Battle Comp 1.0 Review

Well, first impressions and whatnot.  After busting it out of the box late last night, I was quite impressed.  the device is cleanly machined, the finish is nice and even, and overall I felt it was worth the price of admission.  I went with the matte stainless finish, I felt it would help break up the colors of my carbine a little more, and would be a bit more photogenic as time goes by.

More (including short video!) after the jump-


The muzzle end has a concave shape that helps to protect the exit hole.

The exterior has a bunch of slots machined into it, except the bottom (to prevent dust signature.)  I'd imagine these are what helps dissipate the blast normally associated with standard brakes.

Now for installation...
First off I discovered that the barrel jaws I have have three barrel contours machined into them, and none of them match the barrel on my midlength.  Fun.  Much wailing and gnashing of teeth, a couple chunks of flesh, and a smashed knuckle later, the YHM 5C2 was off and the Battle Comp was on.  I'd imagine that if you had a real workbench with a good vice it wouldn't be too bad though... pretty much like any standard AR muzzle device.  Anyway, it started to rain and my hand hurt, so I didn't get any pictures of it freshly mounted.  I tossed stuff in the car and zipped over the the swamp, er, range.

I repeated yesterdays setup, a 6 inch square target at 25 yards, and fired strings of 10 rounds.  I figured it was a good way to see how controllable the new muzzle device was compared to the YHM.  I should mention that I have no complaints about the YHM 5C2.  It's a surprisingly effective flash hider, and is comparable with a standard A2 for compensator ability. The only downsides are it's a bit long (which is good if you're pinning it on a 14.5 inch barrel though) and the aggressive muzzle can get snagged on stuff.

Here's a composite video showing a string of each combo:



The Battle Comp does remind you that it's a straight up compensator, you definitely feel the muzzle blast more than with an A2 or the YHM, but it's not nearly as harsh as other brakes I've used (like the Century Arms Blast Enhancer on the CETME...)  Granted my head is a little stuffy today, so that may have played a little roll in it.  The Battle Comp is also noticeably louder, my earmuffs are usually plenty for 5.56, but my ears were a little more ringy after shooting than they were yesterday.

Most importantly though, it did a fantastic job of lowering the amount of felt recoil, and what there was felt to be straight back into my shoulder.  The muzzle end was less "jumpy" than with the YHM (already pretty controllable.)  Once I dropped the heavy buffer in there was little challenge in keeping the muzzle on target.

I'll quickly touch on the buffer.  The Spikes Tactical T2 Heavy Buffer is a fantastic looking piece, a nice consistent black with a white Spikes spider logo on the face, and ST-T2 on the side.  It looks cool.  It's also noticeably heavier than a standard carbine buffer.  This extra weight slows the cyclic rate of the weapon, which in turn spreads out the recoil impulse over a longer period of time.  This basically makes the carbine "push" rather than "jump."

Overall, as the so called "poor man's Triple Tap" I'd say it's a bargain (have you seen how much those things are?!)  To top it off, Battle Comp offers Military and LEO discounts as well, so even if you don't qualify for those, it's worth supporting that kind of company.  I can tell you that they are a fantastic company to do business with as well, the ordering process is relatively painless and all the questions I had were answered quickly.

I'll be posting updates as time goes by and I get some other people behind the gun as well.  I've got a feeling this will be a popular product as time goes by.

Oh, and I was right, it definitely looks at least three times cooler after 100 rounds...