Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Building a 375 Ruger, looking for muzzle brake ideas

Absolutely magnaport is the way to go!

Dober

Absolutely. I'm 67, have two herniated discs and a spinal cyst, and two bad shoulders and weigh 165. I have a 9 lb .375 H&H. Not a dime's worth of difference. A brake damages anyone's hearing within range. You should be getting around 37 ft/lbs of recoil energy, give or take. If you can shoot a .300 Win, you can shoot a .375. Offhand standing, I have run 40 rounds of max load 300 grain Hornadys through it at one range session more times than once.

Shoot it first.

Then, if you really must reduce recoil, install a mercury reducer. Brakes are bad news, unless you're shooting a .50 Barrett.

375 rum in stock form in the 700 XCR--one light gun! with max loads the recoil is impressive. On the order of about double my unbraked 300 rum shooting 200 ab's at max velocity. And it comes back fasssst! So...after shooting a hundred or so rounds from the bench and at first not thinkin it was too bad at all. Now it's a little bothersome...the fun wore off I guess. lol. I'm puttin a brake on it. And I had a scope on it that had 3.25 in of eye relief; it tagged me in the shooting glasses quite often. I'm putting a 4" ER scope on it to alleviate that issue. Can you shoot it well unbraked? yes but have to concentrate a bit more than usual. and just take the whack!

+1

I Have been down this route, forget Magnaporting if you main objective is recoil reduction.

I must not be a macho man. I worked up loads for my friend's 375 with and without a muzzle break. I was shooting the 300g bullets. It was amazingly accurate with a 26" Douglas barrel.

I came to one conclusion: If I have to use a gun that kicks that much without a muzzle break, time for me to take up hunting something that requires a smaller caliber!

The 375 With the Vias muzzle break was completely comfortable to shoot, and even more important, I could accurately shoot it. I remember the 375 with the Vias muzzle break kicking like a 270 loaded with 150g bullets.

When shooting from the bench, it is almost impossible to sit straight up and shoot. Your front rest would have to be very high and you would have to place a car tire underneath the butt for support or just shoot off hand unsupported. No doubt that the 375 and larger calibers really give your neck and spinal column a real shock.

I always wear a set of Peltor Tac 6 ear muffs when hunting...it adds another dimension to the hunting experience being able to hear better than the human ears can detect.

Try using a Caldwell Lead Sled at the range for sighting in and load testing. Do the rest of you shooting standing up. You won't feel the recoil shooting at game. I've also heard muzzle brakes make a rifle dangerously load. Many outfitters won't let you use them.

I'm another fan of the Mag-na-port. It's useful reduction without the nasty side effects of brakes. For range sessions use a Lead Sled and / or a PAST recoil pad.

I have Mag-na-ported rifles in .300 Win Mag, .375 H&H and .500 A2. I have a braked rifle in a wildcat very similar to the .300 Weatherby. While the brake certainly works, it's a very difficult child to love.

What a wart on the nose of a beautiful rifle:




Compared to:

I'll post the opposite viewpoint from most here. I advocate a brake on every centerfire rifle. I NEVER shoot without ear protection (or a suppressor) and think anyone who fires even one shot without ear pro is a dumb ass.

Brakes don't make guns louder, they just redirect a little of the noise in a different direction. Unless you're wearing ear pro, your hearing is being damaged every time you pull the trigger, even without a brake.

So, if we assume we're always going to be intelligent and have ear pro in place there is no reason to not have a brake. They make a good thing even better.

I see no problem with a muzzle brake and you can take them off and on at your leasure..Be sure to get a false muzzle thread protector so when off it just looks like an unbraked gun..Use the brake at the range and for practice and perhaps take it off when you hunt..The brake is a good way to conquer recoil mentally..At the end of each shooting session at the range, take it off and fire 5 to 10 rounds off hand, and in time you will be leaving it off all the time, and probably eventually cut it off.