My buddy is thinking about a brake for his M700. It's in 416 Rem Mag. He's a chair born commando not likely to do too much hunting with it. Any suggestions.

Sure, they reduce recoil but they also hurt your ears. I use mostly Shrewd brakes from Brownells. The Armalite brakes used on their AR30s are very effective, but also very big. The rule is the bigger the better; the more gas they transfer rearward, the less recoil you endure at the butt end. Redirect enough gas and you will get a recoilless rifle. I have fired them, 90mm, and 106RRs, and they have no recoil, but do have enough concussion to unblouse your boots.

I also install mostly Shrewd brakes, but I talk 9 out of 10 customers our of installing them. Firing a rifle with a brake even one time without quality hearing protection can permanently damage your hearing. Certainly, brakes have a place, but IMO not on a hunting rifle unless you're willing to wear ear protection.

I have a better way to reduce recoil; add weight to your rifle. Works every time and does not blow your ears off.

Father-in-law has a Ruger 77/.416 Rigby with a brake and mercury reducer in the stock, brings it down about to what seems '06 levels.

Loud/yes.

I use a limbsaver(I think) slip-on pad on a 7MM Magnum that is quite effective, also.

I install a lot of brakes. One brake is as good as another. Some brakes claim that they aren't as noisy as others. There is only about a 6% difference, not enough to warrant the extra expense. I always provide a thread cap for hunting. Use the brake on the bench and never in the field. P. dogs are an exception since you can wear hearing protection. Brakes will never reduce accuracy, but sometimes improve it..........Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Tapper2:
I install a lot of brakes. One brake is as good as another. Some brakes claim that they aren't as noisy as others. There is only about a 6% difference, not enough to warrant the extra expense. I always provide a thread cap for hunting. Use the brake on the bench and never in the field. P. dogs are an exception since you can wear hearing protection. Brakes will never reduce accuracy, but sometimes improve it..........Tom

Only improves accuracy because you are handling the rifle better without the recoil.

Actually, a greater portion of any accuracy improvement will be a result of the change in harmonics e.g. BOSS adjustable barrel weight or the Limbsaver vibration dampener, but of course this would amount to random luck.

I have see a lot of accuracy improvement for some who are not getting their teeth rattled after the installation of a brake on magnum rifles. Its pretty amazing to see a 4" improvement in accuracy with the installation of a brake and a good recoil pad. An additional 4lbs to the gun would probably accomplish the same thing.

Everything that others have said about accuracy improvement is true and there is another factor that I believe can be the largest. The reason a good crown is so important is the gases escaping around the bullet as it leaves the muzzle will deflect it if they are not absolutely uniform. They travel many, many times faster than the bullet. These gases in a high pressure round cause 50% and sometimes more of the recoil. Diverting those gases is why a muzzle brake works. In the process it also diverts the gases away from the bullet so they have less effect. I put a lot of them on .22 cal. P. dog guns mostly so they don't lose sight picture. I get a lot of comments about how it improved accuracy. With most P. dog guns recoil is not an issue, but accuracy is......Tom