Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. I was just curious as to why some people dislike them so much. I see several guys here who dislike them greatly. Again to each his own. I know every rifle I have put a break on ends up shooting better with the break than without. A little more noise but overall an improvement to the function of the rifle.

For me its the NOISE





and the looks.

And I cant possibly see how a brake will make a gun shoot better..


Maybe the shooter but not the gun.

Noise for me also!

Noise, no need for it. All my rifles get used for hunting and I'll not suffer a break. If I can't handle the recoil I'll step down in size.

I found an old Sako L61R in 7mm back several years ago that had spent better than 30 years in the Rocky Mountains riding on the side of a horse. I purchased it for $375 and begain load development for it. It was one of the worst shooting rifles I had ever pulled the trigger on not to mention the hardest kicking. I put a Shrewed break with a 40 degree rake on the gun went back to the range with the same loads as befor and shot groups in the .3's and the recoil had gone to that of a 243. Movement of the gun has everything to do with accuracy. Benchrest shooters use heavy rifles for the same reason. If the gun sits in one place while you are driving it the groups are much different. But that's just me talking.

That right there says it all.

No way possible for a gun to "become" more accurate just by putting a brake on.....no way.

Unless they recrowned it while installing the brake...thats all.

They are too freakin' loud and look God awful.


Travis

I find the combination of extra noise and extra muzzle blast completely insufferable, and refuse to have a break on one of my own rifles.

If you decide one of your friends is annoying you and you wish to part ways, simply shoot your breaked rifle next to them a few times. They won't want anything to do with you...

Same reason I don't like breaks on my vehicles. Broken stuff simply does not work as well as unbroken stuff.

Muzzle brakes, on the other hand, are too obnoxious for my liking...

i'm a big fan of brakes(not breaks)sorry:).

i'm also not sure if they help a gun shoot better or if it helps the shooter shoot the gun better. i'm leaning toward the latter.

although i've heard people swear by the browning boss as far as tuning loads go, but i've never tried one so i can't say.

i will say that if you are wearing ear pro, then i'm not sure what difference a brake makes. you can get brakes that are designed not to have excessive muzzle blast. i shoot a lot, all year, not just a couple shots before hunting season, so the brake is a welcome addition to my bigger guns.

i would challenge any of you guys to come and shoot against me with a big .338. you shoot yours without a brake, and i'll shoot mine with one, and we'll see who is shooting better after say 5, 15, or 40 rounds.

there are some pretty big benefits for brakes on bigger guns if designed correctly to minimize muzzle blast. (they are loud though, no getting around that)

Noise for me. And, I don't care for the looks.
Like others, if I cannot take the recoil, I'm shooting too much gun. That said, I know some have some rather debilitating shoulder injuries where a brake seemingly makes some sense.

Why would I want to shoot 40 rounds of .338? I dont, braked or not. A .338 is not a gun you pick for an afternoon at the range.

At the range last summer, a guy had a braked .308, Yeah a .308. My son was shooting maybe 3 benchs down from the .308.

Need less to say that .308 ended our afternoon sooner than planned. You want to talk about earsplitting noise, wow.

If my 12 year old can figure this stuff out............

That post is spot on.

To summarize, and pretty much agree with most of the above, I don't like the noise or the looks.

Nothing I own is big or bad enough to require a brake. I once owned an 8mm Rem Mag. Nasty kicking thing! Rather than brake it, I sold it, and shoot a 7mm Rem Mag instead. Nothing that I hunt will ever know the difference, and it's much more manageable on my end.

As for shooting better, it's as some have already said (and backed up by the challenge to bang 40 rounds out of a 338); it will help the shooter to not flinch, etc, it won't somehow miraculously make the rifle itself shoot better.

+1

Spot on!

Just curious as to what game you hunt with your braked rifles. Do you shoot 40 rounds in the field while hunting? Do you remove your brake when you take your rifle hunting? Do you think you need to practice at the range with the exact same gun you will be hunting with (i.e.: No brake at range if you're not going to use a brake while hunting)?

Brakes make too much noise. Not just the noise, but the percussion shock for anybody that's around. Brakes are the exact reason that I shoot my rifles on my private land and refuse to go to the public ranges any more.

