Oh man this makes me feal good as I HATE brakes..
Had to shoot one on a 416 rem the other day SUCKED !!! I thought the guy 4 benches down was going to shoot me...
Yes, they are loud. I never shoot mine under a roof, canopy, and such. Always in the open, and away from other shooters. But in reality all shots from guns, fire crackers, etc. damage one's hearing. A .30-378, or .338-378 can render you deaf in a short period of time, too. One can take the brake off and replace it with a thread protector for hunting, but even so I wear ear plugs or muffs. No worst noise than working with military jet aircraft engines indoors (hangar) such as the F-16. I did that for years, and had to wear ear plugs plus these huge ear muffs (we used to call them Mickey Mouse muffs). Even so I could still hear a crackling sound from the engine running at high RPM. Now, that's real noise
