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Most important features in a muzzle brake

Top 5 features you look for in a muzzle brake

  • Reduction of muzzle movement

    Votes: 44 88.0%

  • Reduction of recoil

    Votes: 46 92.0%

  • Minimizing sound

    Votes: 3 6.0%

  • Low cost

    Votes: 7 14.0%

  • Minimizing blast to shooter

    Votes: 17 34.0%

  • Minimizing ground signature (kicking up dust)

    Votes: 20 40.0%

  • Minimizing POI shift vs bare muzzle

    Votes: 15 30.0%

  • Self-timing

    Votes: 14 28.0%

  • Low weight/length

    Votes: 5 10.0%

  • Good looks

    Votes: 8 16.0%
  • Total voters
    50
TexasTightwad

TexasTightwad

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
May 30, 2018
222
127
DFW, Texas
#1
I am working on designing a muzzle brake and I want to know what features are most important to you guys! Here are some options:

Reduction of muzzle movement
Reduction of recoil
Minimizing sound to shooter
Minimizing sound to bystanders
Minimizing blast to shooter
Minimizing ground signature (kicking up dust)
Minimizing POI shift vs bare muzzle
Self-timing
Stainless steel
Carbon steel (parkerized)
Ceramic coating
Good looks
Low weight
Short length
Low cost
Minimizing muzzle flash

I'll also put this in poll form, but it won't let me put all of the options in, and I want to hear some conversation on why different features are important to you.
 
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#3
I think it may depend upon your application. If your using it as a sniper, or evern hunter, I think the most important would be Reduction of muzzle movement expressly to achieve Minimizing POI shift vs bare muzzle for rapid target re acquisition.

For a recreational/target shooter, it more likely would be this group:

Reduction of recoil
Minimizing sound to shooter
Minimizing sound to bystanders
Minimizing blast to shooter
Minimizing ground signature (kicking up dust)
Minimizing POI shift vs bare muzzle
 
#7
flyer said:
Do 5.56, 6 and 6.5mm muzzle brakes with 5/8-24 threads so people aren't having to shoot those calibers through 7.62mm specific brakes.
Click to expand...
I will definitely consider doing that. Although in regard to tests that Cal of PrecisionRifleBlog ran on a 6mm rifle and a variety of brakes, he says "I only found an improvement of 1-3% if a brake was 6mm rather than 30 caliber (7.62mm)". That is not a completely insignificant difference, but it is a lot less than I would have thought.
 
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#8
Maser said:
How the hell does a muzzle brake reduce sound? Shoot my dad's .30-06 Lone Eagle pistol that's ported and has a muzzle brake and tell me that fucker has sound reduction.
Click to expand...

A muzzle brake will not reduce sound. When I say "minimize sound" I mean less sound than other brakes. Any brake that works is going to direct more sound toward the shooter and those around him. In fact, there seems to be an almost constant direct proportion between recoil reduction and noise levels, meaning that the more effective a brake is at reducing recoil, the louder it will be (especially toward the shooter). Some people prefer to give up recoil reduction in favor of lower noise levels, many times not realizing that they are making a trade-off. Personally, I am all about down-range performance.
 
#10
TexasTightwad said:
A muzzle brake will not reduce sound. When I say "minimize sound" I mean less sound than other brakes. Any brake that works is going to direct more sound toward the shooter and those around him. In fact, there seems to be an almost constant direct proportion between recoil reduction and noise levels, meaning that the more effective a brake is at reducing recoil, the louder it will be (especially toward the shooter). Some people prefer to give up recoil reduction in favor of lower noise levels, many times not realizing that they are making a trade-off. Personally, I am all about down-range performance.
Click to expand...
If you prefer lower noise at the expense of higher recoil.... don’t run a brake. Problem solved.
 
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#11
Yes, my opinion is that if you want quiet, get a suppressor. A suppressor just won't help with muzzle movement at all (beyond making the muzzle heavier), and is limited by its volume on how much it can reduce recoil. But I am just trying to get an idea of what is important to shooters. I have been trying hard to come up with a way to reduce the blast/noise that reaches the shooter while achieving maximum recoil reduction, but so far the laws of physics keep getting in the way!
 
#13
ArmyJerry said:
Are you talking just a single function muzzle brake or the ones that also act as a mounting point for your suppressor? If the later it makes the rest of your options moot.
Click to expand...
Features for a brake that is just a brake. Brakes meant to go inside of suppressors usually are poor performers when used alone. The geometry that makes for good suppression is not quite the same as what makes for a good brake. So, a well-designed suppressor-mount/brake will do its part well when inside a suppressor and will perform better than a bare muzzle when it's not, but not as good as a well-designed standalone brake. I'm not knocking them; they are a great tool if you are going to be switching between suppressed and non in the field. But if that's not you (and my guess is that's not most of us), then you are better served by using the best tool for the job at hand.
 
