by Wapiti » 07 Sep 2026, 6:06 pm
Well to summarise the "Winning in the wind" video it became quite boring in the end but when he said that the shock equipment measured the same, slightly more with brakes off, that surprised me.
The 308 grand-dads axe I use to get around with uses a rear-vent brake, a 5-port stainless one, which replaces the big 3-port flat-face "TRG" type it had for years. My ear-plugged ears don't detect any change, nor does my wife who sits beside me in the buggy and it points directly at her.
The big coke-can ones on the Sako TRG's I have blow stuff off the bench, but there's more gas in a 300 or 338Lap with 100gns of powder.
I got two Sako 90 sporters, one a Hunter model without a brake, no thread, the other is a Peak that comes with a radial brake. The Peak is a lightweight mountain rifle, yet the felt recoil is insanely reduced, I cannot believe the things fire the same cartridge, especially considering the quite heavy walnut stocked Hunter with it's thicker barrel being so much heavier. Maybe it's not so heavy at all, the Peak is just insanely light.
Now, to fire the things in the field, I don't notice any difference in blast because I slip a pair of banded earbuds on first. I sneak around, so have the time. The radial brake seems to work way better than I expected, but it's a Sako-made thing matched to the rifle. The recoil however' makes the thing way easier to shoot off the bench testing loads.
My wife has the same lightweight rifle in 308, without a brake. The 308 really leaps, because it's so light, but she recons the braked 300 is like a pussycat.
My personal opinion is that shooters should be a bit more tolerant of the likes and dislikes of one another, and stick together. Guns are loud, man.
I love semi-auto hunting rifles, There were H&K's, Valmets, Browning BAR's, but when other people see them, they bag me out. It's got nothing to do with them not being sporting, it's all about the people with the negative opinions not being tolerant of others. And I know why that is too. It was the same in 1996, when I remember sitting down at Belmont having all these paper shooters telling me I was out of line in giving up what I had, and being critical of the Fudds who would never stick up for my personal choices. They couldn't care less, like the SSAA.
I loved my HSV's, how many times I recall people bagging me out saying "why do you need one of those things" yet they were picking their fat kids up from school in the latest highly-detailed Landcruiser wagon without one bug splat on it, and never went off a freeway. Kids less than a few km from home. 4WD's covered in the latest $35K ARB adds-on package. They can buy whatever elevates their fake status, but criticise others choices.
"The only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
Aristotle.
Regards G,
AKA Dr. Doolittle