I earlier this purchased 2 6.5 Creedmoor rifles, a Bergara Wilderness Ridge and a Ruger Predator Go Wild. With each rifle I was only getting good hunting accuracy, 1 inch groups + or - according to load. I was wanting better accuracy.

After thinking about it, I removed the muzzle break from each rifle. The Bergara became a half inch shooter with more one hole and near one hole groups than 3/4 inch groups. The Ruger became a solid 3/4 inch shooter, maybe better.

Has anyone else experienced improved accuracy without their muzzle break.

Thanks

Joe A.

What brand/model of muzzle brakes?

Putting a VG6 Epsilon on my 6.8 SPC improved the accuracy.

Each of the muzzle breaks are the standard Omni type that came on the rifles.

Why the f….. would anyone want to put a muzzle brake on a 6.5 CM? My daughter’s Weatherby Camilla has no felt recoil that I can perceive. Like parking assist on a car, it is just a way to increase profit.

Any time you add weight to the end of the barrel, you tune or de-tune it for top accuracy.
Muzzle brakes don't make your 2 rifle less accurate but the added weight does.
This can be overcome with tuning the ammo (seat the bullets at a different depth and or go up or down in powder to find the sweet spot.
Not a reloader? Buy a barrel tuner and dial that in or out.

Zeke

The break on my 340 Weatherby caused the groups to open up quite a bit.

I didn’t put the brakes on, each rifle came from the factory with the muzzle brake installed.

I agree the 6.5 CM doesn’t need a muzzle brake. None of the magnum rifles I’ve owned had muzzle brakes.

Some folks are ringing steel with their CM's out to 1000+ yards. Long shots from prone positions. A break makes long range sessions more enjoyable. Its nice to stay on your target after firing...

Depends on the barrel profile, in my experience.

Brakes can break things on thin barrels, in my experience.

On heavy barrels, in my experience, they have no effect, one way or the other.

I have a muzzle break one of my AR15s because of the vicious recoil on that gun.

I can only shoot it a couple of times before I have to take a break and shoot my 375 H&H and 458 Win Mag.

#1 buy a muzzle brake of your choice
#2 find a blaser
#3 screw the brake on the blaser (either end will work)
#4 throw the combination in the dump

The Weatherby brake installed on my daughters WBY 7 mm Mag had no noticeable effect on accuracy.
It did have a major effect on recoil and noise reduction for the shooter; however any nearby bystanders do not like it at all.
At the rifle range the side blast removes everything from tables on either side - two shooting positions each side!

Interesting.....

I have a .300 Weatherby Accumark that came with a brake but I've only used at the range a couple times. It definitely increased the noise level I was exposed too when shooting it.

One time at the range I was surrounded by AR15's which gets annoying so I screwed on the brake to return the fun back at them. The two on the right and left both got up and moved after a few shots.

My CZ American .22 stainless model came with a muzzle brake. Good thing because I don’t know how I would have handled that vicious recoil.

I am a fan of muzzle brakes. My experience with the Browning Boss taught me that a weight on the end of the barrel is a helps the harmonics of the barrel. The Boss barrels could be adjusted for max accuracy if you shot them enough. I have brakes on all my rifles above .300 Win mag plus a .223 Rem I shoot for PD's and ground hogs. Yep when my .358 STA's, .338 Lapua, .340 Wby, .416 Rem and Rigby go off they make a lot of noise. I shoot on my private range so no one is bothered. I find it easy to put on ear protection in the field so I like the recoil reduction. Been shooting them for years and will continue. Good Shooting.

I don't understand the criticism that a muzzle break can alter the inherent accuracy due to additional weight at the end of the barrel. Would this not mean that a 28" barrel would be less accurate than a 24" barrel? What am I missing?

Ive never had all these problems with brakes..They have all worked for me, but only used them on big bores and on one 338 Win best I recall..Not using them presently however, but sold all my big bores except the 375 Ruger and its recoil is mild.

Don't want to open this can of worms, but go to a .22 Benchrest forum and read some of the thousands of posts concerning the dynamics of tuners. it is true that any weight can modify the accuracy of a barrel but generally only if the tuner bore is roughly twice the barrel bore or more. The function of a tuner is to ensure the barrel bore is pointed slightly up and travelling upward when a bullet of your working velocity exits. With this set, a bullet traveling slightly faster will exit the barrel sooner and thus at a slightly lower angle and a bullet at lower velocity will exit later and at a slightly higher angle and so shoot a little higher. As described, and in practice, a weight tuner functions by trying to minimize launch angle due to small variations in velocity from shot to shot. Because of the design basis, I doubt that a brake could act as a tuner since the bore is too near the rifle bore diameter in size. It could however either increase or decrease the accuracy due to random vibrations, but this is just damping or undamping with no impact on velocity matching.

Just to further stir the works, there is a second popular method of tuning called the Purdey Prescription which basically quantifies the design of bloop tubes. The aim of the bloop tube design is to damp linear pressure waves along the axis of the barrel so that when the bullet exits the bloop tube the pressure pulse is nulled and the bullet exits through a calm zone so that it isn't upset by the linear pulses. This type of tuner is used a lot in olympic style shooting.

