Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Muzzle brake

Will a muzzle brake pointing forward and upward disturb my neighbors at the gun range? Thanks captdavid

Yes, as much as theirs will bother you.

Kingston, I am not sure of your answer. I have had absolutely no experience with muzzle brakes, other than, I have heard, they can be loud on your neighbors. Are all muzzle brakes that way? Thanks captdavid

All muzzle brakes are loud and obnoxious. I use them on several rifles but I don't shoot at public ranges. Some, like the vais, claim to be quieter then others but they're still much louder than without and people near you will get blasted.

My post was meant to be fair. I like shooting certain rifles with a brake. I had a Vais on my last 308 barrel and I've got a Precision Armament m-41 on the current barrel. It seems considerably less piercing than the Vais. Yes, they are loud. Some are less obnoxious than others. Some are heinous. I'm generally considerate of other shooters at the two clubs to which I belong. On the other hand, 1 in 3 visits to the range involves some idiot with a 16" barreled AR and the loudest POS brake money can buy. He always sets up next to me, despite every other bench on the line being available, and proceeds to shower me with brass. He flails 250 rounds into a paper target at the 50 yard line from the bench sniper style. The guys with short barreled AR-10s are even the worse.

There are lots of great designs out there. What chambering are you considering putting a brake on?

Kingston, something like this on a 26" barreled 30-06

http://www.rjrenner.com/options.html

Probably.
I've yet to hear a muzzle brake that's not louder than a rifle without one.

Best muzzle brake I've ever found is a Pachmayr Decelerator.

Casey

captdavid,

There is less need for a brake on a 30-06 than on a lighter-weight magnum.

In my opinion, a 30-06 doesn't need a brake. Your shooting and hunting partners will thank you. Your ears and head will thank you. And your wallet will thank you.

The Decelerator pad is more and less bang for your buck.

They are all obnoxious and make your ears ring even wearing muffs.

Pachmayr (Hogues are easier to grind, not as soft)
Miter Box
Masking Tape (Some people get upset if you use the Blue kind)
Belt or Disk Sander
Sanding Block
Assorted grits
And an hour of your time, give or take.

Optional: A little Armor-All or Son of a Gun to make it pretty.

That's a sexy brake! The only problem see with it is your stuck with it, as it's not removable. On a classic wood stocked AHR (American Hunting Rifle) in 30-06, I'd go with out. Is this related to your build thread? The right stock design, fitted right will make a world of difference.

If you need a muzzle brake, you need a different rifle....

You sure do not want to light a round off with out hearing protection if you have a muzzle break. A pig jumped up on time, I was carrying a Kleinguenther 300 Win mag with its factory brake. I hit the pig, I don't know which of us was in more pain. My ears rang for a week. I sold that rifle to Hasbeen. I hope he doesn't forget!!!!

I know a guy who inadvertently shot his braked .340 Weatherby without muffs. He said for a minute, he thought his ears were bleeding.

Sure they are noisy,but serve a purpose. I don't want another rifle other than my .06 as I will probably have less than 3 years of hunting left. My right shoulder needs replacement and two years ago I put a brake on the .06. It tamed it considerably so I could still shoot it. Since putting it on,I have killed two bull elk.

For the people who say a brake on an .06 is not needed don't take into account some others problems.

When I go to the range, I very seldom use the range that has 8 firing points. We have a few that are individual stations.Those are the ones I use. At the range I use plugs and muffs. Hunting,I use electronic muffs. If I plan to be sitting a long time,I may even put the plugs in.

Be courteous to others, but it is your rifle to do what to want to.Everyone has a right to their opinion,but no right to tell you what you must. Those you ignore

captdavid,

This is a 2-part answer, the first directed to you. Yes, a muzzle brake with ports pointing forward and upward will still be very loud to others on the firing line, especially if it's covered. It will also be somewhat less effective in reducing recoil than a brake with ports pointing sideways or backwards--though upward ports are a good idea, since they reduce muzzle jump.

The second part of my answer is directed toward those who make comments like "a .30-06 doesn't need a brake." Rifle loonies are very fond of believing that THEIR situation is EVERYBODY'S situation. My wife used to shoot relatively hard-kicking rifles and shotguns with no problem, such as 6-pound .30-06's and 3" 12-gauges, and also made occasional comments about shooters who used muzzle brakes.

But almost a decade ago she started getting recoil headaches with ANY rifle shooting bullets heavier than 100 grains, and any shotgun that kicked harder than a 28-gauge. Contrary to another piece of common wisdom, this was NOT due to firearms that didn't fit her, or didn't have soft recoil pads.

One of the rifles that started providing headaches was her favorite "big" rifle, a custom .308 Winchester weighing 6-3/4 pounds with scope. The walnut stock had been custom-made by a top-notch gunsmith to fit her, the reason it was her favorite big game rifle, and also has a very soft recoil pad.

After some experimenting, we figured out exactly what recoil level she could take before the headaches started, and eventually she found out she could use a 6-3/4 pound, 3" 20-gauge gas-operated semiauto for waterfowling. But we tried lighter bullets and reduced loads in the .308, and even 130-grain Barnes TSX's at 2700 fps were too much. She probably could have used 110 TSX's, but there wasn't any point since she already had a .243 Winchester and .257 Roberts that shot 100-grain bullets very well.

