I could use some suggestions for a muzzle brake that does the job yet dosn't blow out my eardrums. Anybody have any personal experience opinions?

There are only two kinds of muzzle breaks, those that don't work at all, and those that blow out your eardrums.

I had one once, never again!

There are other options than a break. Stock fit and shape are important. A recoil reducer can sometimes be placed inside the stock. When shooting from a bench, a bag of shot behind the butstock will tame even the largest cannons. A high quality recoil pad will also help. Sometimes a heavier overall gun will help and still meet the purpose. Start off with lower powered hand loads and work up to the full bore ones as your tolerance increases. Recoil tolerance is learned, not something your born with (in most cases).

Worst comes to worst, shoot a smaller caliber. A real marksman with a smaller caliber is deadlier than a poor shot (due to flinching) with a cannon.

Frank,

All muzzle brakes are loud, don't listen to any of the sales hipe from some of teh manufacturers.

We use quite a number of them, and like the David Gentry model.

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

I like the Vais muzzlebrake. When the time comes to go hunting though I unscrew it and replace it with a thread protector collar. Your 'smith should be able to build you one along with the installation of the brake. You will have to re-site each time you make the switch. All muzzle brakes increase muzzle blast hence noise level regardless of some of the claims made. I guess a muzzlebrake is good for target shooting. sure-shot

sure-shot - A gun club friend of mine put a Vais muzzle brake on his .375 (against my strong recommendation that he not). I helped him work up his load and sight the gun. The break is great at reducing felt recoil. It does its job very well. (Of course, the muzzle blast is unbearable).

I suggested that he also shoot the gun without the break in case his PH frowned on its use in the field. Without the break, his POI was a good three inches different and the groups tightened up a little. In short, the gun acted completely different without the break. Question - Is this normal for removable muzzle breaks?

Z

I have installed muzzle brakes on most of my big bore African rifles that I built for customers prior to my hunting business putting me out of the gun building business for other folks..

I regulated the iron sights, scope tested for accuracy and shot with and without the muzzle brakes as they screwed in under the barrel band front sight and had a false muzzle to install if the brake was not in use.

I found that I could easily tune the rifle to shoot to the same POI with or without the brake, and most shot to same POI without tuning...

A 3" difference isn't beans if the 3" is high, but in any other direction it needs some load work....

The larger the bore the less this problem occurred, probably because with the real big bores I was regulating at 50 yds...416's and under at 100...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Ray - I did not shoot the gun, however, I looked at the target. It was a vertical change and I believe it was 3 inches high without the break.

I do not know how he arranged his rest and if he altered the fore-end grip/pressure between the two strings. If he was not holding the fore-end, that could account for the high POI.

All things being equal, is it unusual to see a change in POI without a break?

Z

Actually it never occured to me that the brake might NOT affect point of impact. I have always assumed the POI would change.
I set my sights on a metal ram at 500 yards. When I can get all head shots I'm zeroed in with a good load. I would guess taking off the brake would result in a high miss.Which is why I would like a brake that is easy on my ears for actual hunting.
I'm guessing this dosn't matter when hunting in Africa with a big bore.Probably a lot more important things to be concerned with.
But deer in the U.S. don't try to stomp the crap out of me for being in their area.Matter of fact they try to stay real far away from me, the groundhogs too.
So the POI on my 264 is more critical, I've been told many of the animals in africa are a bit bigger than a groundhog.

What is it with people wanting to ruin perfectly good barrels by installing muzzle brakes on them?

Advantages of muzzle brake:

1. A little less recoil.

Disadvantages of muzzle brake:

1. ENORMOUS increase in noise to shooter and INTOLERABLE increase to bystanders.
2. Creation of a dust cloud with each shot if shooting prone.
3. Likely degradation of accuracy.
4. Certain (by definition) reduction in muzzle velocity.
5. With extension-type brakes, ugly and ungainly extension to barrel, increased weight, and increased barrel carrying length without advantage of increased barrel bullet travel.
6. Expense, which could have been used to purchase or build a simple recoil-absorbing bench rest, which would negate the need for the brake, not only on the gun in question, but on all guns owned by the shooter.
7. Lowered resale value of firearm.
8. Alienation of most of your shooting acquaintances and hunting partners.

