Muzzlebrakes....?

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I had a King Armory KA-1830 installed on my lightweight Savage 110 in 7mm Mag. Made the gun a LOT more pleasant to shoot. Big calibers or light rifles are good guns to put a brake on, they'll bruise your shoulder pretty quickly otherwise.
 
Factory adjustable brake on my Savage 116fask doesn't make much difference in accuracy or recoil. Does make it noisier, harder to clean but also protects the muzzle crown during cleaning.

I usually just leave it closed.

Those multiport AK 74 brakes really do reduce muzzle climb, but also make a 223/5.56mm AK really loud.
 
Do they make muzzle brakes for bull barrels? I've seen a few that were too skinny to meet up to the barrel completely and looked hideous.
 
I'm guessing deerhunter61 has either a big Adam's apple or a huge belly.

<Edited to mention that this post is in jest. I thought that was obvious, but I'd forgotten how seriously some people take themselves.>
 
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.38 Special

"I'm guessing deerhunter61 has either a big Adam's apple or a huge belly".

First of all I am not sure what you are trying to say but if I read this correct you are wrong on both counts and frankly I do not appreciate the insult. I do not think I have aimed any your way and it is simply uncalled for.

So in the future if you are going to take pot shots I would appreciate it if you would avoid the threads I start.
 
All my rifles have a (theoretical at least) purpose. Those purposes, if and when shooting is called for, don't involve me using hearing protection (hunting, self-defense). Except for the strictly target rifles which are few and far between - but those are all pussycats - .243 win and under. Therefore, I have no muzzle brakes. I don't need a "loudener" on my rifle if it's under .338 lapua in recoil level.
 
A lot of opinions exist on the brake issue, as seen by the replies here. They do work. They are loud. From an aesthetics standpoint, they are not attractive; but, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, if you take one hunting, you should take along hearing protection of some sort. If you shoot one without protection, you will never forget it.

Some negatives about brakes carried in the field may include:

1. If shooting prone, the blast may kick up dirt and debris into your face, depending on the angle of the holes in the brake and the ground around you.

2. If you have a screw on type brake, it might come loose and fall off your gun. It has happened.

3. If you have to shoot quickly, you may not have time to put in/on your hearing protection. It will hurt accordingly.

A positive:

In open spaces of the west, a muzzle braked gun report is spread out so much that animals cannot always detect its origin. Some hunters have reported that animals will just stand around after the shot. Not a big deal, but it may allow a second shot if the first one was a miss.

I know. We never miss. At least not that we will admit.
 
If you are shooting at a crowded range and the benches are close together - the people next to you will probably not like you. It is almost disrespectful IMHO.

Do they reduce recoil - good brakes will help considerably. Our local range officers generally frown on them unless it is on a rifle that *needs* it(.338 and up). They generally say if you can't handle the recoil - get a different rifle.
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At my range, the guy with loudest gun often gets a pat on the back. :)

I wouldn't fret about anyone getting disturbed at a rifle range cause my gun has a brake on it. Rifle ranges are expected to be loud. :neener:
 
.308 asked:
Do they make muzzle brakes for bull barrels?
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Yes, it depends on where you go. I had the brake for my Acera custom made to match the contour of the barrel, and it is hard to tell where the joint is. It has a thin barrel, but the smith would have made it match any barrel profile I had on the rifle.

The brake on my bull barreled PSS looks like something off a tank cannon, but it is very effective.

I have not taken the brake off my .50BMG bolt gun yet, too scared :) But I will get over that some day and check out the difference, I think it will be significant.

The Briley brake I have on the .458 is contoured matched to the heavy barrel, and makes that gun more pleasant to shoot.

Yeah I am a fan of the brake. But I do try to find benches that are not close to other shooters, and warn those that come to shoot close to me of the noise, as a courtesy.
 
I was offered a near-new (six rounds fired) Savage left-hand .338 "sight unseen" one day, and told the gent I'd take it. Turned out that it has the on-off muzzle brake.

The brake makes a HUGE difference when shooting from the bench, reducing the .338/225/2850 recoil to about the level of a .270 WCF. A few dozen cast-bullet loads "froze" the brake in the "on" position, and it has resisted heroic efforts to move it ever since. The noise factor doesn't really matter, because I use my electronic muffs when hunting and when just shooting for fun.

