Muzzle breaks - are people using them?

[bladeracer]

Yeah gordicans good for him not wanting to use a brake because he has to wear hearing protection but in my opinion not wearing hearing protection whilst shooting a firearm is not in ones best interest that bloke made it a personal thing not to have a brake but sitting beside someone at a rifle range would be a different matter as people are at close proximity and consideration has to be given to other shooters but hunting is a different matter only my wife or myself go shooting and we both wear hearing protection and i'm already half deaf as far as any given rifle not needing a brake well that depends on the shooter it's easy for blokes that haven't had injuries to bang on about not needing them but for those blokes that have had injuries and want to shoot bigger calibers then a brake makes sense in some ways and if the caliber becomes too much for me i'll just hand it to one of my sons and use my smaller rifles we all have shot big rifles with no brakes and never needed them and with no ear protection in our younger days but some of us smarten up as we get older and don't knock our bodies around any more for nothing but on saying that without my old shoulder injury and arthritis I dare say I wouldn't even consider a brake

I prefer not to wear hearing protection if I can get away without it. But with a brake it's a definite requirement.

I spent my life smashing the hell out of my right hand/wrist/forearm/shoulder, and it's a mess. Most stuff I can shoot okay without complaining too much. The Mosin-Nagant beats me up, although I've never worked out why the Mosins are so vicious in recoil when Lee-Enfields, '03-A3 and Mausers are almost gentle in comparison. But my biggest problem is 12ga. Even though the velocities and pressures are low, the shotguns just kill my shoulder.

[Stix]

Seems we all share the dislike for one of the main ‘side effect’ of a brake....the extra noise!
The dramatic decrease in recoil, the total removal of muzzle jump (dependant on design) are surely a bonus....but does the blast/noise trump this?
Awesome responses! Thanks. Love hate relationships and just hate!
Have any of you tried a with brake....without brake test on group size? Is it just the absence of recoil that improves our shooting? Or are we getting some ‘mechanical advantage’ from a well designed brake?
I’ll post some results as soon as I get my 45-70 back....per the above.

Tank...i think one of the biggest influences on group size using a brake, is the physiological state of the shooter, & maybe thats why you get better results with your brake on...
As for a "mechanical advsntage"., i could only see any advantage here being weighting the barrel to change its harmonics & thus maybe have a ppsitive effect on group size...

If you're tired, or even fatigued from shooting for hours on end, some people can get flinchy even shooting small cals...

I think shooting is a very exhausting thing to do if done for hours, & if you pay very close attention to what you're feeling in your entire body, you'll notice the tension in various parts of your body-such as the obvious areas like trigger hand & shoulder, increase over time, or start high if you're already tired.

Having said all that, im not a brake user, but ive done experiments (& noticed the effects after a good few hours of shooting), with just tension in my shoulder with everything i own from 204 up to 7-08...
And the difference between a completely relaxed shoulder & comfortable trigger hand, vs a rock solid shoulder & hand like a wound up spring can be huge on a target...and this is what can happen to us in anticipation of recoil...so even subconciously knowing the recoil is so much less with a brake on can drop a good bit of voltage from running through our nervous system & potentially result in half moa better on paper.

And im not sure where the "hate" you mention is for brakes in this thread...did i miss something...

[TassieTiger]

If only someone could develop a muzzle brake with an external wrap around housing to contain some of the gases...oh hang on...Some Au laws are stupid.

[Tank]

Stix, it was a figurative ‘like dislike’....tongue in cheek.
Valid stuff guys.
I fall into the wanting to use the heavier calibres without being beaten up club. A bit girls blouse for some but if it means being able to spend a decent session on the range without suffering as a result I’ll take it.
Pros and cons in anything I guess.
Thanks for your collective insights. I’ll post up some info once I’ve got my grubby little H&R back for s**ts and giggles. 525gr Lyman Postel over 33.5gr 2207 theoretically is around 30ftlbs of recoil....looking forward to having a play. I know shooting off the bench with this load became relatively uncomfortable after 30-40 shots pre squishy butt pad and brake....
Cheers men!
Love the comment re horses and Brett....real men shoot 50BMG....but not this bloke! I’ll keep my retinas attached as long as possible!

[brett1868]

If Brett wasn't into guns, he'd probably train a horse to stand in front of him and kick him in the shoulder for fun.

I had my right shoulder surgically enhanced by a Suzuki Hayabusa back in 2003 so I don't feel recoil

[Tank]

If only someone could develop a muzzle brake with an external wrap around housing to contain some of the gases...oh hang on...Some Au laws are stupid.

See what you did there Tas!
Couldn’t agree more!


I’m sure there’s better ways to enhance your tolerance for recoil Brett! Guess something good comes from everything!

[Tank]

As for a "mechanical advsntage"., i could only see any advantage here being weighting the barrel to change its harmonics & thus maybe have a ppsitive effect on group size...

Fair assumption I’d reckon Stix. That and the fact the rifle isn’t leaping about as much during recoil.