I like brakes. A lot of my rifles have them, and not just hard kickers either. Just plain easier too shoot. I also like them on my competition rifles as well. BTW the myth that all guides don't like either is not true. In the last 10 years I have seen several guides with them on thier own rifles.

On my 1000yd rifle I can actually see the bullet trace to the target plus it makes it a lot easier to get back on target quick w/o the rifle jumping around in the bages. If we are sighting on clay birds at 600 or 1000 can see the impact through the scope and adjust for windage real quick w/o a spotter. There are some rifles though that it would be blasphmy to put a brake on...a NULA for example

Lefty C

Yeh for long range brakes can be very effective. Most guys I know that shoot long range precision shooting, have a brake.Less recoil is always going to be a plus for accuracy.

Less recoil don't make a rifle more accurate, it just allows puzzys to not flinch.


I don't know where brakes factor in on long range precision, but WTF do I know.

I think they serve a purpose in some situations, just use the best hearing protection you can buy!

The additional noise is not worth it for me.
Two rifles with brakes on them and deteriorating hearing as a result of hunting with them (one shot per kill without hearing protection won't hurt, WRONG).
Now I am smarted and just shoot rifles with less recoil, same number of one shot kills.

And more enjoyable to shoot! +1 on KLM opinion.

I definitely prefer to not have a brake but they do have their place for long range groups etc. That's why so many 1000 yard guys use them because they work. Just hunting I don't like a brake.

my 338 is a gun i pick to shoot a lot... i do a lot of long range shooting, and i can easily go through 40 rnds in an afternoon. i've varmint hunted a lot with my 300RUM the last couple springs and now the 338 will take it's place. but again, i'm just doing long range stuff.
you can spot your hits when you have a brake at around 600 yds and out.

now i also shoot long range with my 6.5x47 but don't have it braked, in fact i have it suppressed, so i guess i'm at both ends of the spectrum. i'm just all for making what guns you have easier to shoot more accurately.

i shoot a lot year round. i don't take my trusty ole' huntin rifle out once a deer season with the same box of shells i've had for 5 years. i think brakes have the potential to make you a better shooter with bigger calibers. you can focus more on form, trigger pull, follow through, etc without the anticipation of big recoil.

again they are loud, but when they cut the recoil of a 300gr .338 bullet down to .308 recoil there is a lot to like. i don't shoot at ranges, so i don't worry about hurting other peoples ears.

I don't care what other people think,call me a puzzy,that's fine.Every rifle I own from 22-250 to my 325WSM has a brake on it.Noise doesn't bother me I wear electonic ear protection.If other people don't like the noise,to bad.Skeeter

Brakes piss me right the hell off. Nothing worse than some azzhole with a brake sitting down at the bench next to yours.

We had a guy runnin' a brake in a 600yd prone match a few months back. Myself and the guy on the other side of him had to hang back and shoot after this guy (and the rest of the line) was done because he was throwing dirt/grass/leaves in our face every time he pulled the trigger.

If you want to run a brake, so be it. But be courteous to the other shooters around you.......

I shot a braked 340 once in the field without ear protection. My ears rang for 3 days nonstop after that. Hunting with my kids and I decided that there was no way I wanted them around if I touched a braked rifle off. Glad to be rid of it.

Point taken on 40 rds a day with the brake.

I also concede that if your not shooting at a range, then it's none of my business how loud someone's gun is..

I've had the "pleasure" of sharing the range with a fellow shooting a 30-378 with a "Swiss cheese" type break. The blast from that GD thing was obnoxious.

If I'm there 1st,I don't have to be courteous to anyone.If you don't like it move your arse away from me.Skeeter

Great attitude towards fellow shooters.

i find this thread kind of funny.

all the guys are calling us puzzys cause we don't like recoil, but at the same time complain about it being to loud on their ears

Guys like you make me want a braked rifle just to haul out as necessary and annoy you with... Good grief...

I suppose if you were the first to drop a turd on a shooting bench you'd just leave it there as well.

Yes Sir,I was.Just stating the way I feel about it,you won't annoy me if you have a brake on your rifle also.I pay just as much to shoot as you do.I'm courteous and polite to everyone to a point.I don't owe my fellow shooters anything.If you don't like the noise,so be it.Skeeter

Agreed, and since I was on the 'Fire first, BLOW ME on the way out.

