Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How much does a muzzle break reduce recoil?

As some of you may know,I'm saving to buy my 8 year old daughter her first deer rifle.She is only 65 lbs and 4'5" tall.

I have decided on a Montana 223 for the recoil and light weight.The recent thread on muzzle breaks has me wondering if she could start with a larger caliber with break and have recoil very close to 223 levels.

Even 243 with 100 grn loads is too much recoil for her from a 7.5 lb rifle.I would like to be around 6 lbs with a scoped rifle so recoil is a major factor for a few years untill she grows some.

If we could shoot a 6 lb 243 or 7-08 with 223 level recoil and later remove a break,it might be worth the noise.We will be shooting from a shooting house and wearing hearing protection anyway.

This is from the KDF web-sight


Caliber Felt-Recoil After Installation
.460 Wby. Mag. .375 H & H
.458 Win. Mag. .338 Win. Mag.
.411 KDF Mag. 7mm Rem. Mag.
.378 Wby. Mag. .30-06
.375 H & H .30-06
.340 Wby. Mag. .270 Win.
.338 Win. Mag. .270 Win.
.308 Norma Mag. .243 Win.
.300 H & H .243 Win.
.300 Wby. Mag. .243 Win.
.300 Win. Mag. .243 Win.
.30-06 Spgfld. .243 Win.
7mm Rem. Mag. .243 Win.
.270 Wby. Mag. .243 Win.
.270 Win. .22-250
.25-06 .223 Rem

Go with the 223. She will hate the muzzle brake; the added noise and muzzle blast far outweigh the recoil reduction.

I think KDF is being a little ambitious with that table.

I'd instead look at a Tikka T3 Lite in 22-250

30%-40% reduction is what most say. Seems like a lot.

The brake is a definite blast, but I could never endorse a .223 for a hunting caliber for big game when starting out. It takes a real hunter/marksman to kill game with a small caliber as a .223.

Think you maybe right...

I agree with Txpitdog, my 300 WBY has a Weatherby Accubrake on it (advertizes about 50% recoil reduction) and it reduces recoil a lot but not down to a 243!

Weatherby info is that the 378 Wby is reduced to 375 H&H, and some folks have said that it takes it down to 300 Wby levels. Basically from 77lbs down to 35-40lbs. A 30-06 is 20,so KDF is smoking something.

Why I didn't think of this earlier, I don't know, but if your shot ranges allow, a Marlin 1894 44mag or 357mag would be a great choice. Lower recoil, fairly and compact, and will smack the hell out of a deer. I would be more comfortable with a 357 rifle and 158gr JSP's than a 223.

I have fired exactly one rifle with a brake, a 7mm RM, and the recoil reduction was quite noticeable. So was the muzzle blast.

That'd be the way I'd roll as well.

Dober

If you're set on a Montana you can disregard this but I'd consider the REM 7 youth in 223 or you can just get a reg one and find a wood stock to cut down or a youth one. It also would be a forever rifle and the youth stock would be easy to come by unlike the Montana. I've killed countless deer with my old REM 7 in 223 with the 18.5" bbl. The 243 with some reduced loads could possibly work too.

Guys, I've put threads up about different choices before.I have considered the new Ruger 77/357 at 5.5 lbs and I would consider the Rem youth except light weight is as important as low recoil.

One good thing about the Montana is that I can get correct LOP just by grinding away nearly all the recoil pad.Then I can just replace it when she grows a bit.That makes the expensive stock not such an obsticle.

I just wanted to get input about breaks as I have never used or been around any.I have confidence in the 223 for the ranges we will be shooting with good bullet choice but I was thinking why not go a bit larger if we can get around recoil.

I would like to go 7mm-08 if a break can get us low enough on recoil.That way she will have a lifetime rifle that we can use on nearly any game.We can always remove the break in a few years when she grows.Keep in mind that what I want is a scoped rifle around 6 lbs with close to 223 level recoil.

My experience with muzzle breaks is the noise and percussion is as big of an annoyance as the recoil (or more).

Even with double ear protection, the muzzle break is more apt to induce flinching because of the increased shock wave that hits the face and head.

I would look at Marlin m-1894s in any pistol cartridge before I would consider using a muzzle break on anything.

Why not get the 7mm-08, and use a reduced load for now?

All of my rifles have brakes on them.I have arthritis in both shoulders and doctor said I should have surgery on both and I said as long as I can handle it I don't want surgery.
Karl at kampfeldcustom.com has made and installed most of mine.His has the holes drilled at a 11 or 17degree foward angle on them so the blast goes away from the shooter and is dispersed rapidly.I've shot all kinds of animals and when I shoot 1 most of the time the others just look up and go back to their business because they couldn't tell which direction the shot came from.
I would say recoil is reduced by at least 45-50 percent due to the forward drilled holes the rifle is pushed and the slight pull forward reduces felt recoil.You can always put a mercury reducer in the butt of the stock also,they come in various weights to help reduce recoil.

I can almost PROMISE YOU HIS CAN MAKE A 7-08 KICK LIKE A 22-250.I always wear ear protection anyway.I use the same as the SWAT teams use made by PELTOR.You can talk to each other and hear fine once the noise level is beyond a certain decibal they shut off and you don't hear the blast.I can listen to deer eat corn underneath the feeder.

Clark, trust me on this one. If you can swing it and want to brake the rifle get yourself a screw on Mag/Na/Port. The noise guys talk is from a bad brake. The way it's ported is what it's all about. The MNP brake is top shelf the shooter never feels the noise trust me. and. is you can take it off when huntin and trust me again she'll never feel recoil when shootin her deer, but she will have learned to shoot while the gun was brake'ed and have shot good. A limbsaver recoil pad is a good thing too. Nice pad again trust me. I shoot a .300RUM Mag/Na/Ported and a R-3 Rem. pad that shoots like an .06 on the bench. Huntin I leave the brake home.....later