Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Question For Those Who Don't Like Breaks?

I have a KDF brake on my .375 RUM that I've used on one trip to Zim and two trips to South Africa. On my last trip to RSA, I shot 3 animals from prone positions, and 7 animals from sitting positions. There were no issues with dust with any of the shots.

I liked the way the KDF muzzle brake worked on my .375 RUM, that when I built a .300 Wby a few years ago, I had a KDF brake installed on it as soon as I got it. So far, I've only shot 4 animals with this .300 Wby, 3 exotics in Texas, and an elk in Montana. One animal was shot from a prone position, 2 from sitting positions, and the elk from a kneeling position. Again, no clouds of dust (or snow) flying up from the "muzzle brake" concussion.

I also regularly practice shooting my .300 Wby off short sticks from a sitting position, and have never been bothered by flying dust.

I don't like the noise in the field, so personally don't use them. I did have the local high end gunsmith tell me the brake they sell will tighten the groups on any gun. His explanation was it tames the barrel harmonics and because they angle the ports forward 15* it isn't any louder. I have not done it, and won't do it. I will just carry a standard weight gun and go about killing stuff. I use a 338RUM and shoot prone in the field. No brake, but standard weight.

Up through a fairly lightweight 416Rem Mag using full house loads, I have no need for a muzzle brake to reduce recoil. Being I have no need for recoil reduction on such rifles, I cannot see how adding a brake would improve performance, but I can see how it would jack up the noise level out the side of the rifle to a level I find unacceptable.

I'm not currently shooting rifles larger than the above, but if I had a rifle that mandated I add a brake to reduce recoil to a level I could manage, it would then be an option.

Best

I hate brakes. Mostly. At the calibers where I think about wanting recoil reduction (for me, around 300 WBY oomph) the noise is just too much, even with plugs AND muffs. Goes right through your skull...I've been wondering about scoring a jet fighter helmet or ramp-jockey lid for that situation.
That said, brakes on a semi or a good one on a varmint caliber can be nice because they preserve either follow up or sight picture.

I can see that there are a lot of people responding to this thread that are going to be deaf.

Whether or not you love or hate brakes, protect your ears.

Ringing ears will come on you like a thief in the night.

brasstacks;
Well you've most definitely been given a variety of opinions on this subject, which if past history is any indication, was to be expected.

My standard warning on any muzzle braked and/or ported hunting rifles is to please make sure all the folks in the hunting party are aware of the potential for hearing damage.

A good friend from the Yukon used to guide a bit in northern BC - back in the day when brakes were just becoming a fashionable accessory. Anyway, a chap from Alabama touched off a braked .340 Weatherby when my friend was, as I recall, about 10-12' to one side. He related it was like being hit on the side of the head with a 2"x6".

He also said his ear "rang" for several days after, indicating to me the good possibility of permanent hearing loss.

As another thought as well, after teaching a couple of horses to not be gun shy when shooting, I'm not certain that I'd be shooting a brake equipped rifle too close to a horse.

For those who've not hunted solo using a hay burner, my circumstance sometimes dictated shooting whilst kneeling on the 15' lead rope. While I generally tried to tie them off further away from the shooting, it wasn't always possible and with a non-braked rifle they were OK with me being 15' away as long as they knew the noise was coming.

If one was hunting with a guide on a horseback mountain hunt and one intended to use a braked rifle, I'd think perhaps it would be wise to discuss that detail up front and eliminate "unpleasant exchanges and situations" after the fact.

Shooting prone has been discussed already and while it's not legal to do so here, some jurisdictions allow one to rest over the hood of a hunting rig to shoot. I'd suspect that a braked rifle may rearrange the paint scheme on the hood more than desirable?

Thanks for the interesting opinions and information all, it's been an interesting read.

Regards,
Dwayne

A good brake doesn't have openings in the bottom. That prevents kicking up debris and smoking paint on a hood. There's different brakes on the market, and some are better than the ones generally described in this thread.

Bulletbutt;
I wasn't aware they made them that way, but it does make sense for sure.

Thanks for sharing that bit of information with me, I learned something yet again here!

I hope you and yours have a good week.

Regards,
Dwayne

The ones that don't have holes on the bottom just direct that much more concussion and gasses out of the side of the brake. As an example, the Varmint Hunter's Jamboree has a much contested shoot every year and muzzle breaks are allowed with the exception of clam-shell brakes.