Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Revisting the muzzle brake thread and my success

A few months ago I started a thread with a question of how much recoil reduction I could expect by putting a muzzle brake on my .06. Of course very very few answered the question and several gave me a ration of crap of how stupid I was for doing it. Especialy Big Stcik who in my opinion is actually a little twig when talking about killing elk. Before I put him on ignore,amoung other things, he said I could not even sneak up on glass of water.
So I had the brake put on,bought a set of Howard Light Shooting muffs,checked my gun, and went elk hunting.

This was my 2nd elk this year,as I also killed one on opening day in muzzle season. This elk, I killed the 2nd day of the 2nd killed season in Co. I used some old Speer 180 gr bullets, 57 gr of 4831,as I was hunting in more in country and didn't use the 220 gr RN I usually use. It is a smallish 4x5.

I put the muffs on right before I got to my stand. They do keep your ears warm and enhance sound 3X ,but cut out for loud gun shot noise. They worked great for my reduced hearing that I have.

Guess I know a little more about this elk hunting than all the naysayers.

125 yard shot.








This is the country I was hunting. He did a death run between the opening of the pines.



Then fell down into the small revine.



This my little pack mule Roscoe.



Laughin all the way to the freezer.

So, how'd the brake work out after all?

Nicely done. Congrats.

They are very popular with the magnum crowd. I install many each year with the caveat of being very noisy. They come back with their hunting buddies to have one installed. Like you most if not all use ear protection.

Good for you don't you hate it when you prove people wrong.

Forgot to add. The brake reduced recoil to a little less than my 6.5 Swede shooting 130 gr AB's

Good shootin,' and congrats on the full freezer. And remember, when it comes to rifles and related paraphernalia a wise man once said "you only have to please yourself."

Way to go, Vince! I used the Howard Leights on my elk hunt this year, too. I was very pleased with how they enhanced my ability to hear. I was a little worried about the possibility of wind noise, but it never was a problem.

Very nice. Glad everything worked out.

Congratulations.

I've used those for 40 years but I can't find them around here now. All I could find this year was 165's and they won't shoot worth a darn in my 300 WSM.
So far the recoil in the 300 doesn't bother me as long as I wear a PAST shoulder pad when practicing. I'm only good for about 10 shots without it but I've shot 30 or more with it.

I've got brakes on 4 rifles I have and always have my Walker muffs on when hunting.

A full freezer is a happy freezer!

Way to go, score one for us mature guys

You did good. Congrats on that bull. I hate my muzzle brakes because I now have permanent hearing loss because of only two shots fired from 300 magnums years ago. First one was on me....I was shooting at a bobcat of all things. Second shot was a friend shooting at a deer before I could get my hands over my ears....

Hate em...now wearing hearing aids and a 24/7 case of tinnitus because of this...but...that's life I suppose.

Congratulations smokepole. Glad you have two in the freezer. Thanks for sharing your success with the muzzle break and the nice photos. Unit 54 ?

Super! Congrats on making YOUR plan work.

I have a feeling I'd get along just fine with Roscoe. Mules (good ones) are just great when there's a dead elk on the ground.

RC,I might have a box or two down in the cabinet. I'll check.

Vince

Way to go Roscoe. I hunt with a brake and hearing enhancers as well on the big boomers.

Outstanding. I'm happy it worked out for you, looks like your good with your 3006 for another 20 years. Congrats on the season, not many people get a twofer on elk. Especially the hunters who hunt public land and qualify for an AARP card.

RC.
I check my bullets. I have only two boxes of old Norma 180grs. They did not shoot well in my .06.
PM me if interested. Only cost would be shipping.

Saddlesore good on you and the brake. Nice bull too. I've got some 200gr Speers I'll trade you for those 180Norma's if RC doesn't take them. powdr

Awesome! You can't argue with those results. Congrats!

Eric

Good job on making it work.

good on you and Roscoe too.

Roscoe didn't look entirely happy. Get him to smile better next time. :P

That's the operative phrase......

So, if elk appeared sometime before you got to the stand, you wouldn't have been prepared to shoot them?

Funny you should mention that. My son shot his elk late morning on the way back to camp after we had been sitting at our stand since daylight. When he shot I was right beside him, talking to him and forgot to plug my ears. His 243 hardly made my ears ring (another argument for a 243 with premium bullets--nil recoil, low, low muzzle blast.........)

I'm still saying you can get as much or better recoil reduction with a Decelerator.




Did Roscoe get earmuffs too?

If he didn't, maybe that's why he's not smiling in the photo.


Just teasing SS, you're one of my fav guys on here.

Congrats on the elk! And I like it that you know where to hang out and let the elk come to you--smart elk hunting.

Casey

No, a Decelerator doesn't work like a brake for every kind of recoil problem people encounter. My wife has Decelerators (or another variety of soft pad) on every one of her hunting rifles, and they didn't help at all with the recoil headaches she started getting a few years ago.

By trial and error she found out more than about 15 foot-pounds of recoil resulted in the headaches, regardless of the recoil pad--or stock shape, or whatever other factor Campfire experts come up with then discussing recoil. She did fine when killing a cow elk this year with her .257 Roberts, but would like to be able to use her custom .308 Winchester (with a stock made to precisely fit her) for bigger game. We tried reduced loads with 130-grain TSX's, but by the time we got them going slow enough to prevent the headaches, there was no real point, since her .257 worked just as well.

So she's going to have a brake installed, and since she has probably 3 pairs of electronic muffs that will work I doubt she'll have any problem.

Saddlesore,

Well done! Glad the brake worked out so well.

Congrats. I have brakes on my 460 and 416 and 30-378. My 378 Bee did not come with one. My brakes myself and my peltors work great!

Thanks John. I appreciate that coming from you after all the grief a few gave me.


Casey. I get to my stand right before shooting hours. Roscoe was a ways from me. That photo was taken after I had processed the elk and was packing it out.

Roscoe and my saddle mule Woodrow were down in the trees at the end of the meadow.



I was up at the other end of the meadow at the end of the pines.



I shot from those up turned aspens that were pushed over from an avalanche.

Pwdr.PM me with adddress and you can have them for about $13 shipping in a flat rate box or less if I can get them in a smaller one.

Vince

Good job on the elk Saddle Sore.

How are the 130ABs doing in your swede? What are you using them on? They shoot great in my swede, but I haven't killed anything with them yet. I'm hoping they'd be ok if I stumbled on an elk while both deer and elk season are on.

I like the pictures. Thanks for showing them.

Great hunt SS. I only wish I had been there too.

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Congrats on the elk & rifle sucess.
Thanks for sharing it here with us.

Nice pics.

Saddlesore; Thanks for offering up your good results with the brake use and ear protection.
Having just bought a 300 Win mag in Wby Accumark, I might go that route to tame recoil on this old body : )
Unit 54 is still looking good and producing elk for you, happy to hear and see that. : ) Nice photos Saddlesore, thanks for sharing.