If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, go for it!

I've either tried or had friends try most of the brakes on the market and after all that I've settled on the Vais brake. They do a good job a cutting recoil and have only a small increase in noise. I have one on a .30 mag and on my .375 mag and never had a dirty look from the guy at the bench next to me. When I took my .375 to Africa my PH looked at the brake with doubtful eyes but I told him that if he could tell the difference in noise with the brake on and off I would take it off. He could tell the difference but said it wasn't enough to matter. He shot my rifle both with and without the brake and decided he wanted one for his big Gibbs. If I had to try and quantify the change in noise I would guess it would be the difference between the noise with a 26" barrel and a 22" both without brakes. With respect to Point-of-Impact change when my brake came back it told me it would happen. I sighted it in both ways and just remembered the scope setting changes needed to go back and forth.

Hey DB Bill,
Ever tried the Answer System brake?Or KDF? The companies make a lot of impressive claims,and I've heard people say they are great but I've never seen one myself or known anybody who has actually used one.
I guess I'm leaning toward the Vias. Besides what you said, I am a member of a 1000yard club and light gun class is full of Vias brakes. Brakes are not allowed on heavy guns which have unlimited weight. I don't know why.
Thanks.

I have tried several muzzle brakes for hunting out of climbing tree stands. The vias is very good and the answer works well to. But I agree with Saeed the david gentry brake seems to be a little better than the others and a tad quieter to.

I have two, or three friends that I wish would give you theirs!

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..Mac >>>===(x)===>
DUGABOY DESIGNS
Collector/trader of fine double rifles, and African wildlife art

If you have to use a brake shoot a smaller gun.

If you do not have a bad shoulder recoil can be dealt with and worked up to a higher tolerance.

also added weight will be less recoil.

I hate those brakes seems like if a guy brings one out he shoots next to me.

if you are hunting the recoil won't bother you anyway unless your shooting one of saeeds cannons

Just another thought, I feel a muzzle brake on a big magnum allows one to shoot for an extended amount of time at the range. In other words that heavy kicker is not going to wear you down as fast while conducting load development. I feel everyone has a limit as to shooting a heavy recoiling rifle accurately, a muzzle brake allows one to fire more shots accurately before recoil starts to wear a shooter down. Another trick is to wear one of the shoulder harness type recoil pads by Bob Allen or PAST. A sissy bag is another aid especially when shooting a big bore off the bench. sure-shot

sure-shot
I agree completly,and I think the more you shoot the better you shoot.

I like muzzle brakes. I have several rifles with brakes. In my collection anything above the .300 Win mag gets a brake. When I bought the .300 nearly 30 years ago brakes were not in use in my area. I have tried several different types and the best I use is the Weatherby Accubrake. It is also one of the cheapest to buy and install, even on non Weatherby rifles. I shoot thousands of rounds a year and the brake makes the shooting easier to do round after round. Proper hearing protection should be used, brake or no brake. Good Shooting.

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[This message has been edited by phurley (edited 07-06-2001).]

Even with proper hearing protection you do get to a noise level where the level of sound transmitted through the bone of your skull (magnum owner=more bone=more noise transfer?) causes hearing damage. I heard a braked 500 of some sort (and stainless for petes sake) and take it from me even with double protection that mother caused what the trade calls a 'temporary shift' in my hearing and what we would call damage.

It is because of this inability to stop hearing loss even with double protection that most peacetime armies limit the number of times you can fire something like a LAW66 or Carl Gustav 84.

Even a moderate low pressure unbraked 30-06 type with normal barrel length is pumping out enough noise that a set of Peltor electronic muffs are unable to completely prevent some hearing damage. Stick a brake on a rifle that needs it like some super duper magnum and you're taking serious risks with your hearing even with protection.

[This message has been edited by 1894 (edited 07-06-2001).]