I had a gunsmith install a muzzle break on one of my rifles and now I want to remove it. The muzzle break is a screw on type however, I can't see a line between the barrel and break where they contact each other and I'm sure he blued over the contact point. How would be the best way to remove the break? I thought of apply heat to the muzzle break however, I don't want to mess up the barrel.

Thanks

Steve

Firstly, on what rifle is this muzzle brake? If it's on an AR-15 with a short barrel, it has to stay on there for legal reasons. NFA 1934 says no rifle can have a barrel shorter than sixteen inches from boltface to muzzle. If that is your case, the gunsmith probably silver-soldered the brake on, and you pretty much can't get it off without risking destruction of the barrel. I suppose you could heat the barrel to some ungodly temperature and melt the silver, but I don't know anything about how silver-soldering is done or how to reverse it. There is a method known as a Dutch pin, which is a hardened pin drilled through the brake and through the side of the thread, such that the pin cannot be easily sheared with a twisting force. After the 'smith puts the pin in, he grinds it off so that you can't see it. I had a barrel like this a number of years ago. My rifle had cycling problems. I had to send the gun away to be fixed. Once it was fixed, the 'smith had to weld the brake back on with an arc welder, and it looked like crap. Try to avoid that scenario.

If the rifle already has a barrel longer than sixteen inches, the brake is probably secured with red Loc-Tite, which requires about 350 degrees to melt and then you can turn it off easily. If not red he might have used blue, which you can break with handtools. I tightened mine with a rubber strap wrench. You should be able to buy one at Harbor Freight Tools. They come in wide (about 3/4-inch) and a narrow (about 1/2-inch). Because they are rubber, the really grip the workpiece. Before you do anything, you should ask your gunsmith what method he used to put it on. I would think silver-soldering would be the last option. I'm leaning more toward the red Loc-Tite and the blue if you're lucky. Hell, he may have just used a wrap of Teflon tape. I've done that and it works...

KDF brakes just screw on and off.... by hand... if they stick, you can stick a punch thru the holes to twist it off easier... i have a knurled thread protector to use when the brake is off...

quote:

Originally posted by jimatcat:
KDF brakes just screw on and off.... by hand... if they stick, you can stick a punch thru the holes to twist it off easier... i have a knurled thread protector to use when the brake is off...

Same here, put a stainless brake on my Sendero and after a day at the range dialing it in the brake gets stuck a little. I also have the thread protector in case the rifle ever decides to go mobile.

Gentlemen

I added a little to heat to muzzle break and then put a punch through the holes and it came right off. Now how do I go about getting a thread protector for the barrel?

If I measured it right there are thirteen threads in 0.40" or I could just have a gunsmith cut off 1 inch and I shouldn't lose to much velocity. I just don't want to mess up the accuracy.

The barrel is off a .378 Weatherby Mag and I thought I needed a break however, the accuracy went south with the new break.

Thanks for the help

Steve

quote:

The barrel is off a .378 Weatherby Mag and I thought I needed a break. However, the accuracy went south with the new break.

If the brake is not correctly installed and perfectly aligned with the barrel centerline, the bullet will hit the exit opening. The way to align a brake is to do it off the grooves in the bore-- not off the outside diameter of the barrel. I had a barrel that had the bore 0.080 inches out-of-center. Had my 'smith taken the easy road, the bullet would have hit and all that time and money would have been wasted. The exit hole should be just 0.020 inches larger than the bullet. You can see getting the C/L of the brake and the C/L of the bore perfectly aligned is absolutely necessary, huh? I have brakes on both of my target-shootin' ARs, on my .223Rem Thompson-Center Encore and on my big bench gun. Love 'em. The big gun actually suffers quite badly for hittin' small with its brake removed. Kicks like hell, too, with it off. I even have one on a custom-built 10/22 just to honk off Feinstein...

The brake itself is not supposed to do anything to your accuracy.

But like mentioned above if the smith who put it didnt do it right the bullet can hit the brake on the way out and throw it off. You should be able to look at the end of your brake and see if the bullet is contacting it in any way.

If you dont see any metal damage the brake is not your problem.

Also thread protectors are pretty easy to get, a good smith would have got you one or at least recommended it when getting the brake installed. But since he didnt a little shopping around once you find out the thread size on your barrel and a purchase of about $20 should get you a protector.

Brakes are a great tool at the range for a stout recoil gun. But if you want to hunt with that rifle a Brake is your worst enemy. Before taking a shot in the wilderness you will need to apply ear protection and also be aware of surroundings. if your laying on the ground and shoot with a brake, prepare to be cleaning dirt out of your rifle for a week.