Muzzle brake

E

ECM4

New member
I worked up a load that was shooting very good for my gun. Slightly below 1/2 MOA. (.459) I added a muzzle brake and now groups shot up to about 1.75 MOA. Is the muzzle brake just not right for the gun or would working back up a new load help get back to where I was? Anyone else have to change a load
after installing muzzle brake. I tried factory Match ammo today along with my handloads. Match ammo had shot right around 1/2 MOA as well and they were just as big as my handloads right around 1.75 MOA. Muzzle brake is aligned and installed correctly. Muzzle brake is a VG6 Gamma.
 
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What gun? The brake, even though a lightweight, changed the barrel harmonics. Working up a new load (+ or - a grain or two, maybe a different powder) may get you back to where you were.


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It’s. Ruger American predator 6.5 Creedmoor. The brake is a VG 6 Gamma. I didn’t know if changing the load might help correct it but if not I will just go back to the thread protector. Recoil isn’t bad at all on a 6.5 don’t really need a brake but it is nice to not jump off the target quiet as bad with the brake
 
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Muzzle Break means broken. Take it to a gunsmith.
Muzzle Brakes tame recoil by diverting gases in offsetting directions (sideways, and sometimes up) to minimize barrel rise caused by gas escaping the end of the barrel like a rocket nozzle.
Muzzle Brakes are louder to bystanders. If accuracy changed when adding a muzzle brake, you will need restart your load work-up, or possibly, take the muzzle brake off.
I have a Savage 223 HB bolt rifle that came from the factory with a muzzle brake it does not need, but it is my most accurate firearm. So, I leave it alone.
Why do you need the muzzle brake? If it didn't solve a problem, but caused one, I would remove it.
Muzzle Brakes are common on heavy barrels which flex less, or, magnum chamberings with recoil to be tamed.
 
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The added weight of the brake changed the muzzle axis vibration frequency to one that caused bullets to leave across a greater angular spread.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^What Bart said ^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have no less the 6 rifles with muzzle brakes . All that can shoot well , do . Work back up your load but if you have a charge/velocity you like . Try a few different charges around that old node . Don’t think your new load will be off by a full grain . If you’re at max charge/pressure you can/should only try lesser charges .
 
Note that the Browning BOSS muzzle brake has micrometer graduations that allow you to tune the barrel by changing the brake's location on it. This is solid proof the position of the brake matters for the reason Bart gave. It's both a brake and a barrel tuner, but a barrel tuner in the wrong position on the barrel. The compensator appears to have a correct up and down orientation, unlike the BOSS, so you would have to adjust its position in full turns, either using 0.0357" thick spacers to move it further out or turning it in (may require trimming the muzzle) in whole turns until you find the best accuracy spot.

Another approach would be to thread a pair of thick washers that add up to the same weight as the brake and, using the pair as jam nuts for each other, try them in different locations along the barrel thread to determine where they are when the group is tightest. At that point, the cenertline between the washers is where the center of gravity of the muzzle brake should be.
 
I agree with Bart. I recently had the exact opposite effect from adding a muzzle brake. It changed an ok shooting load and rifle and made it a great shooting load and rifle.

My Ruger American Ranch rifle on the other hand shoots.much better without the brake than it does with the brake.
 
I agree the weight of a muzzle break can affect the harmonic "trim" of a barrel.

That's likely the problem.

But consider this...something to keep in mind. With a typical AR brake,the muzzle threads are 1/2 - 20. The minor dia,or the thread relief will be about 7/16,or around .437 Now,if you figure the cross section area of a .437 round with a .224 hole in it,you hve about 1/10th sq in of steel cross section.

Just to relate to ft lbs of torque,lets figure a 12 in lever arm. Run that through one rev,it travels 12 time 3,14...someplace around 37.7 in travel to get .050 travel out of the thread.(OOPS!!. The 12 in lever arm is radius, Circumference is Pi D. So the travel is about 75 in to get .050 in Seems like that gives about a (753? No),1500 to one mechanical advantage.

Now,I don't claim high proficiency in physics.I might be looking at it wrong.

But it seems as if I put 20 lbs of force into 1500 to one mechanical advantage,,minus whatever friction and inefficiency...the gross number is about 30,000 lbs applied to 1/10th sq in of steel.

I know that doesn't sound right. It probably isn't.

My point is don't use three white knuckles worth of torque on your pickle to get it to clock "just a little more" because you just might be stretching barrel steel for 5 minutes on a clock face of rotation..
That's a bad place to distort if you want accuracy.

It seems a lot of folks think of a barrel as a rock solid,rigid,near indestructible piece of engineering structure.

Maybe its closer to being the neck on a violin

Actually,a match grade,cut rifled barrel I have ...made by one of the old school respected barrelmakers is a little disappointing in the accuracy dept.

I suspect I may have overtorqued the pickle and caused it. Its an 18 in fluted SDMR weight bbl that shoots just over 1 MOA at 100 yds.

I'm not going to blame the barrelmaker.

I think I'm going to cut the 1/2-20 threads off,and go with either no pickle,just a crown,or stick it in the lathe and thread it 5/8 24 or whatever the 30 cal standard is. I put my flash hiders in a collet and bore them to about minor dia of the 1/2 in thread anyway...roughly .430

The upper I used was one I was given,and it had been through three builds.

Maybe a fresh upper, lapped square,cutneww muzzle threads and maybe glue the barrel extension into the upper I might find out my barrel maker did me right.
I think a new cornea in my right eye will help,too.
 
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I have heard that applying too much torque on the muzzle threads could cause issues. I guess at this point the real question is if he removes it does the accuracy return?
 
I'd check the crown, may have been damaged when installing the break. Unless you have removed it and it shoots 1/2 MOA again.
 
I have a brake on my tactical .260 Rem which I remove when shooting in competition. I have found it has a small effect on point of impact but no effect on group sizes

I use 25 ft lbs on mine with spacer shims to get the "clocking " right. Never had any back off yet from vibration even though that is very light torque for a 5/8s thread
 
I have couple rifles with muzzle brakes and if I remove one I use tread protector. I really don't see any difference. I have them put on new barrel so not added and loads worked up with brake.
 
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