Got my new Savage 12fv in 243 win. Want to set this up for longer range shooting, mostly pdogs and the like. Probably some targets also. A lot of the time I am out I go alone, would like to be able to spot my hits in the scope. Plan on shooting 70 up to 105's in this gun. Thinking about having a muzzle brake installed, mostly to reduce muzzle jump, but less recoil is always a nice thing also. Anyone have opinions/experience in this area? I have never shot a gun with a muzzle brake, I usually wear hearing protection when Im shooting, so little extra noise isnt a huge deal.

After reading some of the reviews on different muzzle brakes at midwayusa, it sounds like some people really like theirs.

Also, what needs to be done to a heavy varmint barrel to install a muzzle brake, does it need to be turned down at the end and threaded? Are there any other options that dont permanently modify the barrel?

Wear dual ear protection. My friend has a brake on a rifle and the neighbor from 1/2 mile down the road came and complained. We shoot there all the time and no one complains but that thing is horrendously loud. I normally just shoot w/ ear plugs but when he shoots that rifle I have to either cover my ears or put muffs on too. I told him I would hacksaw it off if it was mine. It does help w/ recoil quite a bit but at too high a price for me. I may have sensitive ears but it HURTS my ears w/ just plugs in. If you want less muzzle jump try having it Mag-Na-Ported. I have a .458 Win w/ this done and it helps muzzle rise quite a bit. I don't believe that it made it much if any louder. I have no experience but if you have to have a brake I have heard that the Vais brake isn't as bad noise wise as others. Yes your barrel has to be turned down and threaded for most if not all brakes that I am aware of. My friends is an Answer Brake.

hi i have one on my 270 it shoots like a air rifle ,the report is load but animals dont put any more pass on it than a normal 270 . i shot 3 sika a few evenings ago on the hill the deer 500 yards lifted there heads for a minute and started back feeding .mine was custom made and is slim and tidy

quote:

Originally posted by The Derek:
I have never shot a gun with a muzzle brake, I usually wear hearing protection when Im shooting, so little extra noise isnt a huge deal.

quote:

Originally posted by K20350:
If you want less muzzle jump try having it Mag-Na-Ported.

This would help without all the noise.
My Bushmaster .223 has a brake on it and you don't want to be sitting next to me when I shoot it.
It is not bad for the shooter, but anybody sitting within 15 feet either direction better have ear plugs in AND muffs on (and maybe a bucket over their head might help also).

I can't imagine what it would be like if it was a .243---OUCH!

Even with both you can still feel the concussion on the roof of your mouth and your chest.
And when laying prone it blows crap all over.

As Mr. Rogers would say, "Can you say, sandstorm? I knew you could..."

Yeah, I had some Mexican guy come up at the range and set up to my left from me... he had an AR with a MB on it....

Since he was to my back I did not notice it or him...

without my knowledge, the friggin jackass puts in a 30 round clip and then just goes to town, emptying the entire thing in a quick few seconds...

not only do I get a way of noise continually smacking me with that short 16 inch barrel and the muzzle break... but it is raining hot brass all over me....

He realizes it when he quits shooting and just gives me a casual..." oh sorry about that man" reponse...

however I guess the look on my face of how pissed off I waa, he sort of gathered up his stuff, guardly and quickly and left the range and moved to the other one...

I was about ready to shove it up his ass locked and loaded and empty the magazine while it was up there....

people using them need to know that they need to be responsible around others... it is also entertaining when some of those guys also used them while shooting in the prone position on the ground and they get all of that dust in their faces...

They do as intended.. but I don't care for them..

I have two rifles that came with BOSSes on them.. both Model 70s... I took one barrel off and the other one was left on...but I picked up a NON vented version of the BOSS up for $10.00 at a store having a close out of a bunch of hunting stuff that wasn't moving... I put that on there most of the time instead of the vented one, since it is a 270... and I don't load it to its full potential anyway... like about everything else I shoot..

The Mod. 98, single shot .358 X .404 IMP Would be too punishing for me to shoot without the home grown Muzzle brake on it.

7 rifles have them on the smallest of which is a 6.5X55 with a 29 1/2" barrel. The noise level on the 6.5 isn't really that objectionable.

