Hello,
I was asked by Insite arms to do an objective review on their Heathen muzzle brake. The days have been rolling by and I have not produced yet. Sorry Insite! It is not for a lack of trying. I have shot numerous videos with my gopro and my video editing skills are very green. So, in order to post something while I figure out the editing process, I thought I would do this write-up to cover in the meantime.
The Heathen brake itself is very well-made. It has a large vent hole, and then has two smaller gills. The nut to tighten the brake is knurled and this is very nice, as I am not always the most prepared with a crescent wrench and I have resorted to using pliers to getting the brake on and off. For all of the retentive people out there that fuss over their gear, my apologies. I am sure that hearing about me 'bubba-ing' my gear and marring it all up is making you cringe. I am hard on my gear. I do take care of my gear. I always lube and clean my semi's, but I still beat the crap out of my gear. So a big thumbs up for the knurled nut.
The finish on the heathen, as it was supplied to me, has been liquid nitrided. Beside the APA lil bastard and its parkerized treatment, the contrast is very clear; the Heathen has a nice darker blue/black luster. For those that love their deep blueing, the liquid nitride finish is very nice and close to blueing.
There are many shooters out there that do not care for muzzle brakes on bolt guns. From deaf hunting partners to 'grumpy' f-class shooters and through to the guy/girl cringing in the next shooting lane, muzzle brake's are 'controversial' in terms of their benefits. A quick scan on the Precision Rifle Blog will reveal that brakes reduce recoil, keep a rifle on target, make a lot of noise, and have a ground signature muzzle blast.
I have included a link referencing the APA lil b*, which was tested there. The Heathen was not, however, the Holland Radial Baffle QD 0.985 looks most similar to the Heathen, and so I am assuming that the performance between the Heathen and the Holland QD will be very similar.
The APA lil b*and the Holland QD, according to the Precision Rifle Blog, are pretty much opposites. It does seem that the more that a person wants the ability to stay on target, that they give up recoil reduction, and vice-versa. The lil B* has more recoil reduction ability but not as much stay on target ability, while the Holland QD stays on target at the expense of recoil.
I do not have a setup like the Precision Rifle Blog, and so I opted for a much simpler solution. I wanted to see how each brake helped me in shooting fast. I took the rifle to the range and shot at a 12 to 15 inch gong at 300m. I do not recall the exact size, but it was in the 2 moa to 3 moa vicinity. I shot 10 shots prone, let the barrel cool between strings, with 185 bergers over 41.6gr varget. I did take video footage of my shooting, but you can't see me shoot, or hear the targets being hit. I am new at the whole video thing. Below are my times with the Heathen, the APA and no brake
Heathen: average split times are 3.03 seconds.
APA: 3.86 seconds
No brake: 3.13 seconds
So, to get some footage, I went back to the range, but this time to only 100 yards, but there I shot a 1-moa dot drill with 5 shots. I do have footage of these shoots, and whenever I figure out the video thing, I will post a link here to the youtube chanel that I will create. Here are the times and hits:
Heathen: 4.47 seconds avg split time, 4 hits (the Heathen was my first string, so I was relatively cold. All other strings were shot after I was warmed up)
APA: 3.89 seconds with 2 hits
No brake: 3.92 avg split time, 3 hits.
I am new to dot drills and so the lack of hits is me racing the clock. Whenever I practice IPSC or 3-Gun shooting on the timer, the timer is what rules. If I am going for accuracy, I have no timer. Taking this approach keeps me from being frustrated. The rifle is accurate, I will post a target of a 3 shot and 5 shot group. I will also post the dot drill target.
Conclusions:
The recoil of a .308 in a heavy rifle is relatively tame. In competition shooting, every bit counts though. However, I did notice that when I shot unbraked, I was not any slower. I am pretty new to PRS type of shooting, for time. I have shot f-class and done all right with it, I even got 2nd place in 2013 at AFRA's 300m ISSF match. My point is, that since I am newer to this style of shooting, I may be taking my rifle off target when I operate the bolt, or some other rookie type of mistake. For me, shooting a braked semi auto I can see a difference between a brake and unbraked. For 3-gun competition I will only use a brake. No unbraked option when it's for score for me. With a bolt gun however, I need more practice to be able to see a difference on the clock with a brake.
