If you have a "true" half-inch gun......not one that has shot an occational good group......I'd not do anything to change things. Hell, I'd be hesitant to even clean it agressively.

Those rifles are a lot more rare than you might think from reading the internet......and I mean consistant half-inch groups, not the best it's ever shot. Anything (bedding, muzzle breaks, new scope mounts, or just tightening the screws differently) can effect this "perfect" balance and should not be risked.

In general, I don't buy into the recoil objections. I do know from talking to others that I apparently don't feel the effect of recoil like some, but rifles less than the truely big boomers (.458 and above) just aren't that harsh. Doesn't mean I look forward to shooting 40 rounds from a bench with a .375 H&H, but it IS tolerable......particularly for the small amout of rounds you will fire in the field.

It did not effect the accuracy of my .338. It was so noisy that I don't use it. I got a threaded muzzle guard for it.

I have installed quite a few brakes and have never had anyone come back saying that their rifle shot worse. To answer your question, no.

Yes and no..I have a buddy whose 270wsm shot 130gr. bullets before the brake great, after teh brake had to go to the 150's to get the accuracy bad. So we really didn't loose it , just ahd to modify load to make it work. I'm assuming it had something to do with the barrel harmonics of the lengthened barrel.

The muzzle blast will impress the shooters eardrums in so far, they'll probably never return to "zero"....either........


Casey

Have you tried a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad?.......



Casey

Good posts both ways, pro and con, muzzle brakes and accuracy.

IMHO, you're going to have to weigh the info, pluses and minuses, and decide what's best for your application. What ever you end up doing, there will be those who disagree. But, it's your rifle...

DF

The installation of a brake shouldn't have any detrimental effect on accuracy. The only real concern is deformation of the bore at the muzzle end by the threading operation. Though this may be a concern, I have never had it happen and I reckon I have installed three or four hundred of the darned things. GD

If I had a rifle that shot that good Out the box,I would not do anything to it but shoot and be happy.
If you do go the brake direction please use ear plugs and muffs.
You will need them.

I have had brakes installed on two rifles, a .340 Wby. MKV and a Model 70 SE in .458 Win. The .458 was a good shooter before the brake and remained the same after.

The .340 did not shoot well with 250 gr. Nosler Partitions before the brake, but it did well with 250 gr. Hornady Interlocks and with lighter bullets. After the brake it does well with everything, including the 250 Nosler.

There are no guarantees, but my sample of 2 says that it probably won't hurt.

Personally, however, if I had it to do again, I would have left both rifles unbraked, because the brake didn't reduce the recoil of the .458 very much (although the blast is not too bad), and although the brake dramatically reduced the recoil of the .340, the muzzle blast is nasty.