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benifits of a muzzle brake

42769vette

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 4, 2009
1,645
4
44
liberty indiana
im in the process of my first build. it will be a stiller action, 26in #5 sheilin in a manners stock, 260 rem. im wondering if i should go ahead and have aj brown thread it for a brake while he has it. i realize the 260 has almost no recoil im more looking at the brake giving me accuracy, or velocity benifits as i will not need the reduced recoil (not that i can hurt). what are you thoughts. ive never had a rifle with a break so i really dont know the pros and cons
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

nope, if anything the brake will bleed off a little velocity - certainly no gains. as for accuracy, probably no gains there either. only get a brake if you want reduced recoil.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

why not have him build you a thread protector and a muzzle brake. Then if you don't want the blast effects of the brake, you can put the thread protector on.

Besides, you know eventually you will want a suppressor. Then you are already threaded...
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

How does a muzzle brake blead off velocity?

The end of the barrel is the end of the barrel. Gas is no longer pushing the bullet.

And if lighter recoil reduces flinch then yes it will improve accuracy. Not that a 260 is a big thumper anyway.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

I don't know if you can have suppressors in Indiana (I think you can) but if you can having it threaded would leave you the option to add one on. As far as accuracy and muzzle velocity is concerned a brake will not effect that to the best of my knowledge. It will however add unwanted length and weight to your rifle(obviously). 260 does not pack that much of a punch but one thing a brake will do is make your rifle louder than shit. You would not believe the sound difference between shooting with and without a brake. It is very noticeable. My voe would be get it threaded with a matching thread protector and leave yourself some options.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: patches</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I don't know if you can have suppressors in Indiana (I think you can) but if you can having it threaded would leave you the option to add one on. As far as accuracy and muzzle velocity is concerned a brake will not effect that to the best of my knowledge. It will however add unwanted length and weight to your rifle(obviously). 260 does not pack that much of a punch but one thing a brake will do is make your rifle louder than shit. You would not believe the sound difference between shooting with and without a brake. It is very noticeable. My voe would be get it threaded with a matching thread protector and leave yourself some options. </div></div>

you can have a suppressor in indiana. i doubt i ever want one unles it improves accuracy. keep the opinions comming.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JCH</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How does a muzzle brake blead off velocity?

The end of the barrel is the end of the barrel. Gas is no longer pushing the bullet.

And if lighter recoil reduces flinch then yes it will improve accuracy. Not that a 260 is a big thumper anyway.</div></div>

Your'e right, I was lumping porting and a brake together. Porting tends to reduce velocity, but as you imply, a brake should not.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 42769vette</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
you can have a suppressor in indiana. i doubt i ever want one unles it improves accuracy. keep the opinions comming. </div></div>

Suppressors have been known to increase accuracy and muzzle velocity in a lot of cases.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: patches</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 42769vette</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
you can have a suppressor in indiana. i doubt i ever want one unles it improves accuracy. keep the opinions comming. </div></div>

Suppressors have been known to increase accuracy and muzzle velocity in a lot of cases. </div></div>

I've been on both ends of the spectrum with suppressors and accuracy. One that I used to have made 2 rifles shoot groups two or three times their normal size when attached. On the opposite end, I now have a Gemtech Sandstorm that I run on a cut down 700p that has put together some insane groups with the can on (best was 1.551 inches at 400yds for 6rds).

If I saw someone else post that I'd call BS but thankfully I had at least one Hide member as a witness that day.
grin.gif


-X
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

i guess this should have probably gone in the equipment section. anyways this will be hunting rifle and i think ill have him thread the rifle for a break and get a thread protector for it. im not a suppressor guy but who knows what ill what in a few years
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Muzzle brake will make a fast load easy on the shoulder, with my TRG22 and brake fitted I can keep my eye on the target with a 168gr/2760fps load, I cannot do that without the brake. It is a distraction for any shooter on either side of you as there is a lot of blast (out of the trg anyway). I also have a Wildcat 8 baffle can for my TRG, it works great even more recoil reduction than the brake but it looks so ugly!!!! Get the barrel screw cut and try them out.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Muzzle brakes don't even begin to work until after the bullet has departed the barrel, so issues regarding accuracy should be zip, nil, nanda, etc. Part of the recoil comes from the reaction mass of the propellant gas exiting the barrel, and the brake can negate some of that. So we're talking about reducing part of a part of the recoil. Eeenh...

