I am thinking of getting a muzzle brake for my 338 rum I have heard that the vais brakes do not make the gun any louder than it already is, can anybody confirm weather or not this is true. Is there any other brakes out there that work as well or better. All advice is appreciated.

Those are very good brakes, but they will increase the noise level. Not as much as many of the brakes, but they will increase it.
JCN

It will make your gun louder to the sides and back, regardless of muzzle brake type. However, it will tame recoil quite a lot. One thing for certain: Make sure you always wear ear plugs when firing any gun, even when hunting. Modern electronic ear muffs amplify faint sounds, and cut the blast from a gun to safe levels. I have been using electronic ear muffs for hunting, not necessarily for listening to game, but to stop loud sounds when I fire my rifle. I put mine over my ears whenever I am getting ready to fire my rifle during a hunt, so now it has become a habit.

I have Vais brakes on 3 different rifles and while there is a slight increase in noise, most folks don't notice it. My Lazzeroni 30-cal Patriot is quieter with the brake than any 300 Weatherby without a brake and I've never gotten a dirty look from any adjacent shooter at the range.

Final thought! Most of the problems with brakes is the blast of gas back into your face (and scope lens) but the Vais, becasue of it design, doesn't do this.

I have been near shooters at the range who were using muzzle brakes and it's very annoying. One had brakes on a 300 Rum and 300 WM and the blast was really bad even with ear plugs and muffs both. Another club member has a semi auto 223 carbine with a brake along with a number of 30 shot clips that seem never to empty. I put ear protection on at the gate before I drive in when he is there.

I would try to solve the recoil problem some other way.

One of the quietest and most effective brakes I've ever seen is the one made by Answer Products in Davison Michigan. A buddy of mine has one on his .338WM and it now recoils about like a .270 Win. The nice thing about this brake is that it doesn't seem to be much louder than a non braked gun of similar caliber. In addition, the brake has the same contour as the barrel itself and can be easily unscrewed for hunting. I guess they give you a little cap that screws on in place of the brake that gives the barrel it's former appearance. He is small statured and really likes it. Doesn't really bother me when we go to the range either.

Geronimo

I'm with Savage.

1. Be sensible when choosing a cartridge. If it has a reputation for nasty recoil, you need a better reason for buying it than "latest thing."

2. If you really need a boomer, make sure it weighs enough. Many a Class III DGR becomes quite manageable once the weight gets over 10 lbs. So push some more barbells.

3. First class pads help a lot at the range, as do "sissy bags" but only use them while sighting in. Then get off the damned bench! They are few and far between in the game fields, anyway.

4. Work your way up to the boomer slowly, a shot or two more each trip to the range. Yes, it does to work, I've done it!

5. Along with point 2, I personally believe in mercury buffers. Give them a try before going to any sort of brake.

My $.02

Is it true then that I will get used to the kicking my shoulder gets from shooting my new .308 Sakko 75? I have only shot it twice as I am currently concentrating on shooting in my .223 remington PSS.
First time I shot 20 rounds, and second time I got to 40 shots, then my shoulder was so sore I noticed I was flinching as I pulled the trigger and that was opening up the groups a tad
The recoil even caused the Sakko rings to jump back at one point, so I had to re-zero the Weaver. Is this normal guys?

I was thinking about some kind of pad to take some of the recoil, or would an MFC be a better bet, or should I stop being a tart and get used to it?

TrevorTumak,

There is NO such thing as a quiet muzzle brake, PERIOD. Don�t let anyone or any manufacture try to tell you different. They all increase the noise level. The sound is re-directed to the sides, top or bottom and the people located in those areas catch the full effect. Even the best quality hearing protectors don�t stop the concussion cause by the magnified sound caused by any brake. There are much better ways of controlling recoil than a brake. Make sure the stock fits you and is of proper design. I use mercury recoil reducers in all my big bores and they work great. Don�t believe any that would try to tell you all a mercury recoil reducer does is add weight to the rifle. I tried substituting a piece of lead the same weight and it doesn�t tame the recoil like mercury does. While a 7 pound .375 H&H is a joy to carry in the woods it is a pain in the shoulder to shoot. A 9 3/4 pound .375 H&H is a whole lot nicer to the shoulder. Forget a brake, mercury reducer is cheaper anyway. Lawdog

Kongy, 308's don't have any recoil (LOL). You will get used to it, try just 5-10 shots off the bench the first few times. You can also be a bit of an old woman and wear a sissy pad, I highly recommend the Past recoil shield. I wear mine every time I'm on the bench now. This morning I shot the 275 Rigby, 7.65 Argentine and 8x57 wearing the pad and can't even tell I was at the range. The 7.65 and 8x57 are sporters with steel butt plates, and that 8mm is a very light pre-war gun that kicks the snot out of me, worse than my 458 Win.

You might be right about .308s not recoiling chuck, but something kicked the shit out of me yesterday, and I don't think it was my little Remington

I am sure I will get used to it in a few sessions, it's just the time it takes to clean two rifles at the range is a real pain, hence getting the .223 shot in means I have only had a couple of chances to work my shoulder in with the .308.

I am well pleased with the little Remington. It's a tack driver. Yesterday at the ranges my mate had his TRG set up that cost nearly three times more than the Remington, despite the money spent he couldn't get any where near the accuracy of the PSS now he wants one just like mine I offered a straight swap but sadly he declined my kind offer

Thanks for all the input the biggest reason I was thinking of getting the brake was because I was told that it doesnt increase muzzle blast I have had friends in the past that would shoot with a kdf on a 300 mag and i can tell you we didnt stay friends long usually the guys I hunt with we will back each other up on a shot but you cant when someone is shooting a brake. as always it sounded to good to be true, reduce recoil by 40 percent and not kill your ears. Once you get use to it 338 rum doesnt kick that bad I have fired six shots at big game and have made six one shot kills.