Nope, I'd say you just [bleep] up a perfectly good gun

But if you say so....

Thank You,Steelie,your opinion matters so much to me.I sure the sun will rise Monday reguardless what you say or think.I understand your weekend girl friend said you were blow out anyway.Skeeter

All your base are belong to us!

I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.Skeeter

I understand your weekend girl friend said you were blow out anyway.Skeeter

Do not want!

You want to feel concusion and hear an ear-splitting blast, get within 50 feet of my 30-378 Imp when I touch one off.

But...I move out to the outermost bench and warn everyone (if anyone is on the line) that I'm getting ready to shoot. I don't agree with whoever said they paid the same amount and they were there first, so other shooters can blow you. Thinking like that, and acting in that manner will get your azz handed to you pretty damn quick.

My muzzle braked 30-378 bothers ME! I can only shoot about 10 rounds before I start getting a dull throbbing pain behind my eyes.

No, it's not my right to subject my fellow shooters to that level of noise pollution. We all know each other, so when I pull that rifle out I wait until everyone has had a while to shoot, then I shoot 4 or 5 rounds, then back off and let the other shooters shoot unmolested. Then, after a natural lull in the shooting comes, I move out, announce "HEAVY CALIBER!" and shoot my other 4 or 5 rounds.

When I have access to private land where I do most of my moad development for the 30-378 I don't feel so bad about shooting it.

Why tangle with something like that?

I dunno...prolly take several years on Freud's couch to pinpoint precisely why I enjoy it. I do enjoy having an extended point-blank-zero.

Try a 338-408 Cheytac improved if you want to feel concussion. I had a buddy hunting with me one who was warned to wear hearing protection, but failed to do so when I shot. He said that it sounded like he was listening to the world through busted krako speakers. I would not shoot it without a brake any more that I would a .50 BMG. I no longer shoot my .50 out of my shooting room. They make the florescent lightbulbs fall out of the fixtures.

When I bought my .338 a friend of mine talked me in to getting it magnaported before I even shot it. It was the first magnum I owned so I just took his word for it. It is loud when you stand at the 4 oclock and 7 oclock positions. It is like any other rifle when you stand directly behind it. As for recoil, I can shoot a box of ammo and not feel it later. It kicks like a 30-06. Don't know if I would ever port or brake another gun again, I never hear the noise or feel the recoil when I shoot at game anyway.

Missouri Breaks. Muzzle brake.........


A Pachmayr Decelerator pad does as well as muzzle brakes in experience--without the noise..........a lot cheaper to boot.

A muzzle brake does reduce muzzle jump. But then again, so does a better fitting stock.

Spot on... Hehehehehehee

Nice try ....but not even close......... Only cheaper!!

Possibly because the recoil of your rifle does not affect me in any way two seat down from you on the firing line. The blast and the noise of your braked rifle however does indeed affect me.

I've had my chronograph tripod knocked over by the concussion of a braked rifle.

In other words, your choices concerning recoil mitigation begin to have an impact on others.

Like Steelhead said early in this thread, if I'm not comfortable with the recoil sans brake then I'll use something with less recoil.

I just don't see a need for one. I can shoot up to a 375H&H without any concern for recoil so why put a loud brake on the end of it? Plus I like taping the end of my barrels when I'm hunting and that would be pretty hard to do with a brake on the rifle.

They make the barrel several inches longer than it should be. This make it hard to maneuver in thick brush and in and out of vehicles. Plus they really aren't necessary unless your trying to tame a really large sniper rifle.

In my opinion if you need one on a hunting rifle then your over gunning yourself.

Get rid of the darn brake then, a bud has the same rifle and that's exactly what we did..it's much easier to deal with the extra recoil than it is to deal with the blow back and noise of that Accu Brake.

Just a thunk.

Dober

Now in terms of brakes, personally I don't like and or want them. They're ugly as a bucket full of you know whats and I prefer to to try to deal with the noise level of them.

I'd love to have a braked and a non braked section at our range...grin

If someone moves in next to me with a brake I'll wait till he's done if he has time, or I'll just leave and go home if time is short. I find it quite caustic to be around one. And this is just my way but I feel it's rude to do that to someone as well.

