Muzzle brake question

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deepcore

New member
First, setting aside the debate of whether you should have one in the first place/would want to be caught dead with one/whether you'd want your kid to be friends with one/whether you should give up your man card or not for having one....this is not my question.

Second, setting aside whether or not you blame your need for a hearing aid/the buzzing in your head/your double vision on one...this is not my question.

Third, setting aside the changes in harmonics that adding a weight to the end of your muzzle brings.

My question is given that the muzzle end of your rifle has to be machined (if you go with a threaded break) and therefore material is removed....what are the effects if any due to the reduction of amount of material around the muzzle. Specially if you take something that's .820 to .920, for example, in diameter and take it down to 5/8 or 1/2.

Is it wrong to assume that since you have a less rigid section at the end of your barrel you get a decline in potential accuracy?

I know this is a long road to hoe for a potentially stupid question but I'm just curious.

The largest diameter thread that I could find, so far, is 3/4 from Grizzly Gunwroks. Which would need less loss of original diameter at the muzzle.

Of, course using a clamp-on break would make it unecessary to remove material from the muzzle end....but that's another can of worms.
 
Difference in accuracy will be negligible with most rifles.
What rifle are you thinking of braking? Recoil issue? Aftermarket pad? (They can make a huuuuuuuge difference.)

You may even see an improvement in accuracy depending on the brake installed and who installs it.

Higher end rifles with higher expectations for performance might be a different story.

Barrels are like putty; machining, manipulating and marring them in any way can influence their performance.
 
Could be a change in barrel harmonics which might make a difference. Odds are, you'll never know until you try it. Trouble is, you can't undo the machining.

But, it might not have any effect at all...
 
Is it wrong to assume that since you have a less rigid section at the end of your barrel you get a decline in potential accuracy?
Click to expand...

It seems to me that if you machine the end so that it is smaller then screw a muzzle brake on it, you are beefing up the area that had been machined down making it more rigid than before. Just a theory as I have my first cup of coffee, may not make sense after I wake up. Can't answer the part about adding a weight to the end of the barrel.
I'm thinking of a piece of pipe with a coupling screwed on the end. The area with the coupling is stronger than just the threaded end, and probably even stronger than the pipe itself.
 
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Muzzle brakes isn't a one size fit all barrels. KDF muzzle brakes if you got their model 62 that cover barrel dia from .570 to .620 max caliber that brake would handle up to 8mm and Thread 1/2-28tpi.
 
The incremental difference is so small, and variable, that it takes a precision bench gun to see it.

The accuracy of the barrel itself, rifling, concentricity, and variation in bore diameter will affect it more. So will the crown, ammo, and whether it's free floated. The length of the barrel and dampening its harmonics, too.

I've heard it expressed that machining the end of the barrel helps relieve some stress at the muzzle caused by the drilling, rifling, and allows a cleaner release of the bullet.

There's even conjecture that a high quality pencil barrel could be more accurate because it has less material, therefore less inclusions and warping as it warms up.

Not all flash hiders do that, and brakes aren't always noisier. I use a BRT linear comp, which pushes more of the noise downrange. It's a hunting AR, and when shot, my ears don't immediately ring like my civilian guns do. It's all about reducing damage to my already compromised hearing. If that takes away my man card, ok, but I can mostly still hear my spouse, and when the grandchildren come along, them too.

We all mostly use a Maxim silencer every time we start the car, they should be on guns, too.
 
My brother had cancer surgery that took alot of meat from his shoulder. After healing he was afraid to shoot his Ruger M77 7-mag. I had a muzzle break installed for him for Xmas and he now hunts regularly with it. No effect that we could tell in the accuracy, still a tack driver. It is the only hunting rifle he has ever owned and he is very happy with it. The brake is a bother at the range but he says he doesn't even notice the blast when hunting.
 
If I understand your question, my answer would be no...
The "thinner",.turned down section is at the very end of the barrel, and is only for a half inch or so.

Now, if you had a turned-down section in the middle of the barrel, that would almost certainly affect barrel "whip".

There are SO many precision shooters using suppressors and brakes on their rifles without affecting accuracy that it would not be a concern for me.
 
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