Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa "Quiet" muzzle brakes?

I'm always late to the party, sorry.
You might want to look at Knoxx rifle stocks.
It's a Hogue overmolded stock with a roller/spring mechanism in the butt.
The stock is full size and collapses abt.1 1/2" during recoil.
Sounds a little hokie, I know but it takes a lot of the bite out of my 300RUM.
Search Blackhawk stocks for video at their site.
I got mine from Midway.Good Luck on the search.
No muzzle brakes for me, Thanks!

colodog,

Can you see your bullet's impact?

Ringman ,no I still can't see the bullets impact.
The recoil is still a little too vigorous but it's considerably easier to focus on placing the shot without my subconscious whispering in my ear about the recoil to come.

If you need one, get one. Just remember to warn bystanders. If your guide isn't shooting and has index fingers, he should be fine. I have one on a 30-378 Accumark. It makes 120 grains of powder fairly pleasant to light off.

colodog,

Just curious. It sounds like a really cool idea. I hate recoil.

Silencers are defintely not illegal in the US. In fact they are becoming more and more popular for hunting and general shooting in the US. Obtaining one is a little more complicated than a normal firearm but not that much. Advanced Armament Corp (as well as others) manufactures brakes that allow quick attachment of their suppessors. With the suppessor in place, it definitely calms down the recoil and muzzle blast. You would probably want a barrel that was less than 18 inches since the suppessor adds a good bit of length. The trick may be transiting in and out of the country a suppessor. I think you can file a form with the BATF that allows it, but I'm not positive.

The OP is in Oklahoma. Are silencers legal there?

Silencers are legal to own in OK, but not for hunting (yet). http://www.okshooters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76337

I run a Knoxx Comp stock on my Win 70 in 416 Rem mag. combined with a Vais muzzle break. This setup tames much of the recoil using technology at both ends.

The only down side to the Knoxx stock is you need lots of eye relief on your scope.
I use ear protection when working up loads and practicing, but the relatively few shots fired at game, without ear protection while on safari has never bothered me at all.

I hunted for 22 days split between Namibia and Zimbabwe, and fired 27 shots of which 25 hit meat. This number included both Elephant and Cape Buffalo as well as other plains game. My setup worked very well for me!

In the end, you gotta do whats best and right for you, so you can perform on game. Let the opinions fall where they may.

+1 on MagnaPort. I have the system on 3 rifles. It is great for recoil reduction and the muzzle blast is less violent, especially for prone shooting. And best of all.....you don't have a #$@&*^! ugly brake hanging off the end of your gun!

I used to suffer shooting the larger bore rifles until I read an article in Precision Shooting about a gunsmith named George Vais describing the muzzle brake he developed that did a good job reducing recoil and didn't add much noise but for me the most important part was the excess blast of gas out the sides wasn't there either. George has gone back to Europe and the Vais brake is being made and installed by a 'smith in San Antonio.

I put one on a Lazzeroni Hellcat (.375-cal) that weighed 8 1/4 pounds ready to go and my load was a 300gr Nosler Partition at 2550 fps which is faster than almost all the .375 H&H factory loads and while I won't try to kid it was a pussy-cat to shoot I spent several days shooting more than 50 shots from a bench while working up that load with no adverse effects. When I had it installed I also had them make a "collar" for the threads if I decided to shoot it without the brake.

I took it to Africa for a buffal0, leopard and plainsgame hunt and I told the PH if he could tell the difference with the brake off I'd leave it off. The trackers, etc got a kick out of his inabilitity to consistently be able to tell if the brake was off or on. I also let him shoot it with the brake off ahd on and he said "Put it on you'll shoot better" so I did --- and I did.

I'll also say that with the brake on it was quieter than a 300 WinMag without a brake. It was also much quieter than any of the Weatherby Magnums. It was also quieter than a friend's .338 Magnum that weighed a pound more --- I won $10 when my friend agree it was quieter and another $10 when he discovered it kicked a lot less too.

How does it work? The noise and blast in the face from most muzzle brakes comes about from the very high speed the gas achieves coming out the little holes drilled in the barrel (or sometimes the holes are bigger but the velocity of the gas is still very high) -- the Vais brake is different because in addition to the holes drilled perpendicular to the bore, holes are drilled parallel to the bore -- and these holes intercept the other holes causing the gas to slow down -- (1) the gas is inside the brake a bit longer and (2) the gas is slowed down reducing the blast.

Image the holes drilled perpendicular were a fire hose blasting out water a high speed in a defite direction --- now image a 2nd firehose aimed so it hit's the water from the first hose at 90 degrees --- takes most of the force out of both water (gas) streams, slows them down and spreads them out. The exhaust is a fluid and it behaves exactly like water would.