Rather than have the .308 sit in the safe, she eventually decided to have it braked, and local gunsmith John McLaughlin fitted a small brake of his design with all the ports on the sides and top, both to reduce muzzle jump and to prevent the brake from stirring up a dust cloud when shooting from prone.

We started working up loads with 130 TSX's, and now she can shoot them at 2900 fps without getting headaches. So now she has her favorite African plains-game rifle back.

And as Saddlesore pointed out, he could still use his favorite .30-06 for elk hunting, despite his bad shoulder, by going to a brake.

On the other hand, some people insist on using a .30-06 (or 7mm Remington Magnum, or .300 Winchester Magnum) even though the only big game they ever hunt is deer. They can indeed solve their recoil problem by going to a lighter-kicking cartridge--unless, of course, they're among those who firmly believe no cartridge less powerful will kill deer effectively. Which means they don't have a recoil problem, but a shooting problem.

I have a.300 WM Ed Brown Damara, a great light weight gun and a keeper.

Ed said that with slim barrels like the Damara, magnums are more accurate with a brake, thus all his Damara magnums came with factory brakes.

It's noisy, but a real sweet gun to shoot WITH the brake, gets sorta nasty without.

So, brakes can have additional benefits in certain applications.

DF

The reason I'll have some big boomers for sale in 10-15 years.

I'll be able to shoot my 40, 45 cal Sharps, 9.3-62, and 7x57mm rifles till I'm to damn old to walk and hunt.

JB, thank you for your thoughtful input.I agree that muzzle brakes are effective and useful for some people in certain situations. The few shooters I have encountered at the range with their braked rifles have not been as considerate as Saddlesore.

Captdavid did not mention a particular problem. I guess I assumed that he was attracted to the particular design of the brake he had in mind, rather than addressing a specific medical-type issue. My apologies if captdavid is dealing with a problem like Saddlesore or Eileen.

As JB said, dropping down in cartridge, and/or using a lighter Barnes bullet, even for elk, is a very good option for people having a problem with recoil.

I wonder if we aren't all over gunned. My granddaughter kills deer and pigs out to 250yards with a 243. They are just as dead as my cannon kills.

Nice buck, million dollar smile says it all...

It's long been a curiosity to me, how kids can whack WT's with a .223 on a regular basis, but once they grow up, even the .243 is considered light...

DF

She hit a 200 lb pig at 230 yards, the 80 grain Barnes punched through both shoulders. He was dead right there. My 7 mags wouldn't kill it any more dead. She started off with reduced charges of H4895. Up to full power loads now. She was 11 in that pic.

Pretty girl and a hunter, too.

She'll break some boy's heart...

DF

Nice buck, nicer smile and loud colored rifle. Cheers NC

I realize that a .243 will kill elk. My personal opinion is that it is to light for elk.However if I hunted whitetail,the .243 is what I would be using.

Thanks. She likes to kill pigs with an AR too

They certainly bother me. I like the idea of recoil reduction but don't care for the side effects. I shot a suppressed 7mm-08 last year and was surprised at how much recoil reduction there was. If the Hearing Protection Act passes I'll be first in line for some suppressors.

Hanco,
Your cute little darling looks sweet and is awesome scary too.
Good job!

Her grandfather is a Texan. What else would you expect?

LOL, ol Hanco's gonna have to keep green mesquite clubs handy to keep the boneheads swatted back from that one in a few years.

Suppressors are the answer to a couple of problems. Hopefully, the law will be changed so we can all take advantage of them at a lower cost and without all the paperwork. The only downside is the added length and bulk.

I recently bought a LAW professional in 30-06. It came with a muzzle break and a thread protector included. In my experiments with shooting this rifle with different factory ammo and alternating trips to the gun club, the rifle shoots consistently better groups with the muzzle break on. I am disappointed in this because I prefer to not use a muzzle break but accuracy is the name of the game.

Have some guns broken down on the kitchen table, "cleaning" them...

But with that little gal, raised like that, those boys better watch out. She can shoot, may not need ole Dad...

DF

Or Gramps!

You need to see some of the You Tube Videos that talk about Ruger's rifles that come with muzzle brakes. They ship them with a weighted sleeve that can be placed over the muzzle's threads if you remove the muzzle brake. This allows the rifle to shoot as accurately with the same ammo as it does w/o the brake. E

I hate muzzle brakes in general. But I do have one on my new, primary desert mulie rifle. Why ? Because experience has shown that I need a quick follow up shot. Between the semi auto action and the muzzle brake on my M1A Squad Scout, the rifle is far faster when comes to follow up shots than almost all of my other rifles. The only one that comes close is my Remington 760 in .257 Roberts. But that rifle is too slow and awkward to use from a sitting position with a shooting sling. E

Yes, they work quite well, but do warn immediate neighbors. Also, slip in some ear plugs if one has any structure about in the field. A few Christmas trees with in yards are enough to make ones head implode. (30-378).

Yeah, a Gramps can be even worse...

DF