Muzzle breaks - are people using them?

[TassieTiger]

What the actual Fark is that, and why are my testicles tingling?

[Tank]

It’s a H&R 155 ‘Shikari’ in 45-70Govt. It originally had 28” barrel. Now 16.5”. 2.5-10x44 Bushnell Engage scope in Warne rings on a ICE 20MOA pic rail. EBay Atlas copy bipod with Pic rail adaptor. Pachmyr Decelerator pad and Karsten Kydex adjustable cheek rest from ScopedOut.....and M-11 Gunbloke muzzle brake. That works brilliantly!
Tonne of fun.
Tingling balls.....yeah that was me when I got everything fitted up.
Cheers Tas.

[duncan61]

I had a H&R handi rifle in Hornet.I am sure its the same as the one they made in 45/70.The Breech is about 30mm with this tiny hole in it.You appear to be loading for the trapdoor i am sure the H&R handi rifle would qualify as modern rifle and you could get a lot more grunt.Obviously if you are happy doing around 1500fps that suits you.Its nice to have the option to load 405gr FN SN Woodleighs out to 2000fps and go buffalo shooting.It would do the job

[Tank]

Cheers Duncan!
The 155 uses the cast action. Same as the ‘Topper’ shotgun action. So I’m sticking with the ‘Trapdoor’ loads. I’m limited to sub 28,000 CUP. Not an issue when I’m using comparatively soft cast projes.
The later SB-2 actions are a stack tougher. The little hornet would have looked real small with all that steel round it!

[duncan61]

I was very confident testing subsonic loads in it.

[bigpete]

Quick summary.
Great fun package that is dynamite on steel at ranges out to 400yds.
The combination of the brake and decent butt pad make it easy to shoot all day. Significant recoil reduction with the muzzle blast trade off being something I’m quite happy to live with.
15 cents a shot for a rifle that develops this sort of grunt just adds to the equation.
I WON’T be removing the brake anytime soon.
200 rounds on.....it just keeps making me grin. Surprises with its exceptional accuracy, economy and grunt.
Would love to see anyone else’s current project.....and hope this inspires discussion.
Kind Regs,
Tank.

But....but.....the 45/70 is no good past 100m......Facebook told me......lol

[bigpete]

My current project is regulating my double for 350gn,2000fps ammo. No muzzle brake

[Tank]

But....but.....the 45/70 is no good past 100m......Facebook told me......lol

It’s a scrub gun!! Lol! Facebook is the fountain of all knowledge after all.

Trial and error with loads Pete?
Where’s it regulated at? 75-80yds?
Would love a double someday.

[Tank]

I was very confident testing subsonic loads in it.

Yeah. You would have been.
Not exactly stressing it.

By the by....I don’t expect I’m getting remotely close to 1500fps when there’s only 14” of rifling to work with....guessing 1350.
Somewhat validated by my dope at range.
Chroni results to follow once done.

[in2anity]

Mate quite the group for such a pill/cartridge/gun A CDS from NIOA would work a treat (if you settled on your load). How much does the thing weigh? Also, with your 33gr 2207 lead-load, what would you say the recoil is comparable to? A hot 30/30?

[Tank]

Mate quite the group for such a pill/cartridge/gun A CDS from NIOA would work a treat (if you settled on your load). How much does the thing weigh? Also, with your 33gr 2207 lead-load, what would you say the recoil is comparable to? A hot 30/30?

Cheers In2anity!
The load works and I’ll stick with it. Shoots way better than I could have dreamt.
I’m hearing you on CDS but the Engage with the 30MOA vertical hash plus target style turrets (15MOA per rotation) give me a bit more flexibility.
It weighs just over 8lbs with everything hanging off it. Recoil is much lighter than my 30AS Marlin in 30-30. It is mild as!

[in2anity]

The load works and I’ll stick with it. Shoots way better than I could have dreamt.
It weighs just over 8lbs with everything hanging off it. Recoil is much lighter than my 30AS Marlin in 30-30. It is mild as!

Under 4kg! How good is that! 2207 one of my all time favorites - a fantastic compomise powder. Your build is indeed inspirational; I wonder how much energy it has at 500m, just thinking about MS potential...

[duncan61]

God appeared to me last night and told me to forget about the 416 Rigby and buy a Handi rifle in 45/70 and load 55 gn of 2207 under a 350gn pill and smite the philistines

[Tank]

The load works and I’ll stick with it. Shoots way better than I could have dreamt.
It weighs just over 8lbs with everything hanging off it. Recoil is much lighter than my 30AS Marlin in 30-30. It is mild as!

Under 4kg! How good is that! 2207 one of my all time favorites - a fantastic compomise powder. Your build is indeed inspirational; I wonder how much energy it has at 500m, just thinking about MS potential...

