Anyone experience compenstors on a 22?

A

AzShooter

New member
I've been shooting my 22/45 Mark III without a compensator for years. Groups were great at 25 yards. Recently I put a Volquartsen compensator on it and the recoil felt better ( I know, not much recoil in a .22) but my groups opened up a bit.

On my new Mark IV 22/45 lite, the groups opened up a lot when using my new compensator from Tactical Solutions. Has anyone experimented with different compensators and gotten good accuracy while feeling the benefit of the compensator?

I'm about to buy a Tandemkross Game Changer to see if that makes any difference.
 
Have many compensated guns, but only three in .22 caliber. Two Volquartsen rifles and a S&W model 41. I can't distinguish a difference in felt recoil or accuracy. Perhaps with precision measurement/testing equipment it might show a difference.....it certainly makes them look better.


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I have shot literally hundreds of thousands of rounds out of various .22lr handguns and rifles in competition. The vast majority of it was at steel plates of varying sizes and distances and speed was always a major factor. I have used comped guns and uncomped guns in both rifle and handgun. I have never found a compensator to be of any significant help what so ever with either gun. The round simply doesn't generate enough gas to make a compensator do anything at all. FWIW, I was very successful at these events over a ten year period and I had numerous custom built guns that I used during that time. I also used custom built centerfire handguns with compensators and they worked very well with certain loads, bullets, and calibers. It's a lot more for show in the rimfire arena. Once I had them on the guns I didn't remove them because they were ineffective, they didn't effect accuracy as long as the ports were kept very clean. Here's the rub with rimfires: the ports clog up continuiously and are difficult to clean. It's amazing how much lead particulate clings to and plugs the vents. One of my comped rifles had a Volguartzen barrel on it that would keep ten shots in 1.25" at 100 yards on a very calm day off the bench.....with Eley ammo.
 
I have added a comp, on 1 Ruger that I rebuilt for bullseye match. I have not seen any change in the groups or had to change sights, nor noticed any felt recoil reduction. The comp was actually added because the barrel gasses kept fogging the front lens of the red dot sight and the compensator spreads the muzzle gas in a V up and away solving that problem.
 
If the compensator is affecting your accuracy it may be caused by a misalignment with the barrel or the gas turbulence around the bullet when passing through the compensator. Have you examined the compensator and cleaned it? 22 ammo is not well known as the cleanest of ammo and it might be "stuff" building up on the compensator.
 
I also put a comp on a RugerMark II for bullseye. It actually closed my groups a little.But I feel it may have had more to do with the added weight rather than recoil or muzzle jump.
 
I have a tactical solutions upgrade kit on a Browning Buckmark ....rail, grips, compensator, etc....and it does make the gun look better....and its more accurate than in its original configuration....with some ammo ....
 
I had an S&W 41 with two top ends in the past. One was an uncomped 7-7.5" barrel and the other was the same but with a comp.

There was a slight reduction in recoil with the comp, though could have just as easily been the added weight of the comp on the end of a long barrel.

I never noticed any significant accuracy difference between them.
 
I have several 22s with compensators. Two of them are 22 shorts including a Pardini electronic trigger model. These pistols were designed to shorten recovery time in precision shooting--specifically international rapid fire and conventional pistol. If you shoot things like plates, they would not help much if at all as you are trying to hit anywhere on the plate just so long as you knock it over. As far as accuracy, I did not see any difference with the pistols where the comp could be removed. Good target 22 pistols will shoot under 1" groups @ 50 yards.
 
I had a High Standard "Buck Rogers" outfit and could not tell any effect of the compensator on the shooting. The underbarrel weights, sure.
 
Running a couple of the short/threaded Ruger
22/45's for Steel Challenge. Volquartzen triggers,
sideways C-more sights. Currently playing with
single and double port compensators--and it does
make a difference. Little bit less muzzle flip, tiny
decrease in the shot-to-shot time. In a game where
the difference between competitors can be less than
a second for the whole match, anything helps.
 
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