AR-15 Recoil Elimination - VG6 Epsilon Overview

The VG6 Epsilon is a pretty awesome product. It's a compensator, muzzle brake, and flash hider all in one that essentially does it all in regards to making your AR-15 shooting experience a lot more pleasurable. But how well does it actually work and how does it work?

Full Written Review: https://crackshot.tv/how-to-reduce-ar15-recoil-with-the-vg6-epsilon-compensator/

Let's start by looking at the standard, the tried and true A2 Bird Cage. The A2 Bird cage has been the standard military specification for years. It's primary purpose is to hide flash signature, which it does a very good job of. The design of the evenly placed slits disperse the gas to keep it from igniting the gas thus lowering the flash signature. Because the gas escapes upward and forward, felt recoil is probably reduced slightly and it might have a slight compensator affect by pushing the barrel downward, but its primary purpose is flash suppression.

On the other hand, muzzle brakes tend focus on porting as much of the gas and pressure to the sides of the firearm as possible. This results in reduced felt recoil, as the pressure is dispersed out the sides of the weapon. However, muzzle brakes are crazy loud. If you've ever posted up next to somebody lane over at the range while they shoot a muzzle brake, it is an incredibly uncomfortable experience. Depending on design it may not be great for flash signature either. This might be a worthwhile trade off in certain contexts like competition shooting or even hunting, but it isn't very pleasant on a firing line or with your buddies.

The VG6 attempts to do it all, and do it better. The design is part muzzle brake, with the large windows porting on the sides, part compensator, with some of the gas escaping upward and rearward, I'm sure with much engineering effort put into the positioning by VG6. and finally part flash hider with its 3 prong design.

You can see based on the design, with the third prong on top, the flash will be redirected in sort of a Y Shape, which will hypothetically at least keep your sight picture somewhat clear. However, the epsilon specifically, vs other VG6 products, has a reputation for still being pretty bright at night and not working very well in this regard.

The side porting on the VG6 acts as a muzzle brake as well, but isn't as obnoxious as other muzzle brakes on the market. But VG6 makes a cage device to mitigate this if you're concerned.

Lastly, the gas ports are engineered to redirect a proportion of gas upward, a little downard, and mainly left and right like most muzzle brakes, providing a very flat shooting experience.

Installation was easy, especially if you have an AR armoror's wrench. When installed correctly the logo will be on the bottom, with the gas porting and third prong installed on top.

Overall this makes the VG6 a great, do it all option, especially for competitive shooting. I really love mine and will continue to use it on my competition rifle.