Whats the deal with muzzle brakes on everything these days??

9

98 220 swift

New member
I was at the local public range yesterday shooting my 10/22 at 50 yards when a blast goes off next to me that almost blows my hat off and leaves me with my ears ringing even though I have plugs in. I look over and see a younger guy(around 20) with a AR with a large brake on it. I was a somewhat grouchy when I asked him why he needed that on a 223. I don't think he heard me but apologied and moved down a bench. A few months ago a guy was there with a brake on his bolt action 6.5 Creedmore? It seems there is more and more brakes on everything. Why. Is it cool to make as much noise as you can. I can see it on something that kicks hard. I just don't see the use in them.
 
Brakes reduce recoil and allow for faster follow up shots, even on ARs.

It may seem silly to those who don't shoot action matches such as 3 gun, but in such matches speed is critical. The time you spend re-acquiring the sights after recoil can be use for fundamentals.

Even in PD hunting, using a un-braked 223 bolt gun, you cant really see if you hit the critter or he jumped back in the hole. The brake helps you stay on target.

Suppressors do the same thing, but because of regulations they are cost prohibitive to many shooters. Plus you can use shot timers in matches were suppressors are used.

I'd like to see the CDC push to de-regulate suppressors on safety (hearing) issues.

But as to brakes, I'd suggest using double hearing protection if they bother you.
 
Some brakes work--and some don't--that's been my experience. What you are describing sounds like a brake that ports directly to the side.

I have a nice brake on my 300 win mag that really does make a difference in reduced recoil and muzzle lift. I have to admit that it does send out sonic blasts to the side and in general I don't fire it at a public range if someone next to me is trying hard to shoot precision-wise.

On the other hand, when the urban commandos come out with their AR's and AK's (you know the type, they'll fire off hundreds of rounds and leave the brass) and rain brass on me while even hitting my targets occasionally--I love whipping out the 300 wm to rock their world lol.
 
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What you are describing sounds like a brake that ports directly to the side
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Yes they where. It looked like the brake on a Barrett 50 cal just smaller. At least he didn't empty mag after mag as fast as he could ( he was having problems with the rifle functioning thought). That fast shooters where the two other young guys with the SKSs that showed up later.


I may have been a little too mean with my comments after he shot. I just didn't see the need to blow gas and oil burning smell all over the guy nest to you.

Is there any accuracy benefit to these brakes?? Other than rapid firing?
 
Does a brake help accuracy? I may be wrong--but in simple terms of "does it actually improve the ballistics of a bullet exiting a muzzle?" My guess is no. Does it help in dissipation of exhaust gases such that muzzle rise and recoil are reduced (in a good one at least) which indirectly will lead to better form/follow-up and hence increased accuracy? My guess is in many cases, yes.
 
I generally like brakes. I put one on Dad's 270 because he wouldn't shoot it anymore due to recoil and shoulder problems. He still has a bad shoulder but the 270 doesn't hurt it anymore.

I put one on a 458WM...for obvious reasons. Load work-up off the bench was just plain painful. I just take it off for hunting.

The factory brake on my friends Armalite AR-10 is absolutely deafening and ridiculously concussive. It's just a 308 but you cannot be next to him on the firing line.

I think folks just need to be aware and courteous about their use. Him moving away for you was the right thing to do.
 
It does seem a little curious that we go to a publicly accessed SHOOTING range and then seem put-out by "loud noise." While I can understand exactly whatthe OP is describing, everything at the range is shockingly, critically, and obscenely -LOUD.-

My 14" Contender in .223 is not only a short barrel and a huge bark, it's muzzle and source of all the noise sits like 8-10 inches LESS forward of the firing line and that absolutely increases it's evil volume of noise and blast. My .30 Carbine chambered Ruger Blackhawk with a 7.5" barrel is not as nasty as the .223-chambered Contender, but it's muzzle is, again, closer to the shooter (and other shooters) and adds the cylinder gap to boot.

And the ranges I shoot at completely allow the firing of .50 BMG and I have been there on more than one occasion and nobody is offended -- probably because everyone there is a gun guy who finds it wildly interesting and cool.

