Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Muzzle brake recommendation

I have decided to add a muzzle brake on my rifle. Curious to those that run brakes which one do you recommend. For those that are “anti-brake”, I respect your opinion but I have decided to give it a try. Easy fix if I don’t like it (cut & re-crown). This is for my hunting rig not a bench queen, so I want something that’s complimentary with shooting prone and other field positions. The rifle has a Bartlein # 19 contour which is supposed to mimic a Remington Mag contour.

Give Ross Brakes a try. Ross Schuler builds some awesome side port brakes that really tamed my 300RUM. I was anti-brake before this but now I’m a believer. Ross offers all the standard thread pitches and will even contour the brake to your barrel profile as part of the cost. Only $37 to your door for a contoured stainless brake cannot be beat. rossbrakes.com

I have a couple of brakes from Ross and they're great if you're looking for a seamless brake that needs to be machined to be indexed properly. If looking for a self-indexing brake, an Area419 or Insite Arms Heathen would be a good choice.

I've got several of Ross's brakes and really like them, they're a good value. One think you might want to check is the barrel contour, that #19 might be too light to thread and maintain enough shoulder for the brake. You don't say what it's chambered for, there are minimum thread diameters you should adhere to depending upon bore size.

Just called Ross probably buy his 4 port .875 OD brake and have it gradually tapered to be seamless... for reference the Bartlein barrel mic's dead nuts 0.700 at the muzzle and is chambered for .338 win mag. Ross suggested to have the barrel threaded to 9/16 x 24

Just had a Ross brake installed on my 300 RUM. I have yet to shoot it but will in a day or two.

Well I got some loads worked up for my 300 RUM today. 220 ELDX with 89 grains of Retumbo.
To be perfectly honest this was the first time I have ever shot a 300 RUM and did not know what to expect.
The Ross Schuler brake tamed this rifle to a pussy cat. Recoil was nothing.
I can now say the Ross Schuler brake is very effective in reducing recoil.

Nice looking rifle

Thanks Mr C Roy! She shoots as good as she looks.

$37 for a brake is a very good price! I'm assuming that is just for the installation?

I've seen several brakes at the range. I am thinking of getting one in the near future. I have found a local smith just 40 miles away. He does good work. Just need to get over to do a face to face,

My two cents: if you are going prone, ports up and to the side...not bottom. And...wear your ear protection. I have felt muzzle blast from as far as 8' away at the range.

I see no real reason not to brake if that is your desire.

Please keep us posted.

GB

Nathans Beast Brakes are the best ive ever installed and used. They are all I have used for the last 5 years.

https://muzzlebrakesandmore.com/

My 700, 300 RUM just got a KDF brake installed two months ago. It reduced the apparent recoil ZERO. It still kicks the ever loving hell out of me, to the extent that it tore my ear muffs off on a couple of shots. It’s just crap. It’s crazy, but the same brake is on our son’s Rem 700, 300 Win Mag and it is truly a pussycat.

My gunsmith installed both the brakes and later told me he was not a fan of KDF brakes.

They are supposed to be good brakes and I was expecting a “30/06’ish” level of recoil but was sadly mistaken. It’s still a beast. On or off, subjective recoil is identical.

Look up Fat Bastard, Muzzle Brakes, easy to install on threaded barrel, if your barrel is not threaded try Witt Machine, clamp on also easy to install and they work very well.

Rio7

I put This on my 338 RUM, turned it into a 30-06 on recoil

Have good results with Vias and "fat bastard"

Lefty

Yes, these two work for me.

Georgia boy the Ross Schuler brake is dirt cheap and very efficient. My gunsmith charged me $150for the brake, threading the barrel and install.

Got a break from here for my 300WM. 4 port brake, really light compared to mane other options. Works like a charm.

http://harrellsprec.com/index.php/products/muzzle-brakes

What brake did you go with from Harrell? The tactical tuner brakes seem interesting, kind of like the old browning Boss system.

I have KDF muzzle diameter brakes on my .300 Weatherby and my .375 RUM. The felt recoil of my .375 RUM was intolerable (to me) before I had the brake installed. With the brake, my .300 Wby kicks about the same as my .308 Win. The KDF brakes have holes all around the barrel, including the bottom, and I have shot both of these rifles extensively from prone positions both hunting and at the range without any problems. Yes, they kick up a little dirt and grass, but it hasn't been a problem.

