Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Brakes Work[b]![/b]

Yesterday I ran a test with and without a brake on the .257 Weatherby. Since this is the first loading with my new scale, I loaded 64 1/2 grains of IMR7828 thinking I was on the 74 1/2 setting. There is a fellow here who never experienced a brake so I went to load another cartridge for him to fire. That's when I realized the mistake.

There are three distances recorded. The first is without a brake. The second is with a very nice looking brake designed by my funsmith. The third is one I made; the 'smith's looks way better. His has triangle shaped ports with a combined area of aproxamately .456 square inches for the two on each side. I make one close to the same length and made two 5/8" diameter holes with 9 degrees back slope. That's all I could get with the quick easy set up I had. It has a combinded area of .612 sqare inches. The hole he made is .285". I drilled a .280" hole.

The first set of number shows the free recoil distance in the slide with the lower charge. The second set of numbers show the distance with the heavier charge.

13 7/8"
4 1/4"
3 5/8"

18 5/16"
6 3/16"
5 3/16"

My wife was about fifty feet behind. I asked her to listen, with her fingers in her ears, and tell me which shot was loudest. The first two were the same with the last being the loudest. I was standing beside the slide and pulling the trigger. I didn't notice much difference with the ear plugs doing thier job.

I have used a few brakes but no more. During my usage days I discovered that one brake didn't change POI with or without. The VAIS on my 300 RUM changes POI.

A well known gunsmith in Tucson said he had a 300 Weatherby (can you guess his name?) that wasn't up to his accuracy standards. They put a brake on it and the group size tighened up significantly. He believed the brake caused the barrel harmonics to change. He said a brake with perfectly spaced holes around the entire circumference stabilized the barrel.

Brakes may work but they sure can screw up your hearing. Last time I used my VAIS brake I put in plugs and used a muff. My ears still rang afterwards.

The added weight on the barrel would have to change the harmonics. The BR .22 shooters have those tuning, doughnut thingys on their rifles to do that for them.

Ah, the subject of muzzle brakes. Some people like em and some don't. To each his own. I do like them mostly because it makes it much easier for me to spot my shots. Since I hunt exclusively from treestands, the use of a brake doesn't bother me. Whether I'm at the range or hunting, I use electronic ear muffs and I've never been bothered by the muzzle blast. However, if I was a stalker, I'd not wear ear muffs and I wouldn't use a brake.

So, I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that brakes do work for their intended purpose.

Azshooter,

A friend of mine made a brake that is quieter at the ear than without. He tested it several times with a Db meter. It is not as effective as mine, but is way better than none.

I have a buddy who lives in Washington. He has won the state competiton in rifle shooting. Soyou know he is a good shooter. He purchased a .338RUM and shot about an inch at 100 yards with it. When he told me about it I asked if he has a brake. After he told me, "Yes" I told him to hold it like he would a bb gun. His groups were cut in half. Even on my .375-.416 I tell people to hold it like a BB gun when they fire it to let the stuff work.

Retsof,

I use Actions Ears all the time. There is no way I would hunt the woods or fields without these binocs for my ears. When I fire the rifle, they turn off. If I want to I can turn them up enough to hear a deer breathing fifty yards away.