It's the only brake I'd consider using -- they work. The Vais brake is a perfect example of the old saying "You learn something everyday -- if you want to or not".

Put together an 8lbs 6.5x55 and go kill all the Plains game you want....

They don't call the .375 H&H the African Queen because it sounds "snappy" but rather because, in the right hands with the right bullets, it will do it all.

The day I shot my kudu we were tracking buffalo (I was carrying my .375) when one of the trackers noticed a very nice kudu standing behind a screen of fairly thick small trees and bushes at about 100 yards -- I had a small hole to shoot thru the bull fell to the shot. Cound a 6.5x55 have killed the kudu -- sure but no one carries a 6.5x55 when tracking buff as we were.

I also shot my 43"+ sable while tracking buff and I had a difficult 200 yard shot with the sable facing away looking back over his rump. 1st shot which hit him in the short ribs and came out his chest knocked him down but he was up and running before I worked the bolt. Second shot hit him just below his tail and also exited is front while knocking him down. He got up, trying to run but the best he could do was stagger. By the time I got up to him he on swaying on his feet, game to the end when I broke his neck with my 3rd shot. I wouldn't have tried any of those shots, including the 1st one with a 6.5x55. Side note --- another 100 yards or so and he would have been off our concession and I'd have been out a very expensive trophy fee.

I've no quarrel with your choice of a 8lb 6.5x55 but it does seem a little heavy for it's power --- and I have no doubt a good shot who cherry picked his chances could do very well with it as long as he stayed within it's capabilities. I would, however, not care to spend a lot of $$$ going to Africa and have to turn down a chance at a large Sable or large Kudu if I had a tough angle and had to shoot thru a lot of meat to get to the vitals or if the animal had to be dropped quickly.

I'd rather be a bit over-gunner instead of under-gunner -- but that's your choice and I'd hate to pay $3K for a couple of drops of Sable blood in the dust and not have a Sable to show for it.

I have the same Knoxx compstock set up on one magnum gun and I second the effectiveness over the Vais brake alone. I have several guns with just the Vais brake for different reasons and there is no appreciable increase noise for the non-confined shooter or someone standing behind the rifle as difficult as it may seem. In addition, I will wear electronic muffs whenever reasonably possible for the primary purpose of hearing game especially when on stand or still hunting. This is vais website: http://www.muzzlebrakes.com/

I understand "your choice of your .375",however the OP has a condition that he needs as light as recoil as possible...
Most of my plains game was killed with a .30/06.I was not hunting anything else.
You have good points,however,it makes more sense to answer the OP's questions,than debate it............rifle

He mentioned .243 recoil -- not the best rifle for Africa and I assumed from the rotator cuff he wouldn't be up to a heavy rifle. The Vais brake will do an outstanding job on something like a 308, 30/06 or 300 wsm -- don't know if it will get down to .243 levels so maybe the answer is stick with the small plainsgame. It would still be Africa but a very expensive trip for just the smaller animals.

How long ago was your rotator cuff repaired? Any damage to labrum or anything like that?
Or has it been worked on at all? If it's been 6 months or more I'd put a pad on the shoulder and a good recoil pad on a heavier rifle and give it a try. Mine has healed fine. Been a little less than a year.

The muzzle brakes work for the shooter...no one else around you! But the PH will very quickly cover his ears when he knows you're a bout to fire...! Don't sweat it...fit one and be done! I don't see there's one quieter than the other...they all push the muzzles gases back toward the shooter which is what reduces the recoil!

Gary what type of tear do you have? If you have alrealy suffered a complete tear with muscle retraction it will have to be surgically repaired anyways, a cortisone shot could easily get you through a hunt (been there done that for the last 6 games of a college season).

Also with regard to the tear, depending on what your trying to accomplish there might be different brakes that are better choices. If its a tear in the supraspinatius you want to reduce muzzle rise, a tear in the infraspinatus or subscapularis and you will want to reduce the rearward thrust. Also is physical therapy an option to bring greater strength to the joint? I tear in one area can be overcome and the joint stabilized by strengthening other portions.

Good luck on your hunt and prep work leading up to it.

I have two braked rifles. Remington 700 7STW with factory brake. This is a KDF style brake. Louder than hell but really reduces recoil to .308 Win levels. Tikka T3 Light Stainless 338 Win Mag with Holland Quick Discharge brake. Not much louder than stock and also reduces recoil to about .308 Win levels. Since the Holland brake is closed at the bottom the rifle recoils straight back with zero muzzle rise. I see that Holland is now offering a new radial muzzle brake that is supposed to reduce recoil even more. Here's a link to Holland's.

Holland's Guns