This is certainly the most-comfortable .338 I ever hope to fire, and it's wickedly accurate to boot. I'll vote for the brake, but you WILL need good hearing protection.
 
the loudest rifle i have ever heard was a short barreled ar15 in .308. I was standing atleast 35 feet away and i had double hearing protection on. It sounded louder then when I fired 12ga 3.5 out of my shotgun in a indoor concrete lined range. i could barely hear The shooter next to me who had a nice ar15 with no brake. I have heard all sorts of big caliber rounds before, but nothing was even close to that .308. It had a really strange muzzle brake that looked like someones idea of what a brake shold be. It was around 3 to 4 inches long, with ports that opened the side of the brake up right at the muzzle. there were no ports in the top of the brake.
 
good quality muzzle breaks cost about $200.00 installed it is IMPORTANT to have the work done by a quality gunsmith. The rifle will be a moderate amount louder but recoil is reduce by: 300 Weatherby mag to 30.06, 7 mag to 243, 338 Win mag to 30.06. the do not reduce accuriticy because the bullet never touches the break. Get one do't listen to all of the macho men here they are not you.
 
I like the idea of a BOSS/CR. Sounds like something fun to tinker with. Elktrout, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the looks of brakes on rifles.
 
I put a brake on my .308 and it made the gun sound like a .50bmg going off... that being said it took the recoil down to a .243. so you have to decide if you want to see the bullet hit, or be able to hear for the next hour..... i had my barrel threaded and brake installed with a cap for storage for $185. I have a NEF Survivor, with an aftermarket barrel that is 26" and is a heavy barrell. I did however notice that my bullet drops off faster after about 300 yards. it definitly lost some velocity after the brake. hope this helps alittle.
 
I did however notice that my bullet drops off faster after about 300 yards. it definitly lost some velocity after the brake.
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Could someone explain how this is possible? Since the bullet does not touch the brake, what makes it slow faster. Inquiring mind wants to know.



GregGry did the brake look like the top one in this picture? That is kind of what I had in mind from your description. These are Vandenbergs out of Clear Lake Texas. Real good brake, I have one on a .300 Win Mag.

Rifle5.gif



Here is another brake, from the BOHICA website. This thing tames the .50 BMG down to a manageable level.

IMG_1757.jpg
 
It looked something like that, except the holes that are forward of the first set (closest to the barrel) weren't there. I sort of buggered up my previous post. What I ment to say was:

It had two holes that were at the beginning of the brake, near the muzzle end of the barrel. then the 3 to 4 or so remaining inches had no holes.

I have never seen a brake like the one the guy had on his rifle. It didn't seem to do anything since the recoil seemed to be way more then it should be, and it was insanely loud.
 
The main concern I have is with the effect the blow back has on my ears and those of anyone standing near. Even with ear protection I have been around some of these that still hurt my ears. That is the ONLY reason I have not had one of these put on my rifles so far.
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Have you tried shooting with both good foam plugs + good earmuffs? That may bring the perceived volume down to a more reasonable level and allow you to use the brake.
 
put one on my sks when i added a tapco t6 stock to reduce muzzle climb and recoil increase due to the lighter stock.
 
Well based on the info you all have provided I think I am going to try a couple of different things. I think I am going to put a good recoil pad on one and see what that does to reduce the felt recoil. If that does enough I am going to have this done to my other two rifles. If it does not do enough I am going to have a muzzlebrake put on one of the other rifles and see what it does to help.

Thanks for all you advice.

If anyone else has any more info....
 
I don't know why the adjustable (you can turn it on or off) brake Savage provides isn't more popular. One of those few cases where you "can have your cake and it it too." Like elktrout though, I think all brakes are a lot less than pretty.

Because the Savage brake can be turned off or on, it's an interesting rifle to experiment with to see if the brake has any effect on the ballistics and shooting characteristics of a particular rifle. I've shot my Savage 116 SE, chambered in .338 Winchester Magnum with the brake set in both positions and have found no differences in point of impacts or accuracy in either. I have never chronographed the rifle so there may well be a difference, however small, in the velocity between the two positions.
 
I remember the occasion when I shot the .338LM TRG-42 with brake. Inside the van. With the brake inside the van too. The owner said he thought the windows would blow off, I felt like I was punched in the face. Confined spaces, big calibres and muzzlebrakes do not mix very well.

But it wasn't nearly as bad as shooting a light-fifty in indoors range, with a wall 3 feet right side to the muzzle.
 
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