Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Muzzle Brake or Magna Port?

"My next door neighbor put a brake on his 10-lb bull-barreled .22-250, just so he could watch the sod poodles vaporize in his scope!"

It's a nice show..

To you, maybe so.. Then they can move.. FWIW, they move anyway when I begin to touch off a few .454Casull rounds from my SRH.. Funny how that helps de-populate a shooting range.. Hehehehe..


But seriously now - I have 2-3 customers who've had shoulder injuries and simply cannot tolerate much more recoil than a .223. But if they want to do deer hunting, they need a bigger round and the brakes help them get that accomplished..

Sorry for my ignorance but what calibers will a break take down to near 223 levels and what device do you use?

I am strongly considering a 7mm-08 for my 8 year old daughter with a recoil reduction device of some sort.We will be wearing good hearing protection but she can't handle even 100 grn 243 loads yet.

The noise thing is complete BS. Any rifle generates enough noise to severely damage your hearing. In fact, in my left ear I have 85% hearing loss, and I have never had a muzzle braked gun that I shot to any large degree.

You're saying there's no increased noise level directed back toward the shooter or those standing off the sides from a braked rifle?

No, I am not. I am saying a "normal" rifle generates enough noise to easily damage your hearing, so worry about a brake making your rifle "too loud" is kinda funny.

Thred got silly, the ones who know the least have the most to say......later

Back to the topic!!!!!! I wasn't asking if I should get one. Wanted to know which type and apparantly the Brake was the clear winner. Now please let me know what type. Really want one that will let me shoot prone and not have the dust blow all over the place. I also would like one that fits with the barrel contour. I heard Karl makes a good one. Any experience with his?

Thanks Guys
Roy

Any brake that doesn't have holes on the bottom won't blow up dust. I'm not sure if there is one?

I'd still get a Vais and plug the bottom holes, or just shoot on grass.

I never shoot prone, so I have no real answers.

IMO a brake that is on the end of a barrel is most likely not the way to go just sayin. The amount of port holes and the size and the degree of angle is what makes the brake work well. An add on is much better.... As with Mag Na Portthe barrel is thredded and the crown is re/mech. and most rifles will shoot better just from that step alone. There is no loss of lth. as some said. The threds are covered when brake is off with a nice little ring. As for your child shootin any ear muff will be fine for them. Now what the nice thing is let child fire gun many times get to know rifle and shootin style. BUT when huntin leave the brake home and let the hunt go as any one would. The one, two shots fired while huntin will never enter his or her mind for everything will be focused on the shot at a head of game. As the child gets older you'll just stop with the brake anyways, then the cartridge will become a different mind set and most likely move on to a better choice and the rifle will be of good use to another child already set up for a youth and yor return on the brake will come back to you. IMO again if I had a young kid and was recoil shy I'ed set up a .220swift with a 1-10 twist and shoot the heavier bullets with just a good limb/saver recoil pad and take my time with the youth. Fire shorter bench time till it got easier for the youth to settle in on the task. Good luck have fun and keep us posted.....later

Not singling you out BWalker with my quote, just addressing it as it was put to me by an audiologist. I get annual hearing exams due to the sirens at work and as much as I hunt/shoot. The guy could have been out to lunch but his explanation made sense.

-0 decibels is considered the intensity of sound that is barely perceivable to a normal ear.
-85 decibels is the level of intensity that prolonged exposure will start causing hearing damage. ( the point where hearing protection is recommended)
-140 decibels is the point that hearing is immediately damaged. (recommended to use ear plugs and ear muffs at this level to guarantee hearing protection)
-Most weapons put out approximately 120- 165 decibels.

Most people will perceive a sound to be twice as loud as another one when there is an approximately 10 dB increase. Yet that 10-dB increase actually represents a tenfold increase in intensity.

I get the rational behind brakes and they do what they are supposed to but at a measurable cost to hearing. That said I try to avoid brakes on any of my guns unless I'm 100% sure I will only shoot it when I have adequate hearing protection on.

MA............Are you saying a gun without a brake isn't going to do damage to your hearing? If it does like i know it does. What difference would it make if a brake was louder if you have to wear hearing protection without a brake to protect your hearing?

I'm sure a brake won't cause damage if you're wearing hearing protection. It seems silly to me to say a brake is louder when the shooter and everybody around the shooter should be wearing hearing protection.

I've been at the range when guys were shooting big magnums with the loud brakes. Did I get hearing damage. No, because I was wearing hearing protection like I should, and is the rules on the range anyway.

In a hunting situation if your buddy is using a brake. There's no reason for you to not have on hearing protection. He's the one pulling the trigger, and you have plenty of time to put on protection.

I think this whole loud problem is not that important. Guns are loud. Brake or not.

Around braked guns (mainly short barreled AR type rigs) the annoying part to me isn't the noise because like you said Mauser, I'm wearing ear protection at the range. The thing that gets to me is the concussive blast that hits people to the sides and behind the shooter. Dang near enough to send me home packing. I haven't been around too many longer barreled rigs with brakes, so the blast from those might be less offensive.

Yeah, it's a pain. That's why I hit the range real early before anybody is there. Our range is free, and always open.

I suppose the 375 under the tin canopy isn't too pleasant either. Good thing I don't have to use the range... Colorado is nice like that.

The fact is, brake or not, every time you touch of a rifle un protected you are damaging your hearing.
Some guys say its a pain to carry protection in the foeld, but i find it takes me a few seconds to insert a set of plugs that I always wear on my neck.

Btw I don't currently own a braked gun, and I am not arguing for them or against them.

Get a removable muzzle brake, have your funsmith make a thread protector (don't lose it), and it's all good news. Brakes are great when you're shooting varmints as watching the point of impact is half the fun. You're probably at a bench or bag and wearing earmuffs, anyway. When you're deer hunting take off the brake, put on the thread protector (check your poi without the brake), and go hunting. NEVER hunt with the brake on, and no earmuffs. They're brutal

I'm not arguing for or against brakes nor am I obtuse enough to claim an unbroken rifle won't hurt hearing. All guns will do hearing damage without protection and some may even damage hearing with only one layer of protection.

What I was trying to say is that the potential damage associated with the increase in noise of the braked rifle over the same rifle unbraked is significant due to that 10 fold increase in intensity.

I also never shoot without hearing protection except in a few rare cases when ive had to hurry to get a shot on game. I typically have a set of ear plugs on a lanyard lashed into a shirt button hole while hunting.

"Personally, I abhore the look of a brake and believe it to be the most dreadful contraption ever made to ruin the attractive lines of a rifle. I dislike the noise, the concussive effect, and the blast of dirt and dust as well.

I currently have 2 rifles that are MagnaPorted. They mitigate recoil to a lesser degree than the average brake, but they really excell in softerning muzzle jump. They also are a good deal quieter and kick up less dust than a brake"

Ditto!
G