4 port tactical stainless (non tune). Got whatever size I needed to fit T3 Lite. BUT, they come raw stainless. Mine needed to be bead blasted and matches the barrel finish perfectly. Almost looks like it belongs. PM for pics if interested.

I have no idea what brand of brake this is on my 300 Win Mag but the recoil is amazingly lite.I think I could shoot it with one hand.It seems like all the recoil is directed straight out the sides of the brake and really almost nothing directed back to the shooter.

That appears to be one of my designs or s copy of it..
Does it have 6 small holes in the top
.

For people who have tested brakes does it seem like the ports are in the reverse order that they should be?

I never noticed that but yes..in my tests there was always more gas letof in the first hole...for some of my varmint rifles I left it a 2 port instead of 3.. you can hardly tell the dif..
Made up one with one port that worked fine but looked odd to me so I didn't make any more

Take a look at https://muzzlebrakesandmore.com/ Very good comparison video's of many different brakes shot with the same rifle/same load on a sled showing the effectiveness of lots of different breaks. Some work a lot better than others for recoil reduction. Some of the results are surprising.

Because of his videos I ordered a titanium 5 port 1" lil' beast for my 8mm wildcat. I'm anxiously waiting for it. I will let you guys know how
it works when I get it installed on the rifle. In fact I will do a comparison with it and a home made brake on my recoil slide.

I like muzzle brakes. I have tried many different brakes over the years. Started out with the radial style brakes many years ago. They work, but they are not as effective as some of the newer brakes that are available today. The slight change in the angle/degree of the vents has improved the performance of some of the newer brakes. My Southern Precision 300 WSM still wears a Ross brake. It is a good brake, very effective, I like it. I have 4 other Hi Power rifles that I have swapped out the radial brakes to brakes from muzzle brakes and more. There is a noticeable difference. IMO his muzzle brakes are as good as any brake on the market that cost much more.

I am happy with the Muscle Brake on my 338 RUM. After burning out a barrel without one and another 150 rounds on the new barrel, a neck injury convinced me to try. I really like it.

I’ve tried a bunch. Muzzle brakes and more beast brakes are the most effective brake I’ve used. I’m also a big fan of harrells precision 4 port tactical brakes as they are cheap and work well too, not as good as the beast brakes, though.

Fat Bastard then when you get tired of it get a Thunderbeast can like the ultra 7 or 9

Over the last few years I've been doing considerably more CQB and have gone to using blast cans on everything that push everything forward. Currently I run the Presma combination brake with the blast can and I think it runs about $40. Have slowly converted over everything I had braked to this style and won't go back to an open port design.

https://ar15discounts.com/products/presma-muzzle-brake-5-8x24-w-blast-forwarding-device/

I won't hunt with a muzzle brake but they do have their place for some shooting disciplines such as prairie dog shooting or long range shooting where you need to spot your own hits and misses. For general carry, they are just too noisy. I can't hunt with earplugs in.

I have seen some testing where brakes can hurt accuracy- especially in shooting big mono metal solids like used in ELR shoots. The best brakes seem to be the high evacuation rate brakes like the 50 BMG guys use and not the cute cylinders with many holes machined in the sides. I haven't played with them enough to form an opinion on this yet. Still trying to get myself talked into using one for long range hunting but I think I will stick with a suppressor for now.

dennisinaz,

Where did you hear brakes reduce accuracy. That is the exact opposite of my experience and the experience of those I know who use them.

A good brake does not hurt accuracy.
Holland's Radial Baffle brake (Solid-bottom brake) is my favorite.
Light weight 15" barrel.
https://youtu.be/wlyHHUdIIrw

You don't shoot long high bc solid lathe turned bullets do you?

I'm curious what that has to do with anything here.

I tried some that keyholded in my hunting rifle. I guess Pac-Nor made a mistake on their twist. I didn't know they were keyholing until I fired six at 300 yards.
Never-the-less they made a group of 4". No telling how good they would have done if the twist was correct.

I sent you a PM. I don't want to ruin this thread.

I would love to put one on a 264 win mag just to break out when the AR morons start blazing away on the bench next to me at the public range.