It’s a laugh! Reckon it’s around 950ft/lbs @ 500yds using JBM’s ballistic calculator. 2207 is ultra versatile for 45-70. This load is clean as a whistle....Clean up is a breeze.

God appeared to me last night and told me to forget about the 416 Rigby and buy a Handi rifle in 45/70 and load 55 gn of 2207 under a 350gn pill and smite the philistines

These are the words of the Lord....Amen.
Be a darn sight cheaper!!
The original rifle set me back a carton of Carlton Dry cans.....the 416 maybe somewhat more...(?)

It was at this stage I called Project Wombat.....zeroed.

[bigpete]

But....but.....the 45/70 is no good past 100m......Facebook told me......lol

It’s a scrub gun!! Lol! Facebook is the fountain of all knowledge after all.

Trial and error with loads Pete?
Where’s it regulated at? 75-80yds?
Would love a double someday.

Nah,just winding a grub screw in and out till I get them right. I'll try to get them an inch apart at 50m

[Tank]

But....but.....the 45/70 is no good past 100m......Facebook told me......lol

It’s a scrub gun!! Lol! Facebook is the fountain of all knowledge after all.

Trial and error with loads Pete?
Where’s it regulated at? 75-80yds?
Would love a double someday.

Nah,just winding a grub screw in and out till I get them right. I'll try to get them an inch apart at 50m

Nice.

[in2anity]

I’m hearing you on CDS but the Engage with the 30MOA vertical hash plus target style turrets (15MOA per rotation) give me a bit more flexibility.

FWIW I created and printed this on a printable label from Officeworks the other day:

1/4 moa subtensions, hundreds-of-meters numerals. Blue dot 400m. Red dot 500m.

smiley.jpg (832.21 KiB) Viewed 3970 times

I just put the cap back on to protect from the rain.

[Tank]

See what you did there In2anity!
I’ve got a 4.5-14x40SF CDS VX3i I’ve not got around to setting it up for any one load.....food for thought there man.
Cheers.

[TassieTiger]

But....but.....the 45/70 is no good past 100m......Facebook told me......lol

It’s a scrub gun!! Lol! Facebook is the fountain of all knowledge after all.

Trial and error with loads Pete?
Where’s it regulated at? 75-80yds?
Would love a double someday.

Missed a zero. Am sure you meant 1000 yards...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zruU2xLcm1o

[TassieTiger]

Back to op - are people taking brakes off to clean? There is simply no way I can see in end of muzzle with mine to as ascertain if copper streaks are prevalent and tbh, I’m not happy about pushing a heap of crud into the brake itself....?

[in2anity]

Back to op - are people taking brakes off to clean? There is simply no way I can see in end of muzzle with mine to as ascertain if copper streaks are prevalent and tbh, I’m not happy about pushing a heap of crud into the brake itself....?

The muzzle break should be slightly larger than your bore diameter; after all it's not an extension of your barrel. The projectile should not make contact with the break; therefore fouling inside the break itself should not really be too detrimental to accuracy.

Nevertheless the way i see things it's good to give it a bit of clean now and then (to prevent rust/build-up), but the clean can be a bit ad-hoc. I just use an oversized cleaning patch and plenty of solvent to flush anything away.

[in2anity]

Missed a zero. Am sure you meant 1000 yards...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zruU2xLcm1o

Yes we digress but with regard to that particular video; do you know what would be more informative? - if they then did a comparision with a scope on, shooting from some kind of supported position - I'd be curious to see how their hit-frequency increased. Easy to do on a Marlin.

[Tank]

Back to op - are people taking brakes off to clean? There is simply no way I can see in end of muzzle with mine to as ascertain if copper streaks are prevalent and tbh, I’m not happy about pushing a heap of crud into the brake itself....?

+1 In2anity.
My brakes are open enough in the ports to clean with a toothbrush and my bore snake looks after the rest.
I wouldn’t be to concerned about the small amount of grot from the barrel being an issue man.

[perentie]

I was very confident testing subsonic loads in it.

Yeah. You would have been.
Not exactly stressing it.

By the by....I don’t expect I’m getting remotely close to 1500fps when there’s only 14” of rifling to work with....guessing 1350.
Somewhat validated by my dope at range.
Chroni results to follow once done.

1350 is enough. We shoot that with our 45-70 ,s and black powder with 550 grain pills out to 1000 yds (longer barrel though)

[Tank]

Perentie,
It’s enough.
I love BP! Just couldn’t get into BP cartridge shooting.
This project is a slightly different approach than a Sharpes or Rolling Block with a 32-34” barrel.
Still waiting on a free weekend to get some time over the chroni for absolute validation.
Anyone else building a piss take?