Well stated.For a bit of seriousness and civility to this discussion, sheep and midgets excluded.
First, this is Sniper's Hide where we take marksmanship to the highest levels possible, and that includes taking our rifles to the highest level as well. We brake .22 cals here because we want every advantage available to make consistent shots on target in the most rapid way possible. We race clocks and we push both ourselves and our equipment beyond the envelope match after match, year after year. Twenty years ago we didn't even have matching reticles and turrets, we were shooting "Special Ball" in the Marine Corps, and bipods and detachable magazines were more the exception than the norm. Nothing with a .473" or smaller bolt face had a brake on it, even the M24 in magnum configuration was slick muzzled. Look how far we've come, builders and engineers are consistently creating new concepts and innovations every year that make our rifles and ammunition more accurate. A slick-muzzled rifle is a rare sight at a match and that is carrying over to the fields and forests where hunts are taking place. These innovations aren't crutches, instead progression in accuracy at long range, from cut rifled barrels on CNCs to turned solid projectiles with stupid high BCs to *gasp* muzzle brakes on non-magnum chambered rifles.
Nobody that I've seen are arguing that .50cal and Cheytac shooters or those with injuries should go sans brake. That would be stupid if they were, and I would love to see anyone shoulder fire a Barrett M99 with the brake removed to prove their point, it would most definitely be a self correcting error.
All that is needed on a tight range is respect to those on your left and right. It isn't "The 405" at rush hour in Los Angeles where you are expected to be pure asshole to everyone around you, it's a firing range where we should be amicable and considerate to our fellow shooters. I shoot both braked and slick, on the times I've been next to another shooter with the braked rifles I will give them a head's up I'm about to shoot, at times let them get their string off first or they let me do the same. It's not that hard, even in this day and age of limited face-to-face conversation amongst people, and you might just strike up a new friendship in the process. Common courtesy should not be an uncommon virtue.
Range owners and club board members, you can help improve your shooters' experience by either giving more space between shooting positions or providing barriers on your firing lines. Match directors should also take heed to improve their shooters' experiences as well, because putting shooters on a line where they're bumping feet and elbows while causing each other to eat dirt and blast sand into their high dollar ocular lenses is unnecessary.
The last part I think they do on purpose.
R
