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

Do some people install them for looks, sure, mostly the guys with 10/22 plinkers such as yourself, but they come in all forms.

If an AR with a brake, shooting 556 with a standard length barrel (16"+) is too loud for you... then I would invest in some proper hearing protection. Is it and can it be annoying... sure, specially when you are on the receiving end of the brass. However to be loud enough as you describe sounds like your hearing protection is less than adequate, or worn improperly.

Now a 556 AR with a 10'' barrel or even shorter is a whole other force to be reckoned with.:rolleyes:

I try to avoid public ranges... but when I do need to use them, and the rifles benches are crowded with bubba's and their friends lotering and BS'ing... I sometimes bring some guns along to use to "clear out" a nice place for me.;) I have a .308 with a 16.5'' barrel that is awaiting its new suppressor, that one gets pretty loud, and the Scar 17 with the PWS muzzle brake on it usually gets pretty loud, if those don't work then its time for the 10'' AR's with no suppressors, generally gets guys to move their conversations further down the line.:rolleyes:

Sounds bad, but people who want to spend all day at the range and hold 20mins long conversations drive me insane when I am trying to get something done, I preemptively hang as many targets as I can because I know they will stand there BS'ing for 20mins and shoot sparingly.
 
Im glad that with all the evidence to the contrary you were presented, you could come to the understanding tha yes, you were right, they serve no purpose.

You would feel differently if you have shot a rifle before, and after adding a brake.
 
I've shot rifles before and after adding brakes.
Most add a noticeable improvement, with the price of noise to bystanders.. Even for a .556 rifle, the advantage of a rifle that doesn't move can't be argued.

Now that said,
Most pick their first muzzle brake design on aesthetics... Unless you get a report of someone who's used it. Or used it yourself. I like the jpsupercomp without the talons for an AR
 
I gotta say, I took a friend out shooting the other day with a few guns including my AR with a recently added muzzle brake. I shot it with the bake once before alone on an empty range and was very pleased with the dampening effect on the recoil and muzzle rise. I was reminded of this thread though, when, after shooting a few pistols and an m1 garand, my was caught off guard enough to ask "why is this gun so much louder than everything else?" I jumped at the chance to explain the science of it to him.

I also noticed that while the gun is significantly louder with the brake, it also changed the daynamics of the sound... and, while i may be exaggerating this in my own mind, the shots seem to howl more than crack now.... if that makes any sense at all.... from my position behind the gun, it is really quite pleasent.
 
So, muzzle brakes are unregulated, but silencers are heavily regulated, restricted and even banned altogether in some states? Is it just me? Or am I the only one that thinks that is so backwards? I don't own either one, but I can see the legitamacy of a suppressor. To me, a muzzle brake is not worth the added decibels. Couldn't a muzzle brake and suppressor be engineered into one device that does both jobs? Then you'd have something really wothwhile.
 
Muzzle brakes (MBs) on your local gun club's plinking range are one thing.

But dudes who show up to a rifle classes with MB-rifles quickly find themselves being segregated from the non-MB folks on the firing line, who understandably don't want their teeth & eyeballs rattled - not to mention their sight-pic disrupted - on every shot. Common sense. :rolleyes:

Generally, this separation of the MB gang from the rest of us puts them about 20-yds or so away, which at least makes the blast of their MBs tolerable, ...

... and if the MB dudes are relegated to lying in puddled water at that end of the line, too bad. :eek:
 
This thread has inspired me to get a .300 WSM AR, SBR it to 12", and put the biggest loudest muzzle brake on it that I can. Add a slide fire stock and head to the small and often crowded indoor range I frequent. :cool:

Kidding!

I know what you mean OP. This one time, someone right next to me had an SBR .223 AR, with a brake, and it was one noisy thing. Even with quality double ear pro, it HURT my ears. There was only a thin sheet of plexiglass between me and the guy, with the brake out in front of the glass. I was literally 3 feet away from the brake, and it was just so terribly loud and obnoxious I moved all the way down to the other end of the range. Keep in mind this was a very short SBR, probably had a 10" barrel on it. That combined with the muzzle brake and almost 0 protection from the lane divider= pain for me!
 
As a shooter I don't notice much sound difference on a rifle with a brake, not the one firing is a huge difference.

If I frequent public ranges I might take it off. But for my intended use of my rifles, the brake serves a function.
 
"Addendum to my original post. The reason I am so sure of my post is because I bought a audiometer. My son and I did this experiment together. First I set the rifle up in very solid locked in shooting vise. I measured the exact spot on the bench that the front of the barrel was above. That became my #1 survey point. From there I measured 45 deg. to the right rear. and drew a line exactly 24" to the rear of the survey point and 45 deg. to the right. That became another survey point. I continued all around the clock until I had a survey point in 6 directions. 45 Deg left in front, straight in front but low enough that the bullet would not hit anything, and 45 deg right of the #1 point. Then I repeated that until I could get noise from around the clock. And I also measured how high each point was from the concrete shooting shelter base. I then set the Audimeter up in each point and shot the rifle with a muzzle brake. Recording each point and it's decibles. I then switched to a exactly identical rifle with no muzzle brake. And repeated the test. To my surprise the rifle with no muzzle brake had higher (but not much higher maybe .3 to .5 decibles) noise over the muzzle brake rifle. Now this could be called by the difference between two rifles. But I made those rifles for myself and my buddy. They were both identical calibers .458 Win.Mag. and Identical stocks and identical actions. The barrels came from one supplier and the ammo was hand loaded by me using scales and powder tricklers with new cases. All bullets came from the same box. The only difference was the muzzle brake.
Interesting isn't it?
__________________"

from http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f18/shooting-down-gun-myths-muzzle-brakes-33236/index4.html
 
I believe that, as the brake is not going to make any more noise. I also believe that the brake's baffles will take a little energy away from the sound impulse. It only redirects the muzzle blast. It's all perception. It's really helping the bystanders perceive the same sound better lol.

