HERA Arms Linear Compensator Comparison

HERA Arms Linear Compensator Comparison

Team LAN World's Craig Outzen did a Linear Compensator comparison with the HERA Linear Compensators along with a few others that are on the market. Check out the writeup below as well as place your order for the HERA Arms Linear Compensator Comparison on our website.

I recently had the opportunity to do some comparison testing of HERA Arms line of linear compensators.  Given my background as a 3 Gun shooter, I have not had that much exposure to linear compensators.  We tend to favor very aggressive compensators that offer the maximum amount of recoil reduction and muzzle stabilization regardless of the increase in muzzle blast from the aggressively redirected gases.  Linear compensators on the other hand use an expansion chamber that is vented directly forward to reduce recoil and minimize the muzzle blast felt by the shooter or bystanders.

HERA Arms manufactures two linear compensators, a large and small, both are of exceptional quality.  I was curious to see how they compared to a typical competition compensator as well as another brand of linear comp.  I was able to get a chance to test all four comps back to back recently and here is what I found.

First the baseline setup.  All comps were mounted on a 16” barreled AR with a midlength gas system driving a milspec weight bolt and carrier.  The overall rifle weight with optic was in the 7-7.5 lb. range.  Each comp was shot three times on a drill involving 9 targets being double tapped in succession.  This called for the comps to deliver a stable muzzle to keep both shots on target as well as allow for reduced recoil to aid in driving the gun through 8 target to target transitions.

Beside the aforementioned HERA Arms comps I also tested a GoGun Supercomp and a Noveske KX3 Flaming Pig.  I thought I the GoGun comp would give a good baseline as a competitive comp and the HERA linear comps could go head to head with the Noveske in the linear comp comparison.

Keep in mind this is the first time I have shot any of these comps so I would have a completely raw impression of all of them.

I started with the GoGun Supercomp.  It compared favorably with some better known competitive comps (JP Cooley Comp, Firebird Dominator, and Benny Hill Rolling Thunder).  It offers a solid amount of recoil reduction and allowed for a nice controllable muzzle as I was driving the gun through the transitions.  This comp also caused a noticeable increase in muzzle blast (typical for competitive comps) at the shooters position and I assume would be very obnoxious to any bystanders or partners.  Definitely not the best comp I have felt but certainly better than most.

Next up I mount the Noveske KX3, a longstanding standard in linear compensators.  Obviously I did not expect it to perform with the GoGun but it was still disappointing from the recoil mitigation standpoint.  I had to work much harder to drive the gun through transitions and hold much harder to overcome the recoil to shoot the drill at speed.  On the positive side there was a noticeable reduction in muzzle report and blast at the shooters position.

I then mounted up the small HERA Arms Linear Compensator.  I was surprised that it performed a little better than the Noveske.  Although there still wasn’t as much recoil mitigation as I am used to I wouldn’t mind at all using this little comp.  It offered a slightly higher degree of recoil reduction making transitions easier and also offered a similar reduction in muzzle report and blast.

Now for the Large HERA….Chalk this one up as a very pleasant surprise!  While not quite up to the standard that competitive level compensators offer, the large HERA offers some serious recoil reduction with the added benefit of no increased muzzle blast and report to make the shooter or bystanders miserable.  I was able to run the drill with a minimal amount of effort to drive the gun effectively through the doubles and target transitions.

After completing this little comparison I walked away pleasantly surprised with the performance of the HERA Arms comps.  Not only is their quality of construction second to none, but their performance is surprisingly good.  They are much more simple to mount up than a more traditional compensator due to the fact they do not need to be “clocked”, just screw on, tighten up and go.

With their surprising effectiveness I can envision many uses for these linear comps. They would be ideal mounted on the front of any SBR, whose short barrels offer excessive muzzle blast due to their length.  I also would not hesitate for a second to mount one of these, either large or small, on a rifle intended for varmint hunting where recoil reduction and fast follow up shots are important but the excessive muzzle blast of a more aggressive comp would be unwelcome.  These comps would also shine in a setting where the comfort and consideration of bystanders or fellow shooters on the line will be taken in to account.