Who uses one? How do you protect your ears?

I do not even think about it. I wear hearing protection at the range but in the field it is business as usual. I do feel that the Vais Brake on my rifle is not much, if any, louder than it was unbraked. In fact, I dare say that a non braked rifle shot out of a shooting house is much louder and damaging if protection is not worn.

Muzzle flash is a different story. I shot a late season doe right at sunset and it half blinded me with the fireball at the end of the barrel.

I wear Peltor 6-S eletronic hearing protectors whenever conditions in the field permit, but especially when pistol hunting or carrying my ported Guide Gun. I've blown away enough of my hearing already, no sense chipping away at it anymore with anything. FWIW I've yet to hear a compelling explanation for how a brake can do its work without being louder than an unbraked rifle, but hope springs eternal.

Huh? whadya say? I had a guy touch off his 300 winmag w/muzzle brake not once but three times about 6 feet away from me. BOTH ears took a beating, the left one was by far the biggest loser. I hunt with a 300RUM, 7mm Rem mag, 35 Whelen or a 30-06, none of which have muzzle brakes. If you can't shootem aunatural then maybe you should stick with 22's

Cannot speak for all brakes as some really are loud, ie. BOSS system and ports such as on a Guide Gun. However, here is how Vais does it.


Q. What makes the Vais brake quieter than other brakes?

A. Our Vais brake has eight small holes drilled from the muzzle of the brake. These holes are drilled through all of the cross ports and terminate in a small expansion chamber just ahead of the barrel muzzle. This configuration very effectively vents most of the noise and concussion away from the shooter.

Vais Website

I realy hate to see hunters show up at camp with a brake. They are realy punishing for a guide. I do how ever enjoy watching the results of them torching one off from under a pine tree covered in snow. If they would just get a rifle that fit them in a caliber that they could shoot..........

A buddy & I in Bend, Or were out in the badlands east of town and we came across a couple of coyotes chewing on a dead deer. They took off running and my buddy grabbed my 300 Win as it was closest and layed it across the hood of his truck and fired off two quick shots at the coyotes. That 300 Win had a muzzle break which was essentially 3 rows of 1/8" dia holes ea row had 5 holes and the rows were at 10-2 & 6 oclock... needless to say the row of holes at 6 oclock just torched the paint off of his truck underneath the muzzle.

I hated the break and ended up rebarreling the gun.

I have a brake installed on my Carolina Prescision Rifles 300 RUM. I love how it works, workmanship, etc...but hate the hell out of the report! My first time shooting it without muffs, I just about knocked myself out of the dang treestand from the concussion. Now, everytime I shoot, I make sure I put on the muffs prior to pulling the trigger...I am talking about in hunting situations, in addition to the usual target shooting. While this has resulted in NO missed bucks in about 10 years of hunting with this rifle (it was a 300 Jarrett in its previous configuration), I am always fretting that a big one will get away while I am slipping on the muffs. So far, I have been lucky. I have taken it Elk hunting 3 times, and all three times I have been required to take it off and put on a "cap". I have been fortunate to kill 3 nice 6x6's and have yet to feel the recoil with the brake off. This spring I will head over to John Lewis @ CPR and get him to cut the barrel back a tad, paint the stainless steel barrel/action olive drab and toss that damn brake in the garbage can. I'll just take the beating at the bench whenever I shoot it...
My two cents worth.

There are many slights that you can use to keep from taking a beating from a heavy hitter when shooting it from the bench.

I'm small. I like good guns. Anyone who does not like my shooting with a muzzle brake can leave or (not literally) KMA. I use the EAR Inc. Deluxe Plus that are the in-the-ear type with volume control, etc. and as far as I'm concerned any noise I heard with muffs was much louder.

So, in answer to your question: I use one now (.300WinMag) and plan to use another (.375H&H) in about two weeks when it arrives. I use the EAR Inc. in-the-ear hearing protection with great results. Good Luck!

I shot a muzzle brake on my 450 Dakota last year in Zimbabwe and it was a nuisance. I had to move well ahead of tracker and PH before pressing trigger.

Seems like a small thing but it was not when you were there on the ground.

I would recommend a removable brake. Use it for laod development then put it away and practice off hand at ten yards and from shooting sticks out to 100 yards.

Thats Africa.

Andy

I've used them for years and really like them, but they are loud. I carry a pair of ear plugs when hunting. They are quick and easy to slip in. I have on a few occasions fired quickly before there was time to use them. I don't know that I can blame it directly on muzzle brakes, but my right ear rings 24/7. I am now shooting a .458 Win mag, and am thinking maybe it's time to move away from brakes.

I am not a muzzle brake guy either. I only have one rifle with a brake. It is a Browning A-bolt 338 Win Mag, I got the gun in a trade. I have a 416 Rigby that I shoot all the time that does not have a brake. Now I do have a few handguns with muzzle brakes, two 500 Mags, three 460 Mags. I always use either ear plugs or Walkers game ear muffs when hunting.

What I found that works better than a muzzle brake for heavy recoiling rifles is a mercury recoil suppressor and a Simms recoil pad.

I've had a good bit of experience with muzzle brakes and porting. Granted, they work well at the range, but all the guns with them, including a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt, a 10" 44 mag Contender both with Magna porting, a Browning A-Bolt 338 Mag w/ Magnabrake, and a Ruger RSM 416 Rigby w/ Answer Products brake,are gone or in the case of the 416 Rigby, debraked.

I used foam plugs and muffs at the bench, they were so loud.
I've found just a Past Recoil Shield Magnum or a Caldwell Lead Sled work better, due to no change of impact between braked/unbraked. The 338 showed a 3" POI change . The 416 a little less.

