Comments on muzzle brakes?

D

DAL

New member
I plan on having a muzzle brake installed on my .30-06 in the near future. If any of you have had a muzzle brake installed, how did you like it? Or, maybe you didn't like it. I welcome all comments.
DAL

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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.
GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, NRA
 
Had a brake put on my .30-378 Wby. Mag. I'd say the brake cut down on the recoil 1/3 to almost 1/2. I love the thing, though the noise is almost deafening. I've also shot Wby. Ultra Lights in 30-06 with and without muzzle brakes and I'd again have to say the difference is very noticable. I don't think that all brakes are created equal, however. The good ones claim recoil reduction of 33% to 60% depending on caliber, etc.
 
-Brakes are great for the range where you wear hearing protection. But they are hell in the field with no protection. I recommend you have the installer make a thread protector to screw on the barrel when you take the brake off to hunt that way you have the best of both worlds with less recoil on the range and less noise when hunting.
 
Harumph. :) I can see the "why" of a muzzle brake for cartridges notably greater in recoil than the '06. Is your rifle a featherweight of some sort?

For a total weight of eight to nine pounds (w/sling, scope and five rounds), I doubt the reduction in recoil is worth the increase in decibels.

(If you are slight of build, or recoil-sensitive, by all means add the brake.)

Just my opinion.

Regards, Art
 
Thanks for the prompt replies.

Gale McMillan: This is the first I have heard of a muzzle brake increasing the report of a rifle, which goes to show my ignorance on the subject. The screw-on idea sounds good; I'll see if it can be done.

Art Eatman: No, I don't think my rifle is a featherweight, but I am. I want to practice more with my '06 this summer for big-game hunting this fall (something I haven't done for over 15 years) and I remember that after a box of Federal Premiums (165 gr. BTSP...my rifle really likes these), my shoulder was stiff and sore. I don't want a lighter caliber as I believe the '06 is the best all-around caliber available (no flames, please) for most non-dangerous big-game applications, but I want the rifle to recoil like a lighter caliber.
DAL

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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.
GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, NRA
 
DAL: Well, you just gotta go a long way to find something better than an '06.

When I was a kid, my uncle psyched me out about recoil, when I complained about my Model 1917 "kicking": "That gun doesn't kick! You gotta get that nonsense outta your head! Guns don't kick."

What did I know?

The steel butt plate on that ol' 1917 like to beat my skinny shoulder plumb into submission!

I've been lugging an old Weatherby '06 around for some 30 years, now. It weighs around 9+ pounds in the morning, and about 50 pounds at sundown... :)

I will say that I've noticed recoil when shooting from a bench rest, but I've yet to hear the muzzle blast nor feel any recoil when actually shooting at some critter...

Best regards, Art
 
I've heard it said plenty of times that recoil is 85% mental. That being said until you get to the heavy hitters, I have always been advised to "get used to it" through practice, practice practice.

Erik
 
Hi, guys,

Amazing! Everyone spelled "brake" right! There is hope for education after all.

Of course, muzzle brakes increase the noise, since they deflect some of the gas up and backwards to counter the effect of the recoil. The more they direct the gas to the rear, the more noise comes back also. The noise, after all, is simply the escape of the gas after bullet exit, so if some of it comes back, the noise will too.

(Note that muzzle brakes do not always make one a favorite at the local range; most of them put a lot of blast to the side as well and it can be felt as well as heard.)

Jim
 
Hey, Jim: Just shows to go ya that not all us "illiterate, knuckle-dragging, pot-gutted Neanderthals" of the gun-nut world are actually illiterate.

I must admit to a 34"/35" sleeve, but that merely facilitates my use of the Weaver stance. :)

A 34" waist is not exactly a pot-gut. :)

Neanderthal? Not according to the ladies of my life. :)

Chess, anyone?