They have an exaggerated noise signature. I don't especially mind because I wear good hearing protection, but I'm nowhere near average where that's concerned.

Putting a brake on a ,260 is sorta like trying to put a night guard on a shark. It can be done but the results are rather beside the point.

Greg
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

I used to be on the side of not getting a muzzle brake (or porting a barrel). Because I always felt if you can't handle the recoil you shouldn't be shooting it anyways. Neither causes velocity loss, BTW.

I have since changed my opinion on that. I got to shoot a .22-250 that a guy had braked. I asked why, for such a small caliber. He said it's not to save me from the recoil, it's to keep the rifle on target. The brake was tuned and clocked.

Since then, I owned an AR-30 with a huge, extremely efficient muzzle brake, in .300 Win mag. Again, the brake was tuned and clocked. In this case especially, it kept the rifle pointing directly where I aimed it. Also, because of it being tuned and clocked counter-acted the force the twist wants to torque the rifle in your grasp.

Many times when I say this, I get the argument that if you drive the rifle right you have no problem seeing the bullet hit. I agree the rifle has to be driven right for accuracy to be accomplished. But, I also found that even when driving the rifle perfectly, the recoil still compresses it into your shoulder and the torque created by the twist wants to make the barrel move off center. If you can reduce that by any measurable piece then I think it's something that should be added if you can. I felt so strongly about it that I put a very effective muzzle brake on my 5.56. There is a noticeable difference in how the rifle reacts during recoil.

My bottom line is get the muzzle brake. But, get a good one and have it tuned and clocked so that it is effective in counter-rotation as well.

<span style="color: #3333FF">Edit:

The drawback for trading recoil is blast. Not just noise, but a pressure wave that wants to come back and wreak havoc on your sinuses. Effectiveness of the brake has a direct correlation to this. I've found a number of shooters who dislike this more than recoil. Not to mention those on the right and left.</span>
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

It's not a matter of NEEDING it, so much as it is a matter of "why not?" I'm often alone at my range, so I don't need to worry much about the noise. I notice a difference in recoil, I stay on target better (can't say I'm to the level of spotting my shots yet, but getting there,) and I absorb a bit less recoil.

Plus, now I'm already threaded, if I want to add a can later.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

I have a brake on my .243 and am putting one on a 30/06 build in the process. The .243 is no problem with recoil...or the /06 for that matter but with the brake follow ups and spotting hits are greatly improved. I am using Badger thrusters....if you shoot prone much like most of us be sure and get a side discharge brake to keep from eating dust. The other benefit for me is my children shoot with me often and the recoil reduction is a big plus for them.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

I find the blast more offensive than the recoil. I would consider adding barrel length if I wanted less recoil and noise, and more velocity.
Personally, I can find no proof that any rifle has been made more accurate by a MB or suppressor. I love suppressors, but do not think they help accuracy. Many will shoot better with them, due to less noise and recoil, but by the nature of them, the differences in air temp inside and increased mirage, they cannot help accuracy, just shootability. I would challange anyone to take a rifle that shoots 5 shot groups in the sub .2s and improve the accuracy of it with a MB or suppressor. If you do not see it on bench rest rifles, it does not help accuracy IMO.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Muzzle Breaks are so uncivilized...
wink.gif

Nothing worse that shooting next to someone who is using a break at a competition.

Muzzle breaks and suppressors not only allow for reduced recoil, but they help stabilize the rifle.
This helps you stay on target for follow up shots as well as being able to spot your own hits.
(Yes this can be done with good form and technique, but that is not always possible in improvised positional shooting.)
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

muzzle breaks are uncivilized, but mine reduces recoil much more than my suppressor does.

I used to say your a dick if you had a break at a match, but that just made everybody dicks, so now I'm a dick.

