To your last point, isn't there a potential for "bleed-off" that affects matters?
Bleed off from what? If the barrel is the same length then the bullet will reach the same muzzle velocity. Once the bullet leaves the muzzle, the gas is no longer acting to push it so at this point what would bleeding the gas off do?
Simply adding a brake to the end of the barrel will have no effect on the bullet cause the length of the barrel has not changed.