[Member-Deleted]

Decided to go with the ''TERMINATOR T3'' after emailing the company in NZ it was sorted and paid for I found it far more easier to deal with them than chase around Australian shops to find they were out of stock or didn't deal with that brand and postage was rather high so contacted NZ paid for it and it was on its way that afternoon and the seller was so easy to deal with and if you take postage into consideration then getting it from NZ was a few dollars cheaper than from Australia

[Tank]

[Oldbloke]

Decided to go with the ''TERMINATOR T3'' after emailing the company in NZ

Is that for the 7mm Mag?.

[Member-Deleted]

Yeah mate haven't fitted it yet waiting for shims tried making a couple out of carbon paper but it softened too much so will wait for proper ones also tried making them out of aluminium can but it disfigures too much

[Toppy91]

I am using an MDT Elite brake on my 6.5. Makes it a joy to shoot....for me anyway

[Oldbloke]

What r the shims for?

[bladeracer]

What r the shims for?

For indexing the muzzle device.

[Member-Deleted]

Yeah OB just to time it as bladeracer said I don't want the hassle of chasing up a lathe so will just shim it they make the shims for them

[Oldbloke]

Ah, so its screwed on.

[Member-Deleted]

Yeah OB I read up for a few months and there were quiet a few problems with the clamp type ie some say they damage the barrel then some had them blow off ''probably not tight enough'' and some said they had alignment problems and all the while the ''TERMINATOR'' products kept turning up as a have a look at item I spoke with a forum member that uses one and made my decision to buy that brand the dealer was very helpful and easy to deal with had it on my doorstep from NZ in 3-4 days the stars must have aligned right I suppose I had chased around Australia for one only to find they were out of stock , didn't want to talk or just didn't answer so I bought from NZ office and was very pleased with the service

[Member-Deleted]

Yeah OB go back a ways and I posted about it there mate cheers

[mickb]

I used them in big game rifles in the 90's and 2000's as the 15-20% reduction in felt recoil meant you could have the rifle built a couple of pounds lighter. Never saw the point for medium bores unless you are going target or long range with bipods.
These days I have no interest as I find them too loud period. Noise figures for braked rifles are often 165-170DB, noise reduction rating for hearing protection only 21-35DB so its still a lot getting through. The army took enough clarity out of my hearing so I am saving what I've got left.

[Member-Deleted]

Yes mickb I understand what you are saying and I to wouldn't use one if I hadn't injured my shoulder years ago but unfortunately I did and a brake if it works will ease things a little for me I always use hearing protection so that problem is solved

[mickb]

They definetly work if you need them, no doubt.

[in2anity]

Here is my radial muzzle brake on the little 16" 300aac:

radial muzzle brake

muzzle.jpg (41.94 KiB) Viewed 7324 times

It turned a low-recoiling gun in to a (virtually) no-recoiling gun. What does this mean? Well, similar to how you can sometimes see the parabola of a 22lr (through a decent scope), under particular light conditions, I can actually see the projectile streaking onto the target (especially when a low sun is directly behind me + I'm using a flat-base bullet).

I find that sort of feedback invaluable; you know before the shot has even hit the target whether error came from you vs your load. It's an awesome accompaniment to load development.

[Member-Deleted]

Well got my brake fitted and tried it my rifle doesn't like it nor do I 3 shots gave me a head ache after half dozen my head I thought was going to split plugs and muffs not so much the noise but the concussion so it will spend the rest of its life in the gun safe $275 fek up in my books although I was told and now I know feken brakes anyone want a cheap brake thread 18-1 T3 terminator it also came loose after 6 or so shots so I left it off here is the pics left is brake on right is brake off aiming for bottom targets

[Oldbloke]

Sorry to hear it didnt work out. The 7mm mag kicks hard, I know. Maybe a 243 would suit you better. Would be fine for dogs. Or go back to the 22.250

[Member-Deleted]

Yeah nah I've still got the 2 / 22-250's for the dogs the 7mm is for bigger stuff as well as dogs and stuff I can handle the kick easily but the next day it's tender and that stops me from going out again so might invest in some painkillers might be cheaper in future

[Oldbloke]

Yeah nah I've still got the 2 / 22-250's for the dogs the 7mm is for bigger stuff as well as dogs and stuff I can handle the kick easily but the next day it's tender and that stops me from going out again so might invest in some painkillers might be cheaper in future

If its causing pain, its causing more damage mate. I put a few shots through one years ago and got a 30-06 instead. Easier on the shoulder.

[Tank]

That’s a bugger about the T3 in your 7mm GDB.....muzzle blast would be prodigious on a magnum I’m sure.
Hopefully I’ll have a bit of a report on my 45-70 inside a fortnight (or so)....not burning half the powder of your 7mm....so I’m hopeful. Still gonna be a fair test for my leki muffs....!

[Member-Deleted]

Yeah Tank fair bit of back draught with the magnum with the brake

[TassieTiger]

SO all this talk about a brake - and I had to buy one to see the difference on my 300wm. It's only a $50 ebay jobbie but Im just keen to experience the difference.
Q - Would a brake change POI ? or is it suck and see ?

[Faedy]

SO all this talk about a brake - and I had to buy one to see the difference on my 300wm. It's only a $50 ebay jobbie but Im just keen to experience the difference.
Q - Would a brake change POI ? or is it suck and see ?

Mine makes an amazing difference - heavier the proj, the better mine works.
Makes the 300wm kick like my .243 or even less.
Muzzle and side blast is ridiculous though - mates hate my effing guts lol