 45 there simply isn't enough gas pressure to get any real advantage from it. Factory 9mm loads would be somewhere in between.
 
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