When using the 3.58X.404 IMP at the range the key word is compassion. Early morning 10 benches from your closest cohort "fire in the hole". .243? Why not. roger

quote:

Originally posted by K20350:
Wear dual ear protection. My friend has a brake on a rifle and the neighbor from 1/2 mile down the road came and complained. We shoot there all the time and no one complains but that thing is horrendously loud. I normally just shoot w/ ear plugs but when he shoots that rifle I have to either cover my ears or put muffs on too. I told him I would hacksaw it off if it was mine. It does help w/ recoil quite a bit but at too high a price for me. I may have sensitive ears but it HURTS my ears w/ just plugs in. If you want less muzzle jump try having it Mag-Na-Ported. I have a .458 Win w/ this done and it helps muzzle rise quite a bit. I don't believe that it made it much if any louder. I have no experience but if you have to have a brake I have heard that the Vais brake isn't as bad noise wise as others. Yes your barrel has to be turned down and threaded for most if not all brakes that I am aware of. My friends is an Answer Brake.

I have one of the Vais brakes on a 300 Win Mag and the measured noise increase was between 1 and 2 decibels. It reduced the recoil of some warm 180 g loads at 3050 fps down to the 243 level. I've tested it with others around shooting the brake and non brake and others could not tell any increase from their unmeasured field opinions. I had a buddy that put a Vais muzzle brake on his 22-250 to reduce the recoil jump and is very happy with it.

Another thing to look at would be a Vais silencer that also has some recoil reduction and very quiet. Check out his website on HTG silencers for the silencers. Good luck.

This one not only reduces the recoil, but is as effective as a full blown suppressor. By that I mean it cuts the muzzle blast! Note that there are no side ports in it. It does not stop muzzle lift, just reduces recoil (and muzzle blast).




There is only one small problem - it's my invention and as such it is not on the market!

I DO do a lot of prone shooting when Im out pdogging, dust flying all over wouldnt be fun.

I would guess that a brake, while louder for the shooter, would decrease the sound heard down range for whatever you are shooting at?

I would imagine the noise downrange would be more from the bullet itself? It generates something like 137 db - the major source of noise from a 'suppressed' rifle. My 'braked/suppressed' 303 Brit is quieter when fired into the ground (finishing shot).



I tried a much larger version on the Brit. It came out plum ugly but it works. Recoil is about half (or so it seems to me). There is no threading done for theses ones, just a good fit, a large surface area to bond and heat releasing high strength Loc-Tite. One could solder such a device in place.

This one is a suppressor - also 'Loc-Tite'ed in place.


All these devices only overhang the barrel by 25mm/1" to 50mm/2". They are also very light, being made from high tensile steel (thin walled).

quote:

I DO do a lot of prone shooting when Im out pdogging, dust flying all over wouldnt be fun.

Getting a brake with no bottom discharge will help with this problem. Holland QD, Defensive Edge, APS, SSG V-port, etc..

SSG Vaporizer brake works good on my 300 Weatherby.

quote:

Originally posted by RollinsB:

quote:

I DO do a lot of prone shooting when Im out pdogging, dust flying all over wouldnt be fun.

Getting a brake with no bottom discharge will help with this problem. Holland QD, Defensive Edge, APS, SSG V-port, etc..

My brake has no bottom discharge and crap STILL blows all over from the SIDE discharge.
I can only imagine how bad it would be if it had bottom discharge.

My advice to you is if you are going to put on a BRAKE (not a surpressor, silencer, etc) get one you can TURN OFF if you want.

Or better yet, if this is going to be a long distance rig, and not a walking rig, why don't you just increase the weight of the rifle? My 6mm Rem (26" Douglas full) weighs just over 11 lbs and I can watch the bullet strikes all day without the noise.

My advice to you is to rethink the whole muzzle break idea, and come up with something else that will have the same result.

quote:

My advice to you is to rethink the whole muzzle break idea, and come up with something else that will have the same result.

Well, that ugly device on the No.4 was given a good testing yesterday and all I can say is it works! The recoil on the 303 Brit is less than that of my 303-25 and it is a lighter rifle. The noise is about equal to a 22mag. The device is light and adds 50mm to the barrel length. This is the way to go.

after blasting away at PD's for more years than i care to count, i find that anything that creats more noise is out. when you are shooting several hundred rounds a day most anything over the 223 case size is going to get to your ears. Yes 22/250 swift etc.will get you eventually. you can wear 10 pair of earmuffs if you want, but eventually the sound will be conducted through the bones in your head, up the nasal passage etc. concussion is out there and a muzzle brake makes it worst. if the recoil bother you, get a smaller rifle, but don't wreck you hearing with a brake

There is a place that makes a muzzlebrake that they claim is almost magic, vents all gas upwards, no increase in noise while completely eliminating muzzle jump and reduces recoil significantly. I dont have a link or remember the name right now, I will have to post it later.

