If the compensator is made properly, they do work. The diameter and position of the ports venting expanding gasses is very important. Make no mistake, there is gas expanding in a .22 rimfire barrel that can be used to divert muzzle flip, to some modicum of benefit. I've been dabbling with compensators since 1993, experimenting with port diameters and location, but mostly using Ruger Mark pistols. Locating vent holes anywhere other than top dead center of the compensator, and then a row of ports 45° to each side of the top row seem to work best. Huge slots, or holes located all around the periphery of the compensator, don't really do much to constrict the flow of those gasses trying to get out of the barrel, but act more against one another. It's sorta like a garden house. Without a regulator on the working end of the hose, water comes out in sort of a BLAH, dribbling action. But when the water stream is constricted with an adjustable nozzle , the water jets out of the restricted hole(s) with much more force.