Now if someone feels compelled to use them that's fine with me but I do appreciate some respect while he/she's doing so. Funny thing with that I see more men wanting to use brakes then women..And I do know some women using some rather large rounds.

Most of all I hope you all get out and shoot as much as you can but for sure hunt as much as you can as well.

Dober

My thoughts too. I wear double ear protection (foam earplugs + muffs)and it is still bad.

RH

As always..I didnt read the whole thread so I may be off base here..but I go with a simple rule as it pertains to brakes. If you need a brake on a rifle...you need a different rifle...

ha, maybe go back and read the thread. there are some good reasons for brakes. loud yes, effective, absolutely!

Can't I just be a Grumpy Old Man..?

haha, ya, no problem. go for it.

I will not hunt with someone who has a muzzle break again! Did so once with a 300 Weatherby, not some thing I would care to experience again.

Bear hunting I want to hear after the shot and do not like the concussion like feeling for several days.

+1

Interesting discussion. Oddly, long before I ever saw or even heard of a muzzle brake I thought rifles were loud, handguns awfully so. I still feel the same today. I employ muzzle brakes on about half my centerfire rifles and will continue to do so while either at the range or in the hunting fields. No, they are not pretty, neither are any of the plastic stocked rifles I own but they work as intended. I apologize if I've offended anyone at the range but have never had anyone complain. Never had an outfitter complain either, and if I did I'd hire someone else.

Now what really bothers me at the range are the little short barrelled AR-15 types....those are loud and obnixious. If shooting a muzzle braked rifle would send those shooters home when I'm working up loads I'd bring two to the range everyday!

Enjoyed the brake on my 300 RUM, dislike the constant ringing in my ears from a shot taken in a gully.

My new barrel does not have a brake.

I do not run brakes on any of my hunting rilfes. I do run brakes on my two long range rigs. One being a measly .243AI. I run the brake on this rifle to reduce recoil as much as possible in order to spot hits through the scope, and to help me flinch less. Other than that, I find them loud and ugly, and would never put one on a hunting rilfe.

R.

A big +1 to that.

They are bad enough to deal with at the bench, but when someone lies down on the ground in an F-class shoot or prone match with one, well, I tend to get a little heated. One guy literally screwed our whole match up. It was a crowded match, and nobody could lie down anywhere near this guy without tasting the real estate.......

I have never been to a f-class match where brakes were allowed.

All of the F-class rifles I've seen weigh 20+lbs, i wouldn't think you would need one.

+1 was wondering what he was talking about?

We have shoots at our club that are a form or forms of F-class. Our own rules I guess.

The actual match I was talking about in particular, was a 600 yd. prone shoot.......

Yes, but I wouldn't think one would need one on a 243 either.....

Or a 250....

I clear the line completely when I start touchin� 'em off. Our benches covered by a tin roof; that just intensifies the noise and concussion.

You could be my shooting partner anytime.

I wish I'd had the chance to shoot someone else's gun with a brake before I paid to have one put on mine. I've got a 7 RUM with a removable brake (my only braked gun). I learned a few things pretty quickly; it reduces recoil, the sound can be managed by using double hearing protection, and the muzzle blast was too much for me. I did shoot it braked off shooting sticks once, by the time the cloud of dust was settling I was headed back to clean my gun.

Now I only twist the brake on when somebody sitting to my left starts flipping lots of brass my direction.

I haven't read this entire post,, so may have already been discussed, but what do you guys think of magna porting. I don't want a brake, but had thought this might help control the excessive "jump" on my Weatherby .300.
GD

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...Magnaporting_VS_Muzzle_Brake#Post4999425

The concussion from the muzzle blast upsets me more than the recoil, and I can handle a 500 jeffrey from the bench w/o a break, with very limited shooting sessions.

I'll drop caliber or go to a heavy rig before I'll resort to a break. I shoot alot more .223 than anything else.

I have a Vais brake, and I don't "notice" the concusion, but it manifests itself ocassionally as a headache after ~10 rounds. Below is the round I'm shooting beside a standard 30-378 round.

I try to get breaks as often as possible, those 10-12 hr days can get long without one.

