MDT designed their COMP Brake specifically for competitive shooters. Watch or read on to find out how! 

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About the MDT COMP Brake

This self-timing COMP  brake is still relatively new with features designed to help competitive shooters.

Its baffle design “breaks up” the blast wave and it has a recessed crown for minimal turbulence. It also has tunable compensator ports for optimal recoil reduction. You can adjust this by loosening two hex screws and moving the center plate with a pick.

There are several versions: .223/6mm, 6.5mm, .308 and .338. I have the 6.5mm version. 

From MDT: 

The MDT COMP Brake, designed from the ground up to be the best muzzle brake for competitive shooters.

We began with two major design parameters, to redirect, or “break up” concussion towards the shooter, a standard pain-point in muzzle brake devices, and to reduce felt recoil as much as possible. Through 16 months of development, testing, optimizing, more testing, and then even more testing, we believe that we have created the most effective competition muzzle brake on the market.

COMFORTABLE SHOOTING EXPERIENCE

Spend all day shooting with the MDT Comp-Brake. This muzzle brake diverts the blast away from the shooter, providing the most comfortable shooting experience by drastically reducing concussion and felt recoil by up to 67%.

SERRATED BAFFLES

The 4 baffles on each side are designed with staggered angles and serrations that causes turbulence and disperses energy. This results in greatly reduced concussion and less headaches.

SPOT YOUR TRACE

Featuring 6 top venting ports, the MDT Comp-Brake can be made to direct gas upwards at 20° angles, so not only does it counteract the recoil, but it enables you to see right through the blast and keep your eye on the target.

TUNEABLE TOP PORTS

The MDT Comp-Brakes top ports can be adjusted to be more open or closed, doing so will allow you to tune your muzzle rise based on your preference or load.

COMPATIBILITY

• • .223/6MM CALIBERS
    • 1/2 – 28 Thread
    • 5/8 – 24 Thread
    • 3/4 – 24 Thread
  • 6.5MM CALIBER
    • 5/8 – 24 Thread
    • 3/4 – 24 Thread
  • .308 CALIBER
    • 5/8 – 24 Thread
    • 3/4 – 24 Thread
  • .338 CALIBER
    • 5/8 – 24 Thread
    • 3/4 – 24 Thread

Weight: 0.44 lbs

Materials: 

• • Nitride steel body and lock nut
  • Stainless steel port slide
  • Anodized aluminum top plate

Installation

I decided to use this brake on my 6.5 Creedmoor. For brake installation, I like to use a vise.

This time, I used my Orange Vise with Area 419 jaws. I was able to clamp the rifle in the MDT ACC chassis right in. I then set a level on the top of the scope cap and ensured it was level before turning my attention to the muzzle. I added some TW-25B to the threads. With the nut all the way against the brake, I screwed it on to see where it landed. I then backed it off until it was close, stole the level from the scope cap, and tightened the nut until level.

To start, I left the compensator ports fully open and ensured the screws were tight. 

Shooting

While it’s difficult to quantify, I do believe I felt a reduction in concussive force from a traditional brake. To fully test this, it would be best to shoot an entire PRS match, but I also collected data using our recoil rig. We started with bare muzzle and 140 grain Hybrid 6.5 Creedmoor factory ammunition to get a baseline. Peak force measured 745 lbs rearward.

Adding the COMP brake reduced the peak force 41%, to 437 lbs. This makes a significant difference, especially when shooting off a barricade.

I also compared the Area 419 Hellfire brake.

It’s more compact than the MDT COMP Brake, but showed very similar results with 42% peak force reduction. However, the Hellfire does not have the tunable compensation the MDT COMP Brake does. 

Conclusion

Moving forward, I’d like to test the compensation and muzzle rise, but am still working on how to collect this data. I’d like to do this with a bare muzzle, suppressor, and brake as well as find a way to reliably measure sound suppression.

Not only was this brake extremely well thought out and purpose-built, it’s offered in a variety of threadings that are not always easy to find. MDT really put a lot of thought into what shooters need and it shows. 

Get the Gear

Order the MDT COMP Brake directly from MDT. 

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Thanks,
Gavin Gear