When I bought mine the LGS had several of each barrel length. I did ask which one people preferred and two of the guys that work there said they really couldn’t tell because they sold every one that they received very quickly.
When I sent my gun back to Ruger I really expected to have them say something along the lines of “Removal of the muzzle brake may have contributed to the problem you were having.” But that was not the case.
There was some increase in recoil with the A2 FH but not much. There was also a little more muzzle rise. Noise was reduced a little for me. I did consider leaving the brake on but I just kept thinking about how annoyed I used to get when shooting at a range next a guy or guys blasting away while I was treated to the warm concussive air coming from their brakes like a gentle breeze from a lake…A lake of fire.
Seriously though, the recoil didn’t really increase a whole lot. Definitely not like the recoil of a .308 out of a bolt gun.
I need to do a bit more research on cans and muzzle attachments. I know there are silencer / suppressor set ups where the can attached to the muzzle brake or flash hider, but I haven’t really looked into what I might want yet.