As usual, Art
 
I have a muzzle brake on my Savage 7MM Rem. Mag, and like the reduced recoil, but the sound is incredible. In fact, two years ago, I was at the range late one afternoon (heading towards evening) zeroing in this rifle. No one was around, and every five shots I would walk the 100 yds to my target to check my groupings (this was before I bought a spotting scope). After doing this for about an hour, I went back to the bench, settled in, adjusted my scope per my last group, and fired away. What I realized instantaneously was that I had forgotten to put on my ear protection, which I never had done before primarily because when I would normally shoot, there were other people at the range and I would be mentally reminded to place my hearing protection back on. Anyway, the pain after that shot was unbelievable. The entire right side of my face went numb (I shoot left-handed) and it felt like someone had jamed an icepick in my ear. As a result of just that single shot, I have suffered a small degree of permanent, irreversible hearing damage in that ear. So the moral of the story, alway be conscious of what you are doing, and if you use a muzzle brake, wear hearing protection, even in the field.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Art Eatman:
knuckle-dragging[/quote]
Knuckle-dragger...Hehehe

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Schmit
GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"

[This message has been edited by Schmit (edited March 20, 2000).]
 
Personally, I'd rather deal with the recoil than risk permanent hearing loss, unless you're willing to hunt with ear plugs. Don't even think about shooting a braked rifle without hearing protection, not even once! Like rock-jock, I made that mistake. It was a 14" Contender in .223 Rem with a T/C Muzzle Tamer. Shot it once without muffs, that was five years ago, my ears are still ringing.

With something as light as the .30-06 maybe you should look for a good slip-on recoil pad, or a padded shooting jacket/shirt. When I'm shooting long strings off the bench I sometimes slip a firm piece of carpet under my shirt. When your hunting you only need one, maybe two, shots anyway. When you've got Buck Fever you don't notice the recoil. -- Kernel

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One shot........ one deer.

Two shots.... maybe one deer.

Three shots.... NO deer.

-- overheard in deer camp.


[This message has been edited by Kernel (edited March 20, 2000).]
 
Gosh, I forgot Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. I guess they don't plow the furrows TOO deep with their knuckles, going to and from the firing range...

:), Art
 
I don't like muzzle breaks (for the reasons stated above). My advice is to spend your money on something else.
 
Like I have said before, shoulders heal (quite quickly). But hearing is irreplaceable and is lost forever. Learn the gun, and you will learn the recoil. It's practice, not technology, that is the key to good shooting. Good luck, enjoy!


Hueco
 
A good recoil pad, professionally installed, is a much better investment than any muzzle brake. I like the Pachmayr Decelerator. At the range, an extra pad under the shirt-- a piece of dense rubber industrial carpet pad or even a small sandbag-- can take the sting out of benched shooting. BTW, if you do get a brake, you should know that taking it off for hunting, as one poster suggested, can change your zero markedly. All in all, I favor the pad. (And a good set of ear muffs) ----slabsides

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If they take our guns, I intend to let my hair grow long and acquire the jawbone of an ass.
 
Personally, I don't like them. The amount of blast you get back at you to me is worse than recoil. Anothe thing to watch out for is that if you are firing over anything like a pickup hood or loose dirt, you can damage the paint on the hood of the truck and kick up a lot of dust in your face with the blast they put out.
A couple of years ago, I was at the local range when they were sighting in deer rifles right before the season opened. I helped one fella in a wheel chair sight in his Winchester 70 in .300 magnum with a BOSS muzzle break. I was wearing both plugs and muffs but under that metal roof, you could still feel the thump in your ears. Of course we had a couple of the local idiot kids that thought they had something to prove and weren't wearing any hearing protection at all. :( Figured no sense in getting a set of plugs now. Might be better to save their pennies for a hearing aide they are going to need in a few years. Having fired both that Winchester with the BOSS and a friends Remington 700 in .300 magnum without a muzzle brake, I coldn't tell enough difference between them to justify the damaged hearing they cause. Might be worth it in a .458 magnum, .50 caliber or other heavy rifle, but in rifles that are chambered for more conventional calibers, I don't see any use for them.
 
DAL - Have you thought about reloading your own ammo? For the price of a muzzle brake you could set yourself up with a single stage reloading press and all the necessary equipment to produce lighter recoiling, less expensive loads that allow your to practice more often without the recoil of your normal hunting loads.
 
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