For the 300m gong test, the Heathen was the winner, followed by unbraked and then the APA.
For the dot drill, the Heathen had the most hits, however, it had the slowest time. To be fair, I was 'cold' when I shot the string with it. Unbraked was 2nd, followed by the APA. The APA also had the least amount of hits at 2. Now, to be fair, it is not the brake's fault if I miss. This test was for time and not for accuracy. I'd love to shoot more and see what my most accurate quickest time would be, but I went through at least $100, if not more, in ammo alone for these tests. If someone would like to send me ammo to shoot, I would be more than happy to oblige!
And so, were I to shoot a PRS match tomorrow, I would shoot the Heathen. The Heathen had the fastest time on the 300m gong test; in matches a half-second could mean the difference between placing or not. But if I were new to shooting PRS matches, I would just go unbraked. I am hypothesizing that as a person becomes more skilled, for eg, work the bolt without bobble, then a brake makes a difference. For me, with my current skill level in a PRS environment, which is middle of the pack as of the last (and so far, my only) match, a brake does not add enough to justify it.
A good test would be for a more experienced shooter in PRS type of shooting to conduct the same test and see if there is a difference in time. Then there would be a great comparison between a newer shooter and an experienced shooter. After all, the Pro's in PRS shooting State-side run brakes, so there must be something to it?
If there are any sponsors out there that would like to pair me with an experienced shooter and we can run the same battery of tests and on camera, please send me a PM and we can make it happen!
The Middle 3 shot group, via On Target, measured 0.218 MOA; the 5 shot group measured 0.522 moa, if the 6th shot, that I pulled, is included, the group is 0.812 moa.
http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/08/21/muzzle-brake-summary-of-field-test-results/
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I was asked by Insite arms to do an objective review on their Heathen muzzle brake. The days have been rolling by and I have not produced yet. Sorry Insite! It is not for a lack of trying. I have shot numerous videos with my gopro and my video editing skills are very green. So, in order to post something while I figure out the editing process, I thought I would do this write-up to cover in the meantime.
The Heathen brake itself is very well-made. It has a large vent hole, and then has two smaller gills. The nut to tighten the brake is knurled and this is very nice, as I am not always the most prepared with a crescent wrench and I have resorted to using pliers to getting the brake on and off. For all of the retentive people out there that fuss over their gear, my apologies. I am sure that hearing about me 'bubba-ing' my gear and marring it all up is making you cringe. I am hard on my gear. I do take care of my gear. I always lube and clean my semi's, but I still beat the crap out of my gear. So a big thumbs up for the knurled nut.
The finish on the heathen, as it was supplied to me, has been liquid nitrided. Beside the APA lil bastard and its parkerized treatment, the contrast is very clear; the Heathen has a nice darker blue/black luster. For those that love their deep blueing, the liquid nitride finish is very nice and close to blueing.
There are many shooters out there that do not care for muzzle brakes on bolt guns. From deaf hunting partners to 'grumpy' f-class shooters and through to the guy/girl cringing in the next shooting lane, muzzle brake's are 'controversial' in terms of their benefits. A quick scan on the Precision Rifle Blog will reveal that brakes reduce recoil, keep a rifle on target, make a lot of noise, and have a ground signature muzzle blast.
I have included a link referencing the APA lil b*, which was tested there. The Heathen was not, however, the Holland Radial Baffle QD 0.985 looks most similar to the Heathen, and so I am assuming that the performance between the Heathen and the Holland QD will be very similar.
The APA lil b*and the Holland QD, according to the Precision Rifle Blog, are pretty much opposites. It does seem that the more that a person wants the ability to stay on target, that they give up recoil reduction, and vice-versa. The lil B* has more recoil reduction ability but not as much stay on target ability, while the Holland QD stays on target at the expense of recoil.
