I am in between projects and was thinking of putting a brake on my muzzleloader. I have researched a little and found a few companies making them. I make centerfire brakes. But I refuse to pay $200 for something I can make myself.

My only concern in making one would be concern over the sabot sticking or lodging itself in the brake. These companies claim they are different than a centerfire brake. Anyone have any experience with these and could share what the differences are? Thanks

Why? For a fast follow up shot?

The only thing a brake would add to your ML is hearing damage.

It would make loading and cleaning a headache. You'd have to remove the brake and re-install it to load or clean. It will catch the sabot or patch and destroy accuracy.

As you get older and more experienced you will have no attraction to brakes on hunting rifles. They are not necessary for the the single aimed shot used for hunting. Hunting has no room for hearing protection. Blasting your buddies ears into deafness is not good. The concussion will also stun him the point that he will not be able to back you up with a follow up shot. Brakes kick up lots of dirt and dust when firing prone in the field.

Brakes are considered cool by the younger less experienced shooters. Except fo the hardest recoiling over bore cartridges, when fired on the range, they are not necessary. When fired on the range the guy next stall will hate you. If you need a brake because you can not deal with he recoil get a smaller rifle. Also the concussion will likely cause a flinch. Unless you are firing a 50 BMG you do not need a brake.

In short, a ML brake is a bad idea.

There is lots of hype about brakes. Inexperienced shooters try to buy skill rather than practice. Buying trick devices is as old as guns. The only good thing a brake will do is line the pocket of the person who sold it to you.

There you go, 50 years of experience from a grumpy old man who has been there and done that.

Actually believe it or not they do work on Muzzloaders. Ive done muzzle brakes for all ages so my experience is not the same as yours. I love your sarcasm though. No its not for quick follow up shot. Its to save some wear and tear on my shoulder and stop flinching after a few shots. Plus it makes it more fun to shoot. Im not sure I will even build one but won't make that decision until I have more information. Which is what I am seeking, not opinions on why people like or dislike them.

Scota4570...... You are spot on !

May as well use a brake, everything else about the sport has been destroyed. Originally intended for flintlocks and sidelock percussion rifles and round balls it has been bastardized by bolt actions, scopes, plastic stocks and sabots. Why not a brake?

Cowdis is right; the original intent of ML seasons was like archery; primitive weapons. New MLs are like shooting 30-06s. And I own them and use them, and was building them on Mauser actions in the 1970s.
And they are cheaper than a flint lock, lock. Makes me a little sad that the intent and skill has been lost on new hunters.
Anyway, for a brake, I would make it the same bore diameter as the sabot is; not too much larger. It will still be spinning.

Hell D, flintlocks may make a comeback with the incoming regime.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Cowdis is right; the original intent of ML seasons was like archery; primitive weapons. New MLs are like shooting 30-06s. And I own them and use them, and was building them on Mauser actions in the 1970s.
And they are cheaper than a flint lock, lock. Makes me a little sad that the intent and skill has been lost on new hunters.
Anyway, for a brake, I would make it the same bore diameter as the sabot is; not too much larger. It will still be spinning.

If I was making one, I'd want to minimize the plastic buildup in the brake. I have to imagine it'd be like plastic wads running through shotgun chokes. I'd make the first one at least .050 over groove diameter (for centerfire I go .030 over or more) and see how it was.

I hate being next to a muzzle brake. But they work. And for high volume shooting, like any sort of competition or load testing, I now believe in them. And since everybody else at the range is using them or doing back to back magazine dumps with the short-barrelled, braked AR's, I'm already using double hearing protection every time I go to the range.

quote:

Hell D, flintlocks may make a comeback with the incoming regime

Don't laugh, it may be our only option. When it is the left will ban those too.

Dave

They will severely restrict black power making even a flintlock non viable.