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#22
What do you consider low price? I think most here expect to pay $100-180 for a good brake. If it's less than that great, if its $200 or more you'll really have to market the hell out of it with some good data to prove its superiority.
 
#23
Snipers using muzzle brake? Maybe a blaze orange one as well.
There are videos comparing the best brakes online.
Ripoff the best designs and figure how to cut the cost in half.
You would be an instant hero!

Step into the bear pit by sundown step into your last goodbye. Lol
 
#25
Yeah, in surveying what people are already buying, I came up with the same exact price range of $100-$180. I guess what I consider low price depends on the particular product. But no matter what I am buying, price and value are on my mind.
I am all about data, and plan on buying/making top-notch test equipment to evaluate performance. It's one thing to say something feels like it works better, but once you can put a number on something, then you really know something about it. Not only does data help with marketing, but it can drive real improvement.
 
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#29
TexasTightwad said:
Yeah, in surveying what people are already buying, I came up with the same exact price range of $100-$180. I guess what I consider low price depends on the particular product. But no matter what I am buying, price and value are on my mind.
I am all about data, and plan on buying/making top-notch test equipment to evaluate performance. It's one thing to say something feels like it works better, but once you can put a number on something, then you really know something about it. Not only does data help with marketing, but it can drive real improvement.
Click to expand...

Muzzle brake retail price should be, desirably, no more than $50-$60. Unless the rifle barrel muzzle end is already threaded, major cost factor is the muzzle brake installation (threading the barrel muzzle end, etc.). Cost of installation may be anywhere, say, between $50 and $150. I feel that the majority of the muzzle brake customers, when making their decision to purchase, do not really care that much about scientifically based data. In real life, customers have no practical way of validating such data themselves and their evaluation of the product will be mostly subjective, except for the price.

Typical muzzle brake customer most likely wants:

1. Reduction in felt recoil
2. No degradation in accuracy
3. No considerable increase in sound report
4. Relatively pleasant external appearance
5. Affordable price

Just my opinion.
 
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#30
I agree, most brakes are over priced but if you want to sell them, some sort of validation is nice.

I just bought a CMB type S compact brake. It had a video comparison showing about 50% reduction in movement. Hopefully it will be enough to control the muzzle on a fairly light recoiling rifle.

I got a jam nut for that brake so no crush washer or peel washer to deal with but the hand tightening brakes like PVA and Area 419 are really nice.

Bringing a low cost hand tightening model to the market would be nice. If it was under $80 and had decent performance, that would be a winner.

The CMB was $30 with the lock nut (eBay special) so that's at the low end of the competition.
 
#31
I really enjoyed the youtube videos where they tried numerous muzzle brakes on a 5.56 and then on a 7.62x51 rifle mounted onto a sled that could free recoil. That way, the amount of recoil reduction was easy to quantify. I realize that there is both recoil, and muzzle flip, but at least the videos were able to quantify the amount of recoil. I imagine a device to measure muzzle flip could also be designed.

Many years ago I bought a muzzle Device that allowed me to adjust the amount of gas directed through the ports that controlled muzzle flip. After clocking the device to about 10:30 on the rifle, and adjusting the gas flow, I was able to get my select fire M-16 to quiver when on full auto. If I opened the ports up more, it would actually push the muzzle downward. Unfortunately, the device was patented, and is no longer for sale..I was lucky enough to have bought a couple of them though.
 
#33
if youre paying more than $50 for a fucking brake, you are a fucking moron.

a $30 Midwest Industries brake does everything you need.

the change in performance between no brake and any brake is huge.......the change in performance between a cheap brake and an expensive brake is practically nothing

TonyTheTiger said:
Posted in the Bear Pit? You know the smartest people on the hide don't go slumming down here right?
Click to expand...

on the contrary, this is where all the people who know what they are doing hang out because were sick of the "which 6.5 rifle?" and " lets hate remington" threads on the rest of the forum
 
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#34
DOA said:
I cant believe two idiots voted good looks as one of the top 5 features. Function over fashion.
Click to expand...
Would you shoot a brake if it was good but was in the shape of a big fat dick? Actually, what am I asking here because I’m sure some guys would opt for the dick brake
 
#35
mcameron said:
if youre paying more than $50 for a fucking brake, you are a fucking moron.

a $30 Midwest Industries brake does everything you need.

the change in performance between no brake and any brake is huge.......the change in performance between a cheap brake and an expensive brake is practically nothing
Click to expand...
Stand alone brake, maybe. Some of these tomb brakes are exorbitantly priced but if you have the can, what you gonna do?
 
