Do MBs hurt accuracy? At what level of recoil do you consider them to be a sensible option? For example, I see quite a few 7mm BR factory xp-100s with them - is this about the threshold level of recoil where they become nice options? Your opinions and experiences please. TIA.

9.3x62,

I would not recommend a muzzle brake on an XP for any round using a case of less then 60 gr capacity and a bore under 30 caliber.

I have a brake on my 338 WSM simply out of survival. The 180 gr Ballistic Tip loaded to 2900 fps is a little pissy on teh forearm without a brake.

I would say any round on the WSM case could use a brake effectively though the 270 and 7mm versions certainly would not need one but some may want to reduce this level of recoil.

Braking the smaller rounds such as the 7mm-BR would be a bit silly in my mind as they recoil very little as is. Very much like a 357 Mag in a 6" revolver, just not that big a deal.

For the big hammers, I would certainly think about a brake.

I am building myself a 6.5 WSM using a very lightweight Lilja 15" barrel and have not decided yet if I will brake it or not. I will shoot it first to see how it feels but suspect I will not need one. I plan on using the 140 gr A-Max loaded to +2900 fps for this seasons big game hunting.

That is if I get my customers rifles and handguns built first, then I can work on mine.

GOod Shooting!!!

50

Be assured that a properly installed muzzle brake will not harm accuracy.

I shoot pistol silhouette competition and while I do not own any, there are LOTS of guys out there shooting guns with brakes on them.

A lot of the top shooters use brakes on just about all their Unlimited guns, no matter what the caliber. And these guns are extremely accurate.

R F

I'm gonna have to agree with fifty here and say that you probably dont need a brake on anything small, especially if you have a bull barrel. My rig is chambered in 7mm WSM w/ a heavy bull barrel with brake and the recoil is equal to about a 357 mag. I am actually of the opinion that i'd rather deal with a little recoil than the noise and muzzle blast. As far as accuracy goes, i'm shooting about a half an inch at 100 with 140 grain Nosler partitions traveling at 2900 fps. Thats far better than I ever hoped for out of any of my handguns.

Thanks for your replies (nice piece there). I am looking at a used 7mm BR in xp-100 that already has a MB. Just wondering about it a bit.

Also, anyone know if MB counts as part of the barrel as far as handgun hunting rules are concerned (ie max barrel length for a handgun)? Thanks.