I'm that guy has run brakes/comps on most of my pistol rounds at one point or another. The main purpose for me is to change the timing of the gun. On blowback designs like 22s a brake doesn't really do much except add a "cool" factor but on a locked breech or a delayed blowback design the entire feel of the gun changes through it's recoil pulse.
My 5.7x28 doesn't have much recoil regardless of the load but it has a small steel brake made for an sr22 installed on the ruger threaded barrel setup. The little brake has just enough grab to delay the timing to the point I can keep the shoulders from moving on the fired cases which is the main issue with 5.7s. My case life is significantly longer and I can now load outside of the box. (For those who haven't toyed with the little 5.7 it is a very picky round). The brake makes it much easier to get along with.
On bigger rounds like the 10mm and 45 super a good brake changes the timing enough that instead of cases flying into the next zip code they fall right at my feet. Recoil becomes very flat to the point it feels like someone is holding onto the gun. I can run stock recoil springs vs heavy ones with hot loads and it works proportionately well with a good brake. Meaning the hotter the load the more efficient the brake works so reliability isn't an issue.
The only time things get finicky is with light for caliber bullets loaded with large charges of slow powder. The large amounts of gas offsets the low inertia from light bullets so the slide can't get moving. Case in point I have a 38 casull build on a glock 40 and loaded some lightweight lehigh 65g bullets under a case full of 3n38. Even though it was a 2500fps load with 900lbs of energy the slide barely moved. The concussion was so loud (naval cannon) I though i locked the gun up when it didn't cycle but the empty case popped right out when I racked the slide by hand. Move up to a 90g or heavier bullet and i get normal functioning again.
But then again as with cars and trucks I hot rod everything I mess with.
My 5.7x28 doesn't have much recoil regardless of the load but it has a small steel brake made for an sr22 installed on the ruger threaded barrel setup. The little brake has just enough grab to delay the timing to the point I can keep the shoulders from moving on the fired cases which is the main issue with 5.7s. My case life is significantly longer and I can now load outside of the box. (For those who haven't toyed with the little 5.7 it is a very picky round). The brake makes it much easier to get along with.
On bigger rounds like the 10mm and 45 super a good brake changes the timing enough that instead of cases flying into the next zip code they fall right at my feet. Recoil becomes very flat to the point it feels like someone is holding onto the gun. I can run stock recoil springs vs heavy ones with hot loads and it works proportionately well with a good brake. Meaning the hotter the load the more efficient the brake works so reliability isn't an issue.
The only time things get finicky is with light for caliber bullets loaded with large charges of slow powder. The large amounts of gas offsets the low inertia from light bullets so the slide can't get moving. Case in point I have a 38 casull build on a glock 40 and loaded some lightweight lehigh 65g bullets under a case full of 3n38. Even though it was a 2500fps load with 900lbs of energy the slide barely moved. The concussion was so loud (naval cannon) I though i locked the gun up when it didn't cycle but the empty case popped right out when I racked the slide by hand. Move up to a 90g or heavier bullet and i get normal functioning again.
But then again as with cars and trucks I hot rod everything I mess with.