#39
mcameron said:
im pretty sure @Kristian_Jensen has one of those
Click to expand...
mijp5 said:
Would you shoot a brake if it was good but was in the shape of a big fat dick? Actually, what am I asking here because I’m sure some guys would opt for the dick brake
Click to expand...

That would be the woman's and or lesbian's option. Put a couple rounds down the tube and it would be nice and warm....
 
#40
Got a nice paint job to match the brake
DD55D2C6-8C26-42A7-8881-7C6E28486EE1.jpeg
813245C6-65EF-43DC-B3CE-A243C760CE60.jpeg
 
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#41
kortik said:
...the majority of the muzzle brake customers, when making their decision to purchase, do not really care that much about scientifically based data. In real life, customers have no practical way of validating such data themselves and their evaluation of the product will be mostly subjective...
Click to expand...

Data that demonstrates less felt recoil or less muzzle flip could be compelling to most buyers - if it were made available.

Something about a better mousetrap and a beaten down path to the door comes to mind but I just can't put my finger on it.

I've got a brake on my .308 primarily to get the scope back on target to hopefully see the hits. For extensively range sessions, the recoil reduction will also be welcome. I'm considering one for the 5.56 but that is entirely about muzzle flip and getting back on target quicker. There is hardly any recoil to begin with.

Now my brother's .338 LM? The brake on that beast is all about recoil reduction.
 
#42
Unknown said:
I really enjoyed the youtube videos where they tried numerous muzzle brakes on a 5.56 and then on a 7.62x51 rifle mounted onto a sled that could free recoil. That way, the amount of recoil reduction was easy to quantify. I realize that there is both recoil, and muzzle flip, but at least the videos were able to quantify the amount of recoil. I imagine a device to measure muzzle flip could also be designed.

Many years ago I bought a muzzle Device that allowed me to adjust the amount of gas directed through the ports that controlled muzzle flip. After clocking the device to about 10:30 on the rifle, and adjusting the gas flow, I was able to get my select fire M-16 to quiver when on full auto. If I opened the ports up more, it would actually push the muzzle downward. Unfortunately, the device was patented, and is no longer for sale..I was lucky enough to have bought a couple of them though.
Click to expand...

The sled tests are not bad, but there are better tests. If you opened a CO2 bottle attached to the sled, it would go farther than if you hit the sled with a hammer, but the hammer would obviously hurt your shoulder more. Sleds fail to show peak intensity and how long a force is applied. They just show a semi-accurate representation of total force, and total force is a lot less important than peak intensity.
 
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#43
TexasTightwad said:
The sled tests are not bad, but there are better tests. If you opened a CO2 bottle attached to the sled, it would go farther than if you hit the sled with a hammer, but the hammer would obviously hurt your shoulder more. Sleds fail to show peak intensity and how long a force is applied. They just show a semi-accurate representation of total force, and total force is a lot less important than peak intensity.
Click to expand...

Sounds like we've watched the same youtube videos.

Really, though... a brake with tines spaced and angled just right for removing a bottle cap would be pretty cool.
 
#45
Bender said:
I’m looking for the


Alcohol and guns.... what could go wrong???

Do you have long hair on your Adams-Apple?
Click to expand...

Clearly someone doesn't shoot enough to have spent barrels chilling on the floor just wishing they had a brake with tines perfectly crafted to remove a bottle cap.

You ever have to crack one open for a guy on the other side of a campfire that's too much of a manlet to get one open on his own? With spent barrel + bottle opening brake, there's no logistics involved.
 
#47
QuickNDirty said:
Sounds like we've watched the same youtube videos.

Really, though... a brake with tines spaced and angled just right for removing a bottle cap would be pretty cool.
Click to expand...
I didn't actually get that directly from a video. I have seen several videos of sled tests, and it immediately occurred to me how poor a test that is. Beyond my previous major objections, another problem I have with it is variable friction. Every time the sled moves, it changes the mating surfaces just a tiny bit to be either more smooth or more rough. Add to that the fact that there is usually some sort of lubricant involved which will become either more or less effective every time the sled moves, and you end up with a pretty sorry test.

When you don't competely understand all the factors, a test can appear to prove something that is false. For instance, I shot my 6.8 SPC and my 5.56 at a plate of ductile iron today, and the 5.56 penetrated it more easily. That might lead you to assume that the 5.56 has more energy, but you would be wrong. My theory is that the 5.56 penetrated better because the energy it has might be more concentrated (higher psi when hitting the target), but that is just a guess.
 
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