Give me a BRAKE (pun intended).
The question was, what the best muzzle brake was and not how ya'll don't like brakes. I say, it's my gun and I'll brake (another pun there) it if I want to.
1. Brakes work because they they direct some of the gases to the side, upwards, and or rearwards that would otherwise go straight out the barrel. Anything with mass (this would include the bullet and the gases) that goes straight out the barrel with cause a force to be exerted straight back toward the shooter. They therefore can decrease recoil caused by the ejected gases but do nothing for the recoil caused by bullet weight and velocity. Since the noise will follow the direction of the ejected gases, depending on how they're made, the brake will direct noise to the sides and toward the shooter. They don't make the gun more noisy.
2. Brakes that direct the blast only to the sides will reduce recoil. Brakes that direct more gases up than to the sides will reduce recoil and muzzle jump. Brakes like the shark gill brake that direct the gases rearward, will decrease recoil even more.
So which brake is best? That would depend on the application. If I were to shoot a 458 Lott in a handgun, I would probably want a shark gill brake. If I were a real wimp and wanted to tone down the recoil of a 22-250, any kind of brake would be fine.