I have a KDF brake on my .375 RUM that I've used on one trip to Zim and two trips to South Africa. On my last trip to RSA, I shot 3 animals from prone positions, and 7 animals from sitting positions. There were no issues with dust with any of the shots.

I liked the way the KDF muzzle brake worked on my .375 RUM, that when I built a .300 Wby a few years ago, I had a KDF brake installed on it as soon as I got it. So far, I've only shot 4 animals with this .300 Wby, 3 exotics in Texas, and an elk in Montana. One animal was shot from a prone position, 2 from sitting positions, and the elk from a kneeling position. Again, no clouds of dust (or snow) flying up from the "muzzle brake" concussion.

I also regularly practice shooting my .300 Wby off short sticks from a sitting position, and have never been bothered by flying dust.

I don't like the noise in the field, so personally don't use them. I did have the local high end gunsmith tell me the brake they sell will tighten the groups on any gun. His explanation was it tames the barrel harmonics and because they angle the ports forward 15* it isn't any louder. I have not done it, and won't do it. I will just carry a standard weight gun and go about killing stuff. I use a 338RUM and shoot prone in the field. No brake, but standard weight.

Up through a fairly lightweight 416Rem Mag using full house loads, I have no need for a muzzle brake to reduce recoil. Being I have no need for recoil reduction on such rifles, I cannot see how adding a brake would improve performance, but I can see how it would jack up the noise level out the side of the rifle to a level I find unacceptable.

I'm not currently shooting rifles larger than the above, but if I had a rifle that mandated I add a brake to reduce recoil to a level I could manage, it would then be an option.

Best

I hate brakes. Mostly. At the calibers where I think about wanting recoil reduction (for me, around 300 WBY oomph) the noise is just too much, even with plugs AND muffs. Goes right through your skull...I've been wondering about scoring a jet fighter helmet or ramp-jockey lid for that situation.
That said, brakes on a semi or a good one on a varmint caliber can be nice because they preserve either follow up or sight picture.

I can see that there are a lot of people responding to this thread that are going to be deaf.

Whether or not you love or hate brakes, protect your ears.

Ringing ears will come on you like a thief in the night.

brasstacks;
Well you've most definitely been given a variety of opinions on this subject, which if past history is any indication, was to be expected.

My standard warning on any muzzle braked and/or ported hunting rifles is to please make sure all the folks in the hunting party are aware of the potential for hearing damage.

A good friend from the Yukon used to guide a bit in northern BC - back in the day when brakes were just becoming a fashionable accessory. Anyway, a chap from Alabama touched off a braked .340 Weatherby when my friend was, as I recall, about 10-12' to one side. He related it was like being hit on the side of the head with a 2"x6".

He also said his ear "rang" for several days after, indicating to me the good possibility of permanent hearing loss.

As another thought as well, after teaching a couple of horses to not be gun shy when shooting, I'm not certain that I'd be shooting a brake equipped rifle too close to a horse.

For those who've not hunted solo using a hay burner, my circumstance sometimes dictated shooting whilst kneeling on the 15' lead rope. While I generally tried to tie them off further away from the shooting, it wasn't always possible and with a non-braked rifle they were OK with me being 15' away as long as they knew the noise was coming.

If one was hunting with a guide on a horseback mountain hunt and one intended to use a braked rifle, I'd think perhaps it would be wise to discuss that detail up front and eliminate "unpleasant exchanges and situations" after the fact.

Shooting prone has been discussed already and while it's not legal to do so here, some jurisdictions allow one to rest over the hood of a hunting rig to shoot. I'd suspect that a braked rifle may rearrange the paint scheme on the hood more than desirable?

Thanks for the interesting opinions and information all, it's been an interesting read.

Regards,
Dwayne

A good brake doesn't have openings in the bottom. That prevents kicking up debris and smoking paint on a hood. There's different brakes on the market, and some are better than the ones generally described in this thread.

Bulletbutt;
I wasn't aware they made them that way, but it does make sense for sure.

Thanks for sharing that bit of information with me, I learned something yet again here!

I hope you and yours have a good week.

Regards,
Dwayne

The ones that don't have holes on the bottom just direct that much more concussion and gasses out of the side of the brake. As an example, the Varmint Hunter's Jamboree has a much contested shoot every year and muzzle breaks are allowed with the exception of clam-shell brakes.