Try this. This MIGHT be an OK option.

The videos are at the bottom. I have to say, the complete demo rifle comps video is impressive. However, I never trust videos as much as actually shooting the weapon. OR standing next to it while it is being shot.


---Mike


BP-Tec VIDEO


Click on the link above...

quote:

Originally posted by The Derek:
There is a place that makes a muzzlebrake that they claim is almost magic,

I'm sure it is magical, in other words it can not exist. Try standing under a roof and shooting any powerful rifle with a brake on it. The redirected gases bounce off of the roof and greatly increase the noise level at the shooters position. Anyone who claims all the gas is venting upwards is neglecting to note that some of the gas has to be following the bullet forward out of the muzzle.

I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of some muzzle brakes as far as recoil reduction is concerned. I depend on them to shoot the more powerful rifles.

Ranb

quote:

Originally posted by The Derek:
There is a place that makes a muzzlebrake that they claim is almost magic, vents all gas upwards, no increase in noise while completely eliminating muzzle jump and reduces recoil significantly. I dont have a link or remember the name right now, I will have to post it later.

I would suggest that you contact George Vais at HTG in Boise Idaho to see if his new model Vais muzzle brake is the one that you may have heard about. I really like the way mine performs on a 300 Win Mag.

Derek,

I filled the stock of my 12fv, .243 with lead shot and could see hits through a 20x scope shooting 87 v-max's just fine. It might not be so fun to carry around though. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by P. Steve Morgan:
Derek,

I filled the stock of my 12fv, .243 with lead shot and could see hits through a 20x scope shooting 87 v-max's just fine. It might not be so fun to carry around though. Good luck.

I can see bullet strikes with mine too (up to 75g bullets, no prob).
I put a Boonie Packer sling on mine and it makes it acceptable to pack around.
It is not however, and never will be a "walking varminter."

I have a MB on several rifles and I like them. However with a 243 it will still be a bit difficult to see impacts at some ranges. A heavy barrel would also help the situation. Tom.

I have a 243WSSM AR built by Dtech that I use for predator control. Had Mike put a compensator on it so I could see bullet strike. Works as described @ his site below; not nearly as loud as other brakes (I wear ear muffs even when hunting whether rifle has a brake or not).

Shot a coyote running broadside, 20 yards from the muzzle last week and saw his jaw drop open at the shot. Shooting 100 gr. Nos. SB @ 3006 fps, so compares closely to the 243 Win.



If Pic. doesn't come up, complete details @:

Dtech Muzzle Brake

Regards,
hm

http://www.bp-tec.com/info.htm

This is the brake I was talking about earlier. Anyone had any experience with this type?

HM1996, what did it cost to have your barrel ported like that? Any affect on accuracy?

I like this brake, and it even has a solid base... no dust on the shooter, not so good for the folks next to me

Derek:
Mike @ Dtech built my rifle and the
Integral compensator was $119.00 add on.

Rifle shoots under MOA ( most groups 5/8 - 3/4")w/very little load development. So far only bullet I've tried is the 100 gr. Nos. solid base for predator control and culling does. May get around to playing with other bullets later but these work quite well.

Regards,
hm

quote:

Originally posted by The Derek:
http://www.bp-tec.com/info.htm

This is the brake I was talking about earlier. Anyone had any experience with this type?

The Derek, that is the same brake in the videos at the bottom of the link I posted...

Im getting a new stock for this gun, the choate ultimate varmint one. This will add a couple lbs to the gun. I guess I will have to shoot it after that and see how it handles. That stock has some area to add lead also, not sure how heavy I want to go with this rifle cuz I plan on using it for pdogs in the summer and that involves some walking occasionally. Im a big guy, but lugging a 15lb gun around, plus ammo etc doesnt sound like fun.

I second the http://www.magnaport.com/ Mag Na Port not the brake. I have a 300 winny mag done that is a dream to shoot. Liked it so wel had a 220 swift done, like shooting an air rifle and can see the dust fly from the critters fur at each hit.

http://www.magnaport.com/

Al

Mmmm .... Well, my break cuts muzzle blast, reduces recoil and kicks up no dust whatsoever but it does not prevent muzzle lift! (Not completely). It can't - it is fully enclosed with no side, top or bottom vents. Unless I were to ...... mmmm!