Then I will start making my own powder.
As far as plastic buildup; won't happen. Sabots are made from tougher materials, and the rate of fire is, somewhat slower.

quote:

Originally posted by skl1:
If I was making one, I'd want to minimize the plastic buildup in the brake. I have to imagine it'd be like plastic wads running through shotgun chokes. I'd make the first one at least .050 over groove diameter (for centerfire I go .030 over or more) and see how it was.

I hate being next to a muzzle brake. But they work. And for high volume shooting, like any sort of competition or load testing, I now believe in them. And since everybody else at the range is using them or doing back to back magazine dumps with the short-barrelled, braked AR's, I'm already using double hearing protection every time I go to the range.

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing of going 40 to 50 thousandths over. I don't shoot at a range but I make caps for all my rifles that have them. I can always take the brake off if I am shooting around other people. I don't like being blasted either. I also take foam ear plugs with me when I hunt. It takes 5 seconds to put them in.

I will make a prototype and see how it goes.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Then I will start making my own powder.
As far as plastic buildup; won't happen. Sabots are made from tougher materials, and the rate of fire is, somewhat slower.

And why not----I used to make gun powder with my chemistry set in the fifties! Made shootable cannons by drilling out the barrels on brass cannons I got from historical places. The gun powder wouldn't go off, just fizzle and burn until we put a couple of exploding cigarette sticks in along with the powder. We used JET-X fuses.

Hell we could blow ourselves up then and no one would care ! They sold the Chemistry sets in department stores and corner candy stores.

Hip

your brake ID should be about 0.03 to 0.050 greater than bore.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
your brake ID should be about 0.03 to 0.050 greater than bore.

Thank you sir!

the smoke cloud will be interesting with a full charge of elephant/swiss ffg - i would recommend removing any silver jewelry/glasses -- due to the blackening effect of BP smoke and silver (white gold too)

Use a radial style with round holes. Think Vias design. Slotted brakes will hang the sabot. Not the end of the world, but it's a PITA to dislodge the sabot. The ID doesn't need to be a lot larger than the bore. The ones that I've done were 0.010-.015 larger than bore size and used 3/16" holes. I drilled the brake, then bored and reamed it so the interior was smooth. No burrs.

Jeremy

quote:

Originally posted by farbedo:
Use a radial style with round holes. Think Vias design. Slotted brakes will hang the sabot. Not the end of the world, but it's a PITA to dislodge the sabot. The ID doesn't need to be a lot larger than the bore. The ones that I've done were 0.010-.015 larger than bore size and used 3/16" holes. I drilled the brake, then bored and reamed it so the interior was smooth. No burrs.

Jeremy

On my centerfire brakes I use 3/16 holes for everything 7mm and larger and 5/32 for 6.5 and smaller. They are radial brakes. I was thinking of going with 1/4 inch for this brake or 7/32. Somewhere .30 to .40 over bore diameter, whichever drill size fits that size. How well does it work? My CVA is so light it really does a number on shoulder after 4 shots. I am trying to get my daughter interested in shooting muzzleloader this year and don't want her becoming afraid of it. Looks like 17/32 is .531 and then I can bore it out to .535 or so with a boring bar to clean it up.

Finished the brake this weekend and it cuts recoil about 25 to 30%. Not near as much as a centerfire brake but I was not expecting it to perform the same. My wife said she did not hear much of an increase in noise like a centerfire brake which I did find kind of interesting. Another interesting thing was the smoke. There was little to no wind and I actually found it easier to see after I shot because the smoke was vented away from the muzzle, pushed to the sides rather than straight away. I went 30 thousandths over bore and with 3 shots the sabot did not stick in the brake and I could not find any plastic that had peeled off from the sabot stricking any of the ports. I probably would not make another as the effort is not worth the reward in my opinion but sometimes we experiment to learn these things.

It is a radial brake and I left 180 degree position with no ports so my ramrod would not get carboned up. Ports are 5/32 in size and there are a total of 44 ports. I used BH209 powder and Barnes 285 grain T-EZ Sabots. I did not try it with actual black powder.