My friend in Namibia is suffering from a degenerative bone issue. His old standby Sako .338 is getting painfull to shoot. He asked what he should look into for a caliber. My thought was a muzzle break. What is thought to be the most effective break, any of them not ear-busters that work well?

I believe that Vais is one of the ones that advertise to be a "quiet" brake.

Ha, I have used the Vais brake; quiet is not how I would describe it. Perhaps not as loud as some others but not quiet. You can't defy the laws of physics.

I agree you dont get something for nothing, but, how well do you think the vias did in reducing recoil?

Forget about trying to find a quiet break, just buy your friend a set of ear protection.

The Vais is a reasonably effective break, but nowhere near the best at reducing recoil. I used a pain killer break from Kirby Allen on my sons 308 Win, and it reduced the felt recoil to roughly that of a 243 Win.

Others I would look at would be the Fat Bastard or the muscle brake

Just use ear protection if you think it will bother you.

He'd might be better served with a better recoil pad and mercury recoil reducer in the butt stock. I hate wearing ear plugs while hunting and won't have a rifle with a brake. Probably from the stems from the time when the guy two benches over was sighting in a 30-378 Weatherby and blowing my hat off.

As for a different caliber, that's going to be determined by what he wants to hunt. Lots of stuff gets killed in Africa with a 308/30-06 class cartridges and good bullets.

There is no such thing as a quiet brake. When you redirect the gas to the sides/up/down you are getting the gas flow closer to you. Shooting one is not as bad on your hearing as standing off to the side. If you look at the brake as a rocket motor, the more gas you put through the holes the better they work. All brakes will reduce recoil but there are some better than others. The main attraction for the Vais is that it is a bit shorter than the barrel diameter brakes. My experience with 338 Win and a brake says about 40% reduction in felt recoil. On the 300 magnum class rifles a good brake can reduce recoil about 50%. If you don't cut the barrel off you will not lose any velocity and pick up an extra 5-7 fps.

Through the years I have installed muzzle breaks of different styles and gimmicks, as mentioned, quiet & muzzle break should not be used in the same sentence. Effective is the key word. In testing many different types, some are more effective than others. The bigger and more ugly they get the more effective they seem to get. On a standard sporter weight 338 mag., looking for maximum effectiveness, I would use a Standard model from KDF. It will be about .150-.200 larger in diameter than the barrel, not as nice looking as a "slim line: break that matches barrel diameter, but more effective. Holland makes a very effective brake, three big slots in the side and a row of holes in the top, with the bottom closed so that it can be used on a bipod without dusting the shooter. Gentry also makes a very good brake as does Vais and a host of others. Along with the muzzle break install a Limbsaver or similar recoil pad, the brake lessens the recoil of the gas explosion as the bullet leaves the muzzle(secondary recoil), but does nothing about the recoil generated by ignition and the force required to move the bullet to the end of the barrel(primary recoil). Primary recoil can only be neutralized by adding weight, recoil pad, stock design, shooting a lighter bullet, or reducing velocity.