I'm resurrecting this older thread to post my experiences and announce my intention to do some better, if not scientific, testing.
About 5 years ago i got a Bushmaster BA50. The giant block muzzle brake was great for recoil but, literally, damn near gave me a concussion. I ran 10 rounds through it and about half an hour later was queasy and felt like I got out an MMA cage. I added the Cyclops and it was super reasonable in terms of recoil and sound. Generally from a concrete bench mind you.
I tried it on my Desert Tech HTI, and again it was reasonable from both recoil and sound suppression standpoint. In fact, I got the .50 barrel from a buddy who sold it to me saying the .50 on an HTI was "unpleasant"
I'm surprised to find people and videos talking about how the suppressor on a .50 increases recoil. I saw a dude on youtube with a barrett and an Innovative Arms Mojave and a high speed camera and he looked like it was beating the s**t out of him.
I have .50's to check the boxes in my collection. I'm not a developed enough shooter to shoot big bore or ELR effectively. I mainly shoot 6.5cm. I know that in 6.5 my cans are not as effective as muzzle brakes, but it doesn't feel like they increase recoil over non-suppressed. But, I never shoot unsuppressed. Maybe I'm turning into a liberal: talking about my feelings, in the face of scientific data.
I have an Innovative Arms Mojave on the way directly. I still have the Cyclops. I'll test both on the the HTI with a more objective intent and report back.
Santa brought me an M107A1 for Christmas. I'm trying to track down a QDL Suppressor in matching cerakote. I'll report back when I can. Ha.
Found an interesting power point presentation on military testing. They seem to think there is no free lunch. Always hearing unsafe. almost always increased recoil. I think the barrett won this contract, no mention of its muzzle flash reduction or it specifically being developed to reduce wear. Also no mention of an A1 variant for the M107 so probably outdated info. Still interesting.