Since muzzle brakes are here to stay, it might be good to wear good ear protection at the range.
Permitted uses of muzzle brakes (MBs) are, thankfully, getting more limited. Many, perhaps most, African Safari outfits have banned the use of rifles with MBs and won't let you bring one into camp over there. I've noted that some U.S. hunting camps have also banned them.
In precision rifle training, rifles with muzzle brakes chambered in .223/5.56mm & .308/7.62 (or, worse, larger calibers) are a documented lateral nuisance on the firing line. Not only is the shot-to-shot concentration of fellow shooters on either side disturbed with their obnoxious noise and concussive sideways blast, these devices universally kick up dust and dirt thus obscuring the optics of other shooters (i.e., victimizing them) for precise follow-up shots, especially at distance.
Not surprisingly at such marksmanship training courses, the happy shooter (and any fellow traveler) whose rifle is seen to be sporting a MB receives not only scornful looks and comments as he starts to set up on the firing line, but is, by the democratic vote of those without brakes, directed by the chief instructor to take his rifle and gear and move way, way down to the far right side of the line - usually to a point some 25 yds from the nearest shooter. Typically this position is also where the field has flooded over, or is at least damp and muddy, or otherwise not anyone's first choice for prone shots on small targets at 500 yds.
Presumably this exercise serves as a teaching point about the need to observe the requisite social skills when setting up your rifle for the next evolution in marksmanship training.
Word to the wise ...
