I’ll start this review with an honest admission of guilt: I had reservations when I first saw the 30-40 percent advertised numbers about one of Apex Tactical’s latest upgrades— until I got my hands on one and tried it for myself.
Continue reading my review and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
I’m specifically referencing one of Apex Tactical’s newest products, their game changing compensator for the FN Reflex, they’ve dubbed the “MRAT”, aka Muzzle Rise Amplitude Tamer. To put it lightly… they had my full attention when I saw those numbers.
Those of you who frequently visit Apex’s website like I do, may have held a small amount of reservation yourself. I mean let’s call a spade a spade… approximately 30-40% is a HUGE number when talking about achieved reduction in muzzle rise and felt recoil.
I wrote this review to shed some light on the truth, and help squash any uncertainties that you may be hanging onto.
The FN Reflex is a micro compact, polymer-frame 9mm handgun with a barrel that measures in at only 3.3″.
I already liked it.
As the owner of PDX Arsenal, One of Oregon’s largest concealed handgun licensing companies, guns like the Reflex are what we see the most, and the topic in general is one that my team and I are well-versed in coaching others on.
I saw that the FN Reflex check the following boxes:
- Micro compact
- Polymer frame
- Short barrel chambered in 9mm Luger
My brain immediately translates that into:
- Easy to conceal
- Lightweight to carry
- Enough stopping power to satisfy the self-defense requirements for most people
Then I saw Apex tactical enter the chat and began making parts for it. That’s the moment I knew I had to get my hands on one.
At PDX Arsenal we are huge advocates of practicing what we preach, and one of the subject matters we emphasize a lot is how important it is to function test a gun after taking it home and cleaning it. However, before the purchase is even made we should have already spent time weighing out the pros and cons of every gun, that’s on the market. These are the types of purchases you want to get right the first time because nearly all upgrades you can make to your gun usually comes with a tradeoff. In this case: a small, lightweight 9mm handgun like the FN Relex is inherently going to have more noticeable muzzle rise and increased felt recoil than a full sized handgun would due to the small size of the overall gun, and a short barrel.
Let’s clear up a common misconception
While felt recoil and muzzle rise are related, they are not technically the same thing.
Muzzle rise is how much the gun’s front end lifts when fired. Felt recoil describes the sensation you feel in your hands when the round is fired — Now that we’ve got that cleared up, we can continue.
Apex Tactical sent me out one of their loaner FN Reflex handguns along with their new MRAT compensator to conduct 3rd party testing and evaluating in exchange for feedback (both the gun and compensator were returned to Apex to maintain the integrity of this review. Any and all opinions expressed below are my own.)
I shot a mix of well over 500 rounds of ammo through the Reflex using every type of ammo you can think of: 115-, 124-, and 147-grain bullets; Including both Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) and Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP) ammunition. I even threw several magazines of +P rounds downrange through it as well. For those wondering, yes. FN’s owners manual clearly states that their Reflex is rated for +P ammunition. (Please always refer to your firearms owners manual and verify if your model is rated for +p, or +p+ ammo before shooting it)
After my testing with various powder loads, and bullets, The collective results shocked me in a way that I was not expecting it to.
For the first time ever – I could actually feel the immediate reduction in recoil and muzzle flip. Even with standard “off the shelf” factory loaded 115g 9mm Luger.
Installing the Apex Tactical MRAT compensator dramatically changed my experience
With minimal effort I added Apex’s MRAT onto their Reflex, chambered a round and took my first shot with it compensated. I vividly remember being stunned. The difference wasn’t just noticeable, it was dramatic. So dramatic in fact, that I actually sent a few more rounds down range in order to confirm that I wasn’t going crazy. I actually started laughing out loud to myself on the range because the results were that impressive. The level of contrast is something you would also have difficulty describing with words until you try it for yourself. Only then will you have the ability to genuinely appreciate Apex’s commitment to excellence they accomplished with their new MRAT.
Unlike almost every other compensator I had ever shot up until that point, I was not standing there trying to convince myself that I could feel improvement solely out of my desire for the product to work. There was no need to scrutinize microscopic changes or try to manufacture a positive conclusion. It was just that obvious.
Most compensators on the market almost require a shot timer, a high speed camera, and a data-driven spreadsheet to actually prove any level of effectiveness.
The truth is that most shooters, including me, don’t give a shit about what a spreadsheet says, nor do we care about a company’s marketing campaign claims that usually result in hollow promise. While some of their marketing tactics are effective enough to persuaded us into buying the “latest and greatest”, what holds true is that at the end of the day, what we really care about is how the gun actually feels when we shoot it. With the MRAT, the improvements were undeniable and absolutely impressive.
During installation, it became apparent that Apex carefully considered the principle behind “form follows function”
Before putting pen to paper, Apex seemingly asked themselves one very important question. A question that far too many compensator companies fail to even consider:
“What parts of owning a compensator annoy people the most?”
Then Apex proceeded to create solutions for every one of those annoyances, one by one.
If you have spent enough time around handguns that are equipped with a thread on compensator, you know exactly what I mean. ThE chief complaints I hear most often are people grunting their dismays about:
1. How annoying it is to install or remove their compensator when they need to, mostly because it makes weapon maintenance after a day at the range more difficult and a lot more time consuming.
2. Their compensator requiring the use of thread lock compounds like Loctite The spend every other magazine verifying that it hasn’t come loose on them from past bad experiences.
3. Having full confidence that their gun will remain reliable and they wish they did not have to wonder if the brand of ammo they bought will cycle through it without malfunctioning. Shooters enjoy having the confidence in their ability to throw any type of ammo they want through their guns and trust that it will run just fine. However sometimes can make that wishful thinking.