Bottom line? I can absolutely see the OP's annoyance with muzzle brakes, blast, and rifles that are "louder" than perhaps they "need to be" but even the OP admits that he probably got rude with the shooter and the shooter even moved away from him in an act of good faith.

Personally, I think the OP needs to shoot on his own land or be prepared to share the sport with other folks, younger folks, and that includes accepting the newish changes to popular firearms.

I can only imagine what the .30-06 and .300 Savage guys must have though about the Weatherby Magnums and the belted magnums of the 60's and 70's when those young whipper snappers showed up on the range with their "irrationally loud" rifles. :p
 
I was a somewhat grouchy when I asked him why he needed that on a 223.
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Here is my whole outlook, the only time a flash hider really benefits you is when firing from concealment in low light, comps or brakes benefit you every time you pull the trigger. Brakes and comps allow you to fire strings of rapid fire more accurately since they help keep your muzzle down, they also make it quicker to reacquire your sight picture for followup shots, this is especially useful on scoped rifles, and yes even with .223/5.56. I have a Battlecomp on my AR and love it.
 
I do not own anything with a brake one it... of the rifles that you see with them I would guess that MAYBE 25% of them are there for a purpose and probably serve that purpose reaonably well. The other 75% are all about the 'coolaitivity' factor which is just annoying... of course that's merely my opinion. ;)
 
Fortunately I have enough acreage that I have set up my personal range and no longer use the public range a few miles away.

IMO if your rifle kicks too much, sell it and buy a rifle in a smaller caliber! Don't go to the public range and inflict your additional noise on the public.:rolleyes:
 
I got stuck in a muzzle brake sandwich once. 460 revolver to the left and some Ar variant to the right in 308. I was taking out a new shooter and the range of 20 stations was empty besides us.

Eventually we moved because my friend was flinching every shot without pulling the trigger of the 22lr.

I think people should be considerate on an empty range. If it's full at least think a bit. I have an SKS that I won't shoot at a covered range if there's someone sitting next to me on the right because it rains casings down on them.
 
I was at the local public range yesterday shooting my 10/22 at 50 yards when a blast goes off next to me that almost blows my hat off and leaves me with my ears ringing even though I have plugs in. I look over and see a younger guy(around 20) with a AR with a large brake on it. I was a somewhat grouchy when I asked him why he needed that on a 223.
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Are you sure it was a .223?....

A .223 AR with a brake isn't going to come close to blowing your hat off, unless you have your head close enough to be a safety violation.

And... There are MANY, many other options out there for AR chamberings, today.
About six feet from me, while I type this, you'll find a .458 SOCOM and a .475 Tremor.
They may look like heavy barreled AR carbines with gaudy muzzle brakes, from a distance. But upon closer inspection, you'll notice that they say ".458" or ".475" on the barrel, and there's a really big hole at the muzzle.

.458 SOCOM is roughly equivalent to traditional .45-70 or standard .460 S&W loads (325 gr bullet at 1,750-1,950 fps), and .475 Tremor is just a larger diameter bullet at a theoretically marginally higher velocity (30-50 fps). ...But in an AR style rifle that weighs less than 7 lbs.

Without the muzzle brake, recoil is too much for most shooters and will even leave experienced shooters with bruises. (Recoil of .458 SOCOM is even enough to strip the detents in buffer tubes, or shear stop pins for adjustable stocks. ;)) Muzzle rise is also substantial, and increases follow up time by quite a bit.

But the brakes tame them.
The brake turns those rifles from brutal, comical beasts into controllable mid-range hammers.

And, of course, there are other big bore options for either the AR15 or AR10/LR308...
.510 WSM
.500 Phantom
.50 Beowulf
.45 Raptor
.450 Bushmaster
.44 Fury
.416 Hushpuppy
.375 SOCOM
...And a plethora of boutique wildcats.
 
I'd like to see the CDC push to de-regulate suppressors on safety (hearing) issues.
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The CDC hs no business getting involved with anything relating to firearms, since guns aren't a "disease"
 
.510 WSM
.500 Phantom
.50 Beowulf
.45 Raptor
.450 Bushmaster
.44 Fury
.416 Hushpuppy
.375 SOCOM
...And a plethora of boutique wildcats.
Click to expand...

300 wssm would be about as far as I would consider going on an AR platform.
 
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