So, I guess I'd have to say, "Been there, not going back" .

I fired my braked .338-.378 WBY once w/o hearing protection. BIG MISTAKE!! Actually, stupid mistake!!! Although I killed the moose with that one shot, my hearing has since suffered. ALWAYS wear hearing protection with these big braked rifles!!!!

Out of all of my rifles I have one with a muzzle brake. It is a Weatherby Accumark in the identity of my handle. In most cases they unscrew very easily. I bench with it on and hunt with it off. How many of you have cars with power steering, power brakes, auto trannys? I see muzzle brakes no different. It is a device that allows you to have better control for the tool of choice for the task. If it allow someone to use a larger caliber and helps with a cleaner kill, I'm all for it.

Redhawk1, how do you like that Simms pad? I am considering changing the pads on two of my hard kickers.

I've got a Model 70 Featherweight in 30-06 with a boss and it shoots like a house-o-fire. Love how it shoots but hate the idea of a break hanging on the end of the barrel. Kind of defeats the idea of a featherweight so last week I ordered a new select match grade barrel to rebarrel it with. I hate breaks. Won't have one again.

I have a browning A-Bolt medalan with the Boss system on it in 375 H&H magnum. I use it when i am bench shooting because 20 rounds can sure make youre shoulder feel good the next day, but as fare as hunting with it or just fun shooting i take it off
it is to loud and it throws up leaves and stuff if you shoot it sitting down. Besides whats the point off shooting it if it doesnt let you know its there

I have a muzzle brake on one of my rifles. At the range I use double ear protection (foam inserts + ear muffs). In hunting situations, I will put the ear plugs in if the situation allows, but sometimes you just have to take it. And if you think about using different rifles, it may only happen once or twice a season.

I had the brake put on when first got the rifle. Having said that, I will probably never get another muzzle brake. However, the rifle with the brake shoots 1/2 inch groups or better so I am not going to do anything to jeopardize that.

quote:

Originally posted by cobrad:
Redhawk1, how do you like that Simms pad? I am considering changing the pads on two of my hard kickers.

I think the Simms recoil pads are great. They take the sharpness of the recoil out in my opinion. All my heavy kicker have them.

Sorry, I pushed the wrong button.

I use one of three combinations...Peltor tac6 is the best, I also use two of the original Walker's game ears, battery life is not what I wanted it to be, and foam plugs, obvious disadvantages to normal hearing.

The Tac 6s weigh very little and I have a hearing loss anyway (not shooting related) so I never go hunting, even with the 22, without protection, it's too cheap.

At the somewhat-advanced age of 64, and after fifty years of INTENSIVE shooting plus being an underground miner for some of those years, my hearing is not nearly what it used to be.

Therefore, I find that wearing my "Dimension 1" electronic muffs while hunting helps in no less than three ways:

-they protect what's left of my hearing;

-they allow me to use the ONLY muzzle-braked rifle in my battery while hunting (a Savage .338, and one out of thirty or so rifles);

-and, they KEEP MY EARS WARM while still allowing me to hear BETTER than I can without them!

Color me happy!

Bren Mk1--

You've broken the code-muffs (or other protection) let you hear better, in addition to protecting what hearing you have.

Takes me all of 5 seconds to stick my plugs in my ears before I touch one off in the field, but well worth it. Only time I feel handicapped is when dove hunting--can't hear the whistle of their wings with my plugs in. 59 years old, 45 years of shooting, and 30 years in the Army flying choppers has taken its toll of my hearing, so when you see me at the range, it is plugs plus muffs, and no brakes. When someone sits down at the bench next to me with one of them, I take a break or move.

quote:

Originally posted by leemar28:
If they would just get a rifle that fit them in a caliber that they could shoot..........

Amen to that brother!

Dont need no stinking muzzle brake!

If you need a brake, maybe you should think about stepping down to a caliber you can handle. Try shooting a standard brake from prone.

I have a brake on a Remington 300 RUM. We are going to South Africa this summer, and this will be my primary weapon. The brake is coming off. Mine is a Vias muzzlebrake. I shot an elk a couple years ago, and it took me quite a few shots to put it down(Long Story, fell down the mountain, knocked the scope off of zero by over a two feet at 100 yards, did not know it) I was deaf for two days after.

I had a KDF brake installed on my .375RUM prior to my trip to Zim and RSA last summer. I also put a Simms pad on it. The combination makes the gun shootable without worring about developing a flinch. Before I had the brake installed, the gun was not fun to shoot. Yes, its LOUD, but 97+ grains of powder is loud without the brake. Ear protection is a MUST.

I also have both my trap and skeet guns ported, as do many other competitive shotgun shooters. And I have mercury reducers in the stocks. This combination greatly reduces muzzle jump for a quicker second shot in doubles, and reduces fatigue on days where I might shoot 500 or more targets. As for noise, field loads in un-ported guns sound louder to me than target loads in ported guns.

I personally don't see why there is so much opposition to brakes. Big bores and large capacity cases are loud with or without a brake. A muzzle brake or porting allows some of the gasses (and noise) escape out of the sides of the barrel a couple of inches prior to the bullet exiting the muzzle. An un-ported or un-braked gun allows ALL the gasses and ALL of the noise out in all directions when the bullet exits the muzzle. I think that the benefits of ruduced muzzle jump and reduced felt recoil outweigh any increase in muzzle noise.

I have a 300 win mag that came with a brake and I'll never use it hunting again. I heard ringing for a week or more after one shot. I have thread cap that hasn't left the gun for a long time.

My opinion, just man-up and learn to shoot with the recoil it's not that hard. And if you can't handle it then don't bother with guns that come with substantial shoulder beating capabilities.