| Image | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
 | Strike Industries Compensator – Circle | Check Price |
 | Strike Industries Compensator – Quad | Check Price |
 | Strike Industries Compensator – Mass Driver (For Glock) | Check Price |
Whether you’re a competitive shooter or a weekend range warrior, who wouldn’t want to shoot flatter and stay on target easier? I sure know that I do.
That’s where compensators can come into play. By redirecting propellant gasses, they can effectively help to reduce felt recoil, muzzle rise, or in certain cases, both. Most require a threaded barrel, so many of your favorite factory pistols won’t be ready to accept a compensator out of the box.
What if you found a compensator that could reduce your recoil, lower your muzzle rise, and didn’t require a threaded barrel? If that catches your attention, keep reading.
Today, we’ll be looking at three different pistol compensators from Strike Industries: the Micro Threaded Comp-CIRCLE (we’ll refer to it as CIRCLE), the Micro Threaded Comp-QUAD (we’ll refer to it as QUAD), and the Mass Driver Compensator.
Before we dive into the review, we’d like to thank Strike Industries for sending these compensators out for us to review. Strike gave us no direction on testing, and only asked for an honest review.
Each compensator provides a unique set of advantages, so let’s see which makes enough of a difference in performance to warrant spending your hard-earned money.
Strike Industries Compensators Overview
Let’s start with the CIRCLE, which is the most affordable and easiest to install.
CIRCLE
The CIRCLE is simple and easy to install. It offers thread protection with some added recoil and muzzle control. Compatible with any ½”x28 threaded barrel and calibers between 9mm and .357 SIG, it’s extremely versatile, and you can switch it on the spot between guns at the range.
Constructed from AISI 1144 steel and featuring a QPQ process finish, you don’t have to worry about its durability despite its small size. It’s so small, in fact, that you can often use your current holster as long as it’s already made to accept threaded barrels.
It comes with the compensator and three O-rings that help with timing and retention. Most importantly, it is marketed to reduce felt recoil by an average of 8-15%.
QUAD
Stepping up a notch in size and performance, the QUAD is marketed to reduce felt recoil by an average of 15-30%! Similar to the CIRCLE above, it’s compatible with any ½”x28 threaded barrel and with calibers between 9mm and .357 SIG.
It’s significantly larger and features wide front wall baffling to redirect gasses to help achieve increased performance. It attaches easily as well but comes with a set screw that is suggested to be torqued to exactly 40 in/lbs.
Constructed from S45C steel with HRC40-45 heat treatment, it’s another durable accessory you won’t have to worry about babying.
Mass Driver Compensator (GLOCK specific)
Here is the most interesting of the three we’ll look at today. The Mass Driver does NOT, I repeat, does NOT require a threaded barrel. While it can be used with a threaded barrel, it comes with everything you need in case you don’t have one.
From the recoil spring to the guide rod, you can upgrade your stock Glock without issues.
The counter-recoil design moves opposite the slide to reduce the felt recoil, and the 2.5mm relief cut at the top rear of the comp reduces potential damage to the slide’s face. It’s precision CNC machined and matches the width of the slide, so you can still use most open-bottom holsters.
It’s important to note that the Mass Driver is specifically designed for use with Glock 17s and Glock 19s and is Generation specific. Additionally, it’s stated that use with +P and +P+ 9mm ammo will produce premature internal spring wear and cause failure…I wonder how long that would take?
How We Tested
About the only real place to test compensator performance is at the range, so naturally, we headed to the range. Each compensator saw a variety of ammunition and was cycled at various firing rates from one round per second to as quickly as we could pull the trigger.
Without using any scientific tools to measure muzzle rise or recoil, we used our good old-fashioned eyes and hands. We’ve shot enough to compare with a decent level of certainty what we feel and how our groupings and performance change.
We made sure to shoot without any compensator directly before each one to compare groupings that were as close as possible in timing.
First, we tested the QUAD on a Polymer 80 PFC9 with a Zaffiri Precision threaded barrel. After we had fun with it, we switched it out for the CIRCLE.
Long story short, we wound up running out of time during that first range trip, so I headed to one of my local indoor ranges the following week to test out the Mass Driver.
I thought we were saving the best for last, but at the end of our testing, I was honestly a bit disappointed in the Mass Driver. The concept is awesome; it comes with everything you need if you don’t have a threaded barrel. However, being the most expensive and bulky of the three, I expected more from it.
That could be on me, having too high of expectations. I wound up experiencing a decent reduction in felt recoil but almost no change to the muzzle rise. Given the amount of pieces you need to keep track of and potentially losing the ability to use your current holsters, I don’t see it being very practical or overly useful.
The CIRCLE did not do much from a performance perspective but also serves as a thread protector. So, being able to have any performance improvement (a minor reduction in muzzle rise) while protecting those threads and still being able to use many of your current holsters makes it worth the $50 (price at the time of writing this).
I was very pleasantly surprised with the QUAD’s performance! It mitigated muzzle rise the best, reduced felt recoil, and was simple and easy to install.
This specific compensator is well-worth keeping in your range bag and swapping on and off when you want to have some extra fun. It’s also not much more expensive than the CIRCLE, so I would suggest the QUAD if you only purchased one.
Pros & Cons
Circle
- Works with a wide variety of pistols that have a ½”x28 threaded barrel
- Affordable
- Provides thread protection
- You can use it with most of your current holsters
- Does not provide much reduction in felt recoil or muzzle rise
QUAD
- Mitigates felt recoil well
- Significantly limits muzzle rise
- Works with a wide variety of pistols that have a ½”x28 threaded barrel
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Requires you to have a Torx tool to install/uninstall (it’s included, but you’ll need to keep it in your range bag)
Mass Driver
- No threaded barrel is required
- 50 state legal
- Moderately reduces felt recoil
- Avoids excess slide damage thanks to relief cut
- Must avoid specific ammo
- Doesn’t seem to mitigate muzzle rise much
- Model specific fitment (less versatile)
- Must carry spare parts to add/remove on the go
Conclusion
Compensators, in general, are extremely useful accessories that can help you elevate your shooting capabilities. Some help more, some help less, and some don’t help at all.
When it comes to the Strike Industries compensators, the QUAD is where I see the most value. It’s versatile, provides a solid level of felt recoil reduction, and can be removed/installed easily.
It’s hard to beat that. As long as you have a threaded barrel, this is the one I would go with.
If you don’t have a threaded barrel, your only choice is the Mass Driver.
However, I definitely had higher expectations for it. Regardless of its performance, though, being able to use it with only one specific handgun model makes it a limited-use accessory. Again, if you don’t have a threaded barrel, you don’t have a choice. If you do, I’d go with the QUAD.
So there you have it, an honest review of Strike Industries’ various pistol compensators. I hope this helps you make an informed decision of how to spend your hard-earned money.
As always, stay safe, train hard, and have fun.