The biggest factor in rifle noise to me is barrel length. Around 18" and lower, things start to get noisey
 
The purpose of a brake is to reduce recoil, primarily in heavy-recoil rifles.

That's separate from noise level.

In terms of dB, it's not any louder than an un-braked rifle. The perceived increase in noise level to bystanders is due to the deflection of gas--and thus sound--to the sides instead of straight down-range.

Bystanders are not supposed to be out in front of the muzzle of a rifle. :)
 
I don't don't think the primary function is to reduce recoil--though it may in fact do that in some cases; the primary functions are: reduce muzzle flip; and redirect blast that might otherwise obscure quick follow-up. These are real world tactical benefits--not just imaginings of weekend-warrior tacticoolios.

Guns go boom--get over it. This singling out brakes is ridiculous. When I fire one of my big magnum 6 shooters it spits out a blast that also impulses to the side--is that too a sign of a girly-man shooter?
 
Yes, there is a real noticeable advantage in muzzle brakes... Even on a .223...
The second advantage, and the first reason I tried one is; if the brake is ported to where it doesn't direct the gasses downward, it doesn't create as big of a west Texas dust ball blowing into your eyes when firing a rifle from the ground....

Granted many guys and gals put brakes on to alter the appearance of their rifle. As I get older I've become quite the hippie; if it makes a person happy, and it won't harm anyone, why is it my business... Excessive noise is not a valid complaint from any gun shooter... To go to a range and not expect noise is actually an odd expectation.
 
I wouldn't go as far as to say they are a blanket improvement no matter what. If I have the time to carefully set up each shot--I would probably take a well-tuned bull barrel with target crown over a brake on anything 308 on down. But that's just my inexpert opinion.
 
Some brakes have almost no noticeable improvement... I couldn't tell you if a design will work well or not... A person has to try a particular brake or rely on someone's word. I kinda did use a blanket statement...
Some brakes can have a negative effect on accuracy depending on harmonics I would guess as well.

I've never owned a precision shooter rifle, I'm mainly a varmint and cans kinda guy lol.
 
In terms of dB, it's not any louder than an un-braked rifle. The perceived increase in noise level to bystanders is due to the deflection of gas--and thus sound--to the sides instead of straight down-range.
Bystanders are not supposed to be out in front of the muzzle of a rifle.
Click to expand...

You must not get to rifle courses much. :rolleyes:

I've seen literally dozens and dozens of various makes of MBs on the rifles (bolts and semis) of students attending both precision and tactical rifle classes.

The lateral blast and concussive sound emitted by MB-rifles absolutely is perceptibly higher than without a MB - and that concussive blast and noise will be felt quite readily by those unlucky enough to be positioned on either side of the MB-shooter, unless an administrative decision is made to move the MB-shooter(s) some distance away from others on the firing line.

Last class I attended, one student showed up with a Savage in 300 Win Mag to which he had attached some big-honkin' MB. Before doing our cold-bore shot and getting sighted-in, the course instructors positioned this student on the far left side of the firing line, about 20-yards from the next student.

And trust me, no one's down range from the firing line in these courses ... ;)
 
I don't don't think the primary function is to reduce recoil--though it may in fact do that in some cases; the primary functions are: reduce muzzle flip; and redirect blast that might otherwise obscure quick follow-up. These are real world tactical benefits--not just imaginings of weekend-warrior tacticoolios.
Click to expand...

Dude, there are no "real world tactical benefits" to making your rifle louder, more concussive, and - for lack of a better word - "blastier."

That's why "real-world" tactical types have virtually all gone to suppressors, not MBs, especially in the military, and most especially if any part of a mission ops is likely to occur inside a structure, like an HRT mission, killing key terrorist leaders, or anything covert where intra-unit communication is critical to success, as opposed to maximizing auditory disruption.

The only benefit MBs provide is to eliminate muzzle rise for faster second and subsequent shots against time in competition, which is exactly what the gun-gamers and other weekend warriors desire.

Leave the real world to the pros. :)
 
I'm just a country boy with a gun and some pigs and coyotes to kill....


If you complain about the noise any firearm makes; I will look at you kinda sideways with a raised eyebrow...

You try to get me to move; I may cock my head the other way... I might utter a quizzical "hmm"
It's enough of an advantage to have a brake on the rifle for my uses... I don't give a darn about others, because it's only me and the heavens above... No one ever sees my rifles

Now one of my rifles has a macramed cheek rest; it feels kinda nice... Made it myself.



I also have a hog tooth hanging from the sling swivel... I like the way it looks...
 
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