Just the process of putting on, or taking off a compensator is just annoying enough, that most shooters avoid taking it off unless they absolutely have to. Instead, I see most people leave their compensators permanently fixed on the end of their barrels and hope that they never have to take it off or put it back on again.
Apex Tactical didn’t just take a different route than traditional Compensator designs; they forged a path of their own
The MRAT makes every part of this process so much better. In fact, over the 2 years they spent refining the MRAT’s design, Apex has simplified the process of using a compensator with their design, where even a brand new shooter could install and remove one with ease. Not a single part of the install process was overlooked when they designed their MRAT. One of my favorite parts, and in my opinion the “special sauce of the design”, should truthfully be patented because it’s that good! I am referencing their completely new “screw-clamp” method of design to secure your MRAT to your barrel.
Scott Folk from Apex brilliantly thought to use a wire EDM cut that runs from the top end of the compensator down vertically, and then returns makes a 90 degree sweep coming back towards the muzzle end the slide. During this part of the cut, it passes through the clamp bolt threads before finally ending in tiny small circular cuts on either side of the compensator. The end result? The MRAT is able to “clamp down” on itself when the two final screws are installed.
Once the compensator is threaded all the way down on Apex’s threaded barrel, it’s likely to be misaligned, and that’s totally normal. Simply back it off about a half turn until the slide and compensator are roughly aligned, and then use the Apex supplied 3D printed alignment tool to get the concentricity perfect. The final step is to tighten two clamp screws down to Apex’s manufacturer recommendation of 25 in-lbs. It is advised that you alternate between the two screws until the proper torque value is reached with both screws. They specifically state to NOT use Loctite. Why? The design is so good thread locker is just not needed.
Reducing muzzle rise is great. Reducing felt recoil is great. But none of it matters if accomplishing those two things makes a handgun unreliable?
One of my biggest concerns with running a compensator on a handgun is that it’s not difficult for a compensator to become the reason a malfunction occurs. The way a compensator works to begin with, is by redirecting the gas fueled by the ignited gun powder and forcing it through the side and top ports of the compensator which tames the muzzle rise while simultaneously reducing felt recoil in order to keep the gun shooting flatter. This also allows for faster follow up shots
That is a huge chalk mark in the “win column”. However, as mentioned earlier in my review, most upgrades come at a cost. The cost here is that by adding weight to the muzzle end of a recoil-operated semiautomatic pistol, it can alter the forces involved during the cycling process and negatively impact a firearm’s reliability. Depending on the gun, recoil spring weight, ammunition type, and compensator design, a setup can become ammunition sensitive.
After deliberately trying to identify a weak point with the MRAT, I am happy to report that throughout the duration of my testing, the compensator never caused one single malfunction. At no point did I feel like I was trading reliability for better recoil management, and to me, this is one of the most important parts of my review. Every shooter who’s considering compensating their handgun should pause and ask themselves a very serious question: What’s the point of compensating my gun if reliability becomes compromised in the process? The MRAT’s reliability is what sealed the deal in my decision to call the Apex Tactical’s new compensator the most innovative and effective comp that I’ve ever seen.
About That 30–40 Percent Claim
Did I set up laboratory equipment, attach motion sensors to the pistol, and calculate muzzle displacement down to the decimal point?
No.
That’s well beyond my pay grade and the scope of this review. I leave that part up to the professionals at Apex. What I can tell you having toured their manufacturing facility in Peoria, Arizona in 2024, is that their safety and reliability testing were as impressive as their products are, and their quality-control standards are some of the highest I have ever seen in the industry.
I’m not going to pretend that my independent testing proves an exact reduction of 30.0%, 35.7%, or 40.0% in muzzle rise and felt recoil, but after shooting this new compensator, I will be using it as the new benchmark in which I compare every future compensator I shoot against. But be forewarned: They’ve left some HUGE shoes to fill.. For me? My choice always has been, and always will be to continue rocking with Apex Tactical. The MRAT is here to stay, and if you own a FN Reflex I couldn’t recommend picking one up more. Something tells me there is going to be a bright future for the MRAT.
Final Thoughts
I went in expecting the number to feel a little “optimistic” and instead found the FN Reflex immediately flatter, softer, and easier to control. Follow up shots felt more as if I was running a full size gun once the MRAT was installed.
What makes it the most impressive isn’t any one feature by itself, but how well everything works together. From the aesthetics of the compensators wing’s wrapping around the contours at the front of the slide, to the obvious amount of time and thought that was invested into engineering and developing the MRAT. It’s served as a great reminder to me of what makes Apex Tactical stand apart as a company,
The more products I test, the less impressed I become by clever marketing tactics and the more I appreciate thoughtful engineering that produces noticeable real-world results. The MRAT is just one more of their many shining examples.
What makes it impressive isn’t any one feature by itself, but how well everything works together.
Apex Tactical didn’t need to convince me to like their company. They accomplished that 14 years ago when I was blown away by their M&P trigger upgrades, which I still use and love to this day.
What they did unfortunately have to overcome, through no fault of their own, was a little skepticism upfront mostly stemming from other manufacturers who overpromised and underdelivered on their compensators.
After shooting the MRAT, I walked away reminded why I’ve come to trust Apex’s claims based on my own experience with their products. Apex remains a company I genuinely enjoy working with and recommend to my friends, family, and thousands of students without hesitation. If you’re in the market for a compensator you can trust — the new MRAT is the way to go. My only hope is that they are soon available for additional handgun models so everyone gets to experience one for themselves.