Titan vs Surefire vs Rolling Thunder Comps

[CO-Exprs]

I had a really interesting day Sat, when I headed to Pueblo with a couple of my closest shooting buddies for a little rifle range time. Cool part is that we were all working on different things. My buddy Rich was sporting his new competition AR rifle, built from the ground up. He was trying some different loads and zeroing his scope. I got to try some stuff I hadn't messed with before. My buddy Geoff was trying a new Rolling Thunder Comp and I was working with my accupoint scope getting it dialed at different ranges. When we were all done with our personal work, we took some time to try each other's rifles and each got to do a head to head comparison with Geoff's Rolling Thunder, Rich's Surefire and my Titan. The rifles were set up completely different, so I expected to get significantly different results. What I found was interesting. They all worked about equally well in controlling muzzle movement. If your grip and frame are correct the sight pretty much just lays there. If anything the Surefire pushed down slightly, but hardly enough to be worth mentioning. The Titan layed very steady and so did the Rolling Thunder. The surprise came in that all three of us agreed that the Rolling Thunder comp was noticably less concusive on the shooter. My Titan can rattle bystanders, but I was unaware of how much it rattles me as the shooter, untill I shot the Rolling Thunder. The Surefire comp was some where in the middle. It was extremely effective, about the same noise, and slightly easier on the shooter than my Titan, but not quite as enjoyable as the Rolling Thunder. I must admit that I've been a little snobish with my Titan. All three comps are excellent however and the surprise of the day was that the Rolling Thunder was noticably more pleasant to shoot. I'm not gonna rush home and install one on my rifle, but the next time I'm in the market for a comp, I'll give the Rolling Thunder serious consideration.

For what its worth.
MP

[SA Friday]

Interesting. I have a Titan on one of my ARs and it does rattle the teeth a bit, but man does it just stay in the A zone. I'll have to try out a thunder.

[CO-Exprs]

Make sure you get the new one for Tactical division... if that is the division you shoot.

[CO-Exprs]

I also failed to mention that the Titan and the Surefire were both thread on and shoot accessories. The Rolling Thunder did require some tuning. Geoff just followed the directions and about 20min later it was dialed for his rifle.

[DocMedic]

In all honesty a comp is a comp is a comp, no way how you slice it if they were design to keep the muzzle down on target and there worth a damn they'll do as good as any other comp. Patrick Kelley Did a study some years back that got published in a Gun Mag about different Competition Muzzle breaks for action sports shooting with a .223. He tested 12 different brands on muzzle brakes and basically concluded there is no significantly difference between comps, and you could adjust the impulse of your rifle more effectively by changing your load of ammo then changing out comps.

[CO-Exprs]

Personal experience with different comps forces me to respectfully disagree. While it is true that you can adjust your load to achieve a different recoil impulse, I don't know anyone who practices such a technique on ARs. Everyone I know develops loads for accuracy or velocity. With a 16" barrel I was forced to compromise a little accuracy to gain more velocity as my pet load was a little slow. So I run the highest velocity which still gives me sub MOA accuracy. Totally regardless of recoil impulse. In terms of effectiveness as a comp, your probably right. In comparison with no comp, most of the noteable products probably work about the same. By comparing these three I am totally splitting hairs as they are all three excellent products. The underlying point of the post was to point out that while I am a fan of Titan, I found that the Rolling Thunder was noticably less intrusive on the shooter.