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| Vais Muzzle Brakes | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
Is Vais still in business? I have tried to contact them with no luck. Please no lectures about muzzle brakes needed. Recent surgery forces me to get one installed on a rifle. | ||
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| Administrator |
I make and install them on even 243 rifles, as people ask. I have not spoken to George for a few years, so cannot tell if he is still in business. | |||
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| one of us |
Anything that makes one shoot better is OK with me. Muzzle brakes have made good shots our of poor shots. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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| One of Us |
I ran into the same problem recently. In the past I ordered them almost exclusively from Brownells but they were out of stock (every model). Tried calling Vais direcy, which I have done many times, nothing.....It would appear they are out of business or temporarlily shut down. Seems like it could be some good mailbox money for someone.... | |||
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One of Us |
Wasn’t there a split between George and someone else with the brakes? That someone else (old partner) had the rights to build the brakes now? Maybe that has reared its head again? | |||
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| Administrator |
If anyone has access to a workshop, these brakes are not hard to make. I met George when he lived in Houston. I used to go and have lunch with him at his workshop. Great man. He used to fix my shotgun. | |||
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| One of Us |
As noted, Vias split. I haven't seen their brakes in stock for a while. Check out Hawkins Precision brakes. I've put a few of those on and they do a very good job. That said, they are loud. Louder than the Vias design, but they do a better job at recoil mitigation. Jeremy | |||
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| One of Us |
I remember that. It was a while ago. Vais claimed he got screwed out of his company, maybe he did. | |||
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| One of Us |
George had health problems and closed his shop in Houston. He his brake design and he signed a noncompete agreement. After a period of time he went back into production. The buyer of his design sued him in Federal Court in Houston, George represented himself. Needless to say a large judgement was entered against him. George moved back to Greece. I last talked to him about 5 years ago. He was an excellent Smith and his brake worked very well. He was at his best I think on shotguns. He repaired a Beretta Over and Under that misfired from time to time. Two other well respected smiths had failed to repair it,When I brought it to him he held the receiver up to his ear and pulled the trigger reset it and pulled the trigger to snap second barrel. He diagnosed the problem as weak firing pin return Springs and had me order them from Beretta. He installed the springs and charged me as I recall about $20.00. Still have it a little BL5 28 gauge never failed to fire again. I don’t know if he was “jerking my chain” or he really heard something but the problem was solved. He was an amusing guy, I really liked him and I am sorry he fell on hard times. "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." Mark Twain | |||
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One of Us |
I used a few back in the day; but only because guys wanted the name. Not worth the money. Brakes are easy to make, and the physics is not rocket science. Ok, sort of. But not hard to make work. All designs have to direct gas in another direction, and if you push enough gas backwards, you can have zero recoil. Realize that they make it hard on your ears though. | |||
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| Administrator |
I have a German made rifle - KEPPELLER - given to me. It is in 338 Lapua Magnum. It has the absolutely, positively, worst muzzle brake I have ever encountered. I put ear plugs in my ears, and ear muffs on top. It is still brutal! Very accurate rifle. But very awkward, as the Germans like to make them. You cannot take the bolt out without taking the stock off! | |||
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One of Us |
Vais brakes were highly regarded 20 or so years back when no one know of any better designs. They have been well and truly been overtaken by better options today. | |||
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| One of Us |
I read a lot on this back in the day. My impression was George did sell it and lost on the merits. I firmly believe the other fellow was in the right. I'm sure if you did a search you will find plenty to read. I have a couple that I got from Jim Carmichel but have not tried them and probably won't. | |||
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| One of Us |
Here is the case if you wish to look at it. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us...circuit/1033345.html "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." Mark Twain | |||
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| One of Us |
As I remembered it. | |||
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| One of Us |
I have a Vais on a .280 Rem and a PacNor on a 6mm Rem. I think the PacNor works better than the Vais, but it is more nastier. But then, I think all brakes are nasty. | |||
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| one of us |
When I was gunsmithing full time I started out using KDF muzzle brakes. Made by a fellow Texan in New Braunfels. Toured his shop once, nice guy. He recommended .016 inch over bullet diameter. Worked pretty well but extremely loud. Then I went to Vais brakes, at that time being made in San Antonio. Much more quite. Worked very well. I also installed Shrewd brand muzzle brakes sold by Brownell. Cost much less. Customer choice. Both Vais and Shrewd recomended .020 inch over bullet diameter clearance. When I worked at an East Texas gunshop we installed our shop owner designed muzzle brake. Instead of holes it had slots milled in the top of the brake and angled back about 5 degrees toward the shooter. One day we installed one for a big six foot plus cowboy who wore a big brimmed cowboy hat. He brought the gun back a few days later. Said every time he fired it blew his hat off ! Craftsman | |||
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| Administrator |
George used to come to our shooting club, the Greater Houston Shooting Club. I was having problems with the trigger on my shotgun, he came over and offered to fix it. His shop was not far from the club. I went there and he kindly fixed it fir me. Would take any money. That was in the early 80’s. Spoke to him a few years go by phone. Great guy. | |||
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One of Us |
I had a Vais on my 300 RUM. Good brake. IMHO, I like the Magna-porting a lot more. Keep barrel down and helps the recoil. I have magna-porting on my: 404J, 375 H&H, 358 Norma Mag, 35 Whelen, 9.3x62, 7mm Rem Mag, 280 AI, 16" 308 Win. "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan "Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians." Want to make just about anything work better? Keep the government as far away from it as possible, then step back and behold the wonderment and goodness. | |||
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| one of us |
Most any gunsmith worth his salt can make a good muzzle brake..I like the streamline style but the larger a brake is the better it works, it does nothing more than displace or redirect gasses, and they work. Be sure they have opposing vents to direct gas away from the face..I had them on my big bores, mostly built by Dennis Olson and they had thread protectors in case you didn't want to use them while hunting..after using them it seemed I used them less and less, until I quit using them all to gather, good way to develope immunity to recoil in my case, and thats a good thing..Now as Ive aged and mostlyquit shooting big bores I noticed the other day the 404 and 416 bothered me somewhat, so back to the brakes with my 338 and 375 Ruger, at least for awhile.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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| one of us |
That is true but not cost/time effective unless you make a large number of them. The Shrewd brand brake works very well and the price is so reasonable that you would have to machine huge quantities to come out ahead. Craftsman | |||
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One of Us |
George Leonard Herter said: "ask a Machinist Friend"   | |||
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| One of Us |
The brake sold by Ron Bartlett as a "Vais" brake was never patented by George Vais. George had a protege named Johnny Glueck that pruduces George's brakes to this day in Tomball, Texas at his company Active Tuning Solutions. I have these brakes on 300RUM and 338RUM and they work FANTASTIC! We Band of Bubbas N.R.A Life Member TDR Cummins Power All The Way Certified member of the Whompers Club | |||
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