I am out of it right now, but spent 5 or 6 years heavily involved in autoloading .22 bench rest competition. I managed three national titles over that time in different classifications and so spent a lot of time working on tuners. After all that work, I believe that both styles work and the best combination is a tuner that can be tuned to both parameters.

Tuners are used in all .22 Benchrest disciplines. and no one is seriously competitive without one. They are really getting to be widely used over the last few years in centerfire. The same principles apply but in much different regimes due to velocity.

Sorry for all this discussion, but what I am trying to show is that it is really hard to size and a adjust a tuner that works. It is easy to install one that doesn't. While they don't tune, anything of any weight stuck on your barrel will affect accuracy. Chances are really good that it will hurt instead of help. If it doesn't help, take it off unless the recoil reduction outweighs the accuracy loss.

I don't know if they are still in business (I doubt it),but the only one I ever used that consistently worked was the Magnaport. They never changed the accuracy, they reduced recoil, they didn't add weight or length, and they really reduced muzzle jump which saved your face and kept you on target.

I use muzzle a brake on a 300 Rem Ultra mag. Bought this rifle for Elk and deer. Quickly discovered I could not get under a three inch spread at 100 yards. Kick was a bit rough so I had a brake installed. 243 style kick now, super loud muzzle blast, dust, dirt and straw fly 8-10 feet both left and right. It really awed the crowd at a Canadian range. Added bonus is that it now produces one hole shots either 3 or 5 shots. Seems like a brake can tune in either direction. If one brake does not work I would try another.

Makes me wonder “where did the Boss go?”. You could both reduce recoil and tune for for accuracy.

I have a Model 70 Super Grade 7mmRM in the safe I bought years ago for my son. It does improve accuracy and reduces felt recoil but is very loud.

With so many new rifles being produced nowadays with threaded muzzles and brakes that a tune-able brake would be popular.

If I remember correctly, the BOSS was discontinued due to numerous hearing loss lawsuits.

I also remember that the boss tuned the barrel by varying the axial tension on the barrel. They later started including a second BOSS attachment with no ports to act simply as a tuner.

there is more BS on this subject than any other can of worms in AR history..

Who's right and who's wrong depends on the day of the week it seems...I, personally, have had great experiences with brakes, but didn't use them a lot as it added to barrel length and looked hokey!! in other I didn't like the cosmetics...Today I have no braked rifles, as I no longer shoot DG with big bores and I see no need for them on anything under and including a .375.
Not posting to target and varmint hunters who like to see a P-dog or rock chuck puff up like a balloon and pop, it gets them a climax it seems!!

And Ive never owned or have I seen a "breaked" rifle!!

Muzzle brakes aren't just used to tame the recoil of heavy recoiling rifles. They are also used to reduce muzzle rise, especially during auto and rapid-fire, and to prevent dirt from being thrown up when shooting in a prone position. That's part of why they are so popular with AR shooters.

Muzzle brakes don't throw up dirt when prone?

The one on my .300 Weatherby sure does which is one of the reasons I never use.

Muzzle blasts can always throw up dirt. But things can be done to reduce it. Some muzzle brakes are specifically made with reducing "ground signature" as part of the design criteria.

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Muzzle brakes don't throw up dirt when prone?

The one on my .300 Weatherby sure does which is one of the reasons I never use.

Had Brown Precision refinish and add on a muzzle brake to a M700 Mountain rifle in 257 Roberts for me. The rifle was for a lady that was very recoil shy so it made sense to me at the time to have a mild cartridge with a brake. The rifle shot 3"+ with the brake. I removed the brake and the same loads went into an inch. To me that showed that pencil thin barrels do not benefit from a break.

Mark

Adding weight or length to a barrel CAN tune or de-tune a barrel. The key is finding the right load that works!

Too many people have one experience, one way or the other, and erroneously form an opinion.

There's my 2 cents again and it cost you nothing,
Zeke

quote:

The function of a tuner is to ensure the barrel bore is pointed slightly up and travelling upward when a bullet of your working velocity exits

Who told you that?

Muzzle brakes get blamed for a lot of stuff..muzzle rise is part of recoil..I only like muzzle brakes when the recoil is bothering me. It makes me shoot considerably better, I have the option of using it or not..In the several guns Ive owned it did not change the POI..I get a lot of flack from those who claim otherwise, and I don't doubt them, just a bad brake on their part! just a play on words!!

But, lets admit it, if the brake works for someone and makes them shoot better, how can anyone condem that?? I have used them and been around other using them, and I have not seen fit to whine, rather I have some ear plugs on a string around my neck that works just fine. I also use that system with unbraked guns that also ruin your hearing, apparantly some don't realize that..Even a 22 Hornet or 5mm rem can damage hearing..

I have no need for a tuner, thats not needed on a hunting rifle, and I don't think I would trust one anyway and don't like adding two or three inches to a hunting rifle..That probably works for bench rest shooting targets or perhaps even varmints to some..I really don't mind missing a varmint..