Muzzle brake recommendation for .308 for competition - MDT or Heathen?

A

Astute Observer

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Her all,

Looking for recommendations for a muzzle brake for .308 service and precision rifle competition.

I'm considering the insight heathen but we would buy two of them (me and a buddy are assembling identical rifles), and the price is a bit over our budget.

The MDT brake is more in the price range and I know they make quality stuff.

Any other recommendations?

Thanks
 
I threaded my buddy’s barrel and he put an mdt on. It seems to work great even though it was way over bored on the ID.
I’m partial to the benchmark miller brakes. But they are not indexable.
I’m used lots of APA brakes they are effective but very loud.
Never tried a heathen but would like to. They look similar to the Miller but indexable.
Joe
 
My favorite brake still to this day is the Badger Thruster. Local Smith charges $100 to time/taper/ream, brake is around $80 but does require smithing. I've tried many different brakes, and these just work the best, I've put them on 308's, 7mm mags, 300 mags, and a few small bore rifles with great results, rifles stay on target and don't move, easy to see hits, no negative impact on accuracy at all.
 
Curtis264 said:
My favorite is Precision Armament M4-72, unbelievable how much recoil this removes from your rifle
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douginont said:
I concur. I've watched YouTube videos and this brake is very close to the top.
I put it on my .308. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
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Agreed!

Check these ones out.
M4-72
Terminator T3
Cadex MX1

The Terminator I have on my .300 Win Mag, makes the recoil like a .308
 
Heathen for sure. They do a great job of directing blast away from the shooter as well as mitigating recoil. I've shot some brakes that reduce recoil but also get a blast of air and dirt to the face each shot. That isn't an issue with the heathen.
 
Insite Heathen.

I haven't tried the MDT, I'm sure it's effective. There's really not a lot to a muzzle brake, it's all about venting gas in a direction that opposes the bore.

One potential downside to the MDT is how the ports of the brake are positioned. Much like the Area 419 and APA muzzle brakes, the ports are directed back at the shooter. Great for mitigating recoil, bad news for the shooter. These types of directional brakes do send blast/concussion back to the shooter, so that's something to keep in mind.

The Heathens first port, which acts as a the main port, is perpendicular to the barrel/bore. This means that gas is vented out to the side, rather then being directed back to the shooter. This does make a difference behind the gun, especially during comps or long days behind the rifle. All the concussive blasts add up, and can be pretty fatiguing. The Heathen does a good job mitigating that blast, better then the Area 419 and APA brakes that I've had. But there's still some concussion, and that just comes with the nature of the beast of having a muzzle brake.

I also find the Heathen to be a bit more refined in design and manufactured quality then the Area 419 and APA brakes. Myself and others I know have had issues with the Area 419 collar locking up, the threads on the locking collar are really fine, and in my experience don't seem to handle carbon or other fine debris well. The gills of the brake are also not radiused on the Area 419, and will slice your hand up good in the event the locking collar gets stuck, and you try to fix it by hand (ask me how I know).

I've never tried the MDT brake, though I'm sure it's effective. It's certainly not a bad price, but just keep in mind the port angles and how that may effect you if you do decide to go that route.
 
For anyone debating trying the Heathen, we have always had a 100% no questions asked return policy for a full refund if for any reason a customer isn't completely satisfied with the product... we can't remember the last time we got one back however;)
 
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