I do not have a setup like the Precision Rifle Blog, and so I opted for a much simpler solution. I wanted to see how each brake helped me in shooting fast. I took the rifle to the range and shot at a 12 to 15 inch gong at 300m. I do not recall the exact size, but it was in the 2 moa to 3 moa vicinity. I shot 10 shots prone, let the barrel cool between strings, with 185 bergers over 41.6gr varget. I did take video footage of my shooting, but you can't see me shoot, or hear the targets being hit. I am new at the whole video thing. Below are my times with the Heathen, the APA and no brake
Heathen: average split times are 3.03 seconds.
APA: 3.86 seconds
No brake: 3.13 seconds
So, to get some footage, I went back to the range, but this time to only 100 yards, but there I shot a 1-moa dot drill with 5 shots. I do have footage of these shoots, and whenever I figure out the video thing, I will post a link here to the youtube chanel that I will create. Here are the times and hits:
Heathen: 4.47 seconds avg split time, 4 hits (the Heathen was my first string, so I was relatively cold. All other strings were shot after I was warmed up)
APA: 3.89 seconds with 2 hits
No brake: 3.92 avg split time, 3 hits.
I am new to dot drills and so the lack of hits is me racing the clock. Whenever I practice IPSC or 3-Gun shooting on the timer, the timer is what rules. If I am going for accuracy, I have no timer. Taking this approach keeps me from being frustrated. The rifle is accurate, I will post a target of a 3 shot and 5 shot group. I will also post the dot drill target.
Conclusions:
The recoil of a .308 in a heavy rifle is relatively tame. In competition shooting, every bit counts though. However, I did notice that when I shot unbraked, I was not any slower. I am pretty new to PRS type of shooting, for time. I have shot f-class and done all right with it, I even got 2nd place in 2013 at AFRA's 300m ISSF match. My point is, that since I am newer to this style of shooting, I may be taking my rifle off target when I operate the bolt, or some other rookie type of mistake. For me, shooting a braked semi auto I can see a difference between a brake and unbraked. For 3-gun competition I will only use a brake. No unbraked option when it's for score for me. With a bolt gun however, I need more practice to be able to see a difference on the clock with a brake.
For the 300m gong test, the Heathen was the winner, followed by unbraked and then the APA.
For the dot drill, the Heathen had the most hits, however, it had the slowest time. To be fair, I was 'cold' when I shot the string with it. Unbraked was 2nd, followed by the APA. The APA also had the least amount of hits at 2. Now, to be fair, it is not the brake's fault if I miss. This test was for time and not for accuracy. I'd love to shoot more and see what my most accurate quickest time would be, but I went through at least $100, if not more, in ammo alone for these tests. If someone would like to send me ammo to shoot, I would be more than happy to oblige!
And so, were I to shoot a PRS match tomorrow, I would shoot the Heathen. The Heathen had the fastest time on the 300m gong test; in matches a half-second could mean the difference between placing or not. But if I were new to shooting PRS matches, I would just go unbraked. I am hypothesizing that as a person becomes more skilled, for eg, work the bolt without bobble, then a brake makes a difference. For me, with my current skill level in a PRS environment, which is middle of the pack as of the last (and so far, my only) match, a brake does not add enough to justify it.
A good test would be for a more experienced shooter in PRS type of shooting to conduct the same test and see if there is a difference in time. Then there would be a great comparison between a newer shooter and an experienced shooter. After all, the Pro's in PRS shooting State-side run brakes, so there must be something to it?
If there are any sponsors out there that would like to pair me with an experienced shooter and we can run the same battery of tests and on camera, please send me a PM and we can make it happen!
The Middle 3 shot group, via On Target, measured 0.218 MOA; the 5 shot group measured 0.522 moa, if the 6th shot, that I pulled, is included, the group is 0.812 moa.
http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/08/21/muzzle-brake-summary-of-field-test-results/
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