I had to wear hearing protection anyway so it didn't matter that I had a can.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rth1800</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Personally, I can find no proof that any rifle has been made more accurate by a MB or suppressor. I love suppressors, but do not think they help accuracy. </div></div>

Have to disagree with you there. If the suppressor/brake/rifle combination is put together correctly, there is a slight velocity gain of up to 30fps and a slight increase in accuracy. "The velocity gain comes from the fact that the suppressor acts as a barrel extension and gives just a little extra opportunity for propellant gases to push the bullet. The increas in accuracy that's often observed is because the suppressor serves as the world's most perfect barrel crown, allowing the bullet to exit with perfectly even gas pressure on its base, which is the purpose of a crown in the first place."
- Derek McDonald from <span style="font-style: italic">The Surgeon </span>
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rth1800</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I find the blast more offensive than the recoil. I would consider adding barrel length if I wanted less recoil and noise, and more velocity.
Personally, I can find no proof that any rifle has been made more accurate by a MB or suppressor. I love suppressors, but do not think they help accuracy. Many will shoot better with them, due to less noise and recoil, but by the nature of them, the differences in air temp inside and increased mirage, they cannot help accuracy, just shootability. I would challange anyone to take a rifle that shoots 5 shot groups in the sub .2s and improve the accuracy of it with a MB or suppressor. If you do not see it on bench rest rifles, it does not help accuracy IMO. </div></div>
A properly designed break or can will improve accuracy b/c they disperce the turbulence at the muzzle created by the bullet pushing the air in the barrel out. So the "precursor gas" is dispursed and the bullet enters a stable air as soon as it exits the muzzle. So the rifles accuracy is improved. Not to mention the addition of recoil reduction makes a rifle easier to shoot more accurate. Im just saying.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Besides recoil reduction, a brake helps me ride out the recoil so that I dont loose sight picture. I can see my hits and adjust more accurately. I dont have enough experience with the .260 to know if a brake will benifit you enough. If installed correctly it should not change accuracy. I believe it helps because i do not fatigue as fast.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Don't. There's seldom enough recoil to make one miss a brake anyway; and all you'll really do is increase the sound signature. Most competive courses of fire do not allow brakes.

Can's another story entirely.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Greg,
They do not increase your sound signature. They cut it by at least half and disperse it making it very hard to determine the direction it came from.

When shooting over the chronograph the screens don't move at all with the brake where one shot without it and the Lapua send the whole thing to the ground if it is 10' or less from the muzzle. Without the brake I have to stay out 15' or more.

Shooting at game including coyotes they frequently freeze not nowing which way to run. I have also been down range and the braked rifles sound like they come from all around where unbraked you can clearly tell right where it came from.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

Re: the point about coyotes not being able to pinpoint the sound, that is one of the benefits I have observed as well. Taking out my rifle with the surefire brake attached (for my FA762SS), without the suppressor of course they go to a more alert state but the second of indecision can be critical to the difference of being able to drop a second one and only getting the first.

Obviously if you are going after elk or paper this will not matter as much.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

The difference to me is the number of rounds before I develop a flinch shooting .300 WM. Whenever I take my non-braked .300 to the range I start flinching after about 40 rounds.

Probably not an issue if your caliber isn't hard hitting in the first place or if you're tougher than me.
wink.gif
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlaqJ30KyZo
wink.gif


I like mine, it hasn't come off the rifle since it went on at the shop. My oppo has the same rifle but without the FTE, recoil is probably not far from double. I can watch my own shots land at 100 meters in field conditions.

.308 isn't a caliber that NEEDS a brake by any means however, man-license aside it offers an enormous improvement in recoil management and just smooths the whole process out. <span style="font-weight: bold">Always</span> wear ear protection though.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

this rifle will not be in any competitions its just a hunting rifle. coyote is the only thing i can hunt witha rifle in indiana but im going to wyoming in oct for pronghorn. this will be my hunting anything smaller than mulies rifle. biger than mulies ill use the 300wby. so the advise of 427 cobra i think ill go ahead and have the smith thread the barrel and make me a cap and geta tubb adjustable brake. keep the coments comming.
 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

From experience. Since you have never had a rifle with a brake. Once I owned my first rifle with a stupid looking brake on it I had to have a brake on everything. My heavy barreled 22-250 is getting one too. I like watching my own hits. Forget the adjustable brake. Get a real one with big holes on the side and none on the bottom. You won't need a muzzle protector either. The first time you shoot it with the brake on you won't ever take it off.

Add one more thing to the list of things I didn't think I would ever like.

1-tomatoes
2-computers
and now
3-muzzle brakes

 
Re: benifits of a muzzle brake

My fault, I misuse the term. I mean it subjects competitive shooters on the same line to a higher sound level, the shooter included. That's something even the hunter needs to pay heed.