muzzle brake question

[x_wrench]

last summer I purchased a muzzle brake, that has for the lack of better words, has a "tin can" around it, that pushes the gasses forward. away from the shooter. in this respect, it works well. the amount of blast that I experience is cut more than half. anyway, my question about the "brake" part of it, is that the vents going out the side are 2 different sizes. .093" holes (4 rows) nearest the breech, and .177" holes (3 rows) furthest the breech. I am guessing that the reason for the smaller holes is to limit how much gas enters the closed off end, and the larger hole to actually try to make the brake work. I guess it's a cross between a muzzle brake and a linear compensator? so my question is why the different sized holes?

 

[Shawn Dodson]

A "brake" has at least one chamber with a flat surface for gas to strike against to "pull" the gun forward and reduce recoil.

Whereas, a compensator has holes that redirect gas, usually upward, to "push" the muzzle downward to decrease muzzle rise.

Many muzzle devices are a combination of the two.

The "tin can" you're asking about is a muzzle brake blast diverter, which is designed to reduce the concussive effects of a muzzle brake to bystanders.

(Aeroprecision used to offer a VG6 CAGE blast diffuser similar to the "tin can".)

 

[Varminterror]

why the different sized holes?

Because that's how they made them...

For what it's worth, early ports, closer to the rifle, do a lot more work than later ports. Pressure drop off once we breech the muzzle is pretty fast. So changing port size as we move along the brake makes sense...

Also, for what it's worth... in your shoes, I wouldn't let myself overthink it...