As for the break issue the previous post was correct. Insufficient gas to make the brake work unless you want to use Stingers or Velocitors. Comps work Ok on pistols as long as you are using HV or faster rounds. The absolute best brake is one of the symmetric multihole like the ones put out by Tac Sol or VQ. Even .223 testing has proved that those give the best recoil reduction, reduced muzzle flip, and best accuracy. But you can't use those shooting from the prone position so no one in 3-gun will use one. Instead you use one with big side ports to stabilize the barrel in the horizontal axis and put a few holes on top to help eliminate muzzle rise. Angling the holes will affect recoil as well. The Stag 3-gun brake is the only one I know that actually forces the barrel down in recoil. It has no big ports but several spread around the top half and 3 that port out the front of the brake. Most 3-gunners using the Stag have swapped the brake for something else like the Rolling Thunder. I use an AR-Stoner Competition Brake which is simliar to the Rolling Thunder with 3 big side ports and 3 little ones on top in a fairly flat type brake. Tactical Optics rules are it can be no longer than 3" and no wider than 1".

Sorry but using a vertical grip will definitely not allow you to go as fast or as accurately as you need for speed steel competition. They are useful in many combat situations when you are behind a barrier and in buildings when you might be forced to take the gun off the shoulder in CQB situations. But for steel and 3-gun the technique of using a long handguard and having your offhand grip around the barrel as far down as you can not only aids you in transition speed it also locks the barrel more solidly due to increased leverage. You have to anchor the rifle in 2 dimensions to really lock it down. So putting your trigger arm into your body to lock down the vertical dimension and using your off arm at 90 degrees to lock the gun in the horizontal direction has been found to be the best setup. I think Daniel Horner of the Army's AMU has a video on it. Considering I'm 65 I need all the leverage I can get. I tried a vertical grip and the dot wavered too much. The Magpul AFG was better but my arm was mostly under the rifle still. So I watched how Jerry and BJ hold an AR when speed shooting and emulated that.