Unfortunately, I have no first hand knowledge, but a friend of mine who researched and ultimately bought one said that it needed to be "tuned" (which I understood to be torqued to just the right position with a pretty tight tolerance) that was best done by smiths with specific expertise with Surefire gear. That seemed a bit excessive to me, but I never did the research.
I doubt this is a "surefire" only issue, any brake will need to be properly aligned, if the ports point down it'll cause more muzzle rise instead of less.
"NOTE: SureFire muzzle brakes and flash hiders also serve as adapter mounts for our Fast-Attach® sound suppressors. If you do not plan to attach a SureFire sound suppressor to your firearm, we recommend choosing a shorter-length muzzle brake or flash hider. SureFire muzzle brakes and flash hiders that mate with our overlap suppressor models are longer in order to extend rearward over the barrel, a feature that is unnecessary unless mounting an overlap suppressor. "