recommendation for muzzle break
- Thread starter mrefaat
- Start date
Usually pretty close to a couple hundred. There is a guy in Thunder Bay that puts on muzzle breaks and turns the break down to match the profile of the barrel. His Name is Cal Pritchard, I think. He's a good guy, and I've seen some of his work - quite nice. Small shop, knowledgeable guy. Someone from Thunder Bay likely knows him better than I do.
Some imformation to consider before installing a muzzle brake
Quoted from the chuckhawks website
If the advantage of muzzle brakes is reduced recoil, the disadvantage is increased muzzle blast. As always, in the real world, there is no free lunch. The increase in muzzle blast with these devices can be literally deafening, even for shooters wearing hearing protection.
The muzzle blast from a powerful muzzle brake equipped rifle is so loud that even with hearing protection the shooter risks suffering some permanent hearing damage after a few shots. Earmuff type hearing protectors typically reduce noise by about 25 dB. A muzzle brake equipped magnum rifle (like a .300 or .338 Magnum) produces a sound pressure level (spl) in the 130-dB range, according to reports I have read. Thus the spl inside the hearing protector is in excess of 100 dB, a potentially damaging level.
For a hunter in the field, shooting without ear protection, the muzzle blast from a muzzle brake is immediately deafening. Nearly complete temporary deafness usually lasts from about a minute to several minutes after firing a powerful magnum rifle equipped with a muzzle brake. Later almost all of the shooter's hearing returns, but a certain amount is permanently lost, and the losses are cumulative.
From the link posted below
http://guns.connect.fi/rs/mounting.html
Muzzle brake effect: Reflex Suppressor is a highly efficient muzzle brake, due to abrupt reflection or blowback of muzzle blast in the first expansion chamber. The threading for a suppressor also serves for mounting a separate muzzle brake. Attention! The devices serving only as muzzle brakes are not recommended, as they increase essentially the shooter's noise level! The peak noise level to shooter may go up from abt. 157 dB to up to abt.167 dB with a .308 Win rifle if equipped with a muzzle brake. Such a noise level can cause permanent damage to unprotected hearing even with single shots!
From the link below
http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml
Table 2. CENTERFIRE RIFLE DATA
.223, 55GR. Commercial load 18 _" barrel
155.5dB
.243 in 22" barrel
155.9dB
.30-30 in 20" barrel
156.0dB
7mm Magnum in 20" barrel
157.5dB
.308 in 24" barrel
156.2dB
.30-06 in 24" barrel
158.5dB
.30-06 in 18 _" barrel
163.2dB
.375 — 18" barrel with muzzle brake
170 dB
Krammer adds that sound pressure levels for the various pistols and ammunition tested yielded an average mean of 157.5 dB, which is greater than those previously shown for shotgun and rifle noise levels. There was also a greater range, from 152.4dB to 164.5dB, representing 12 dB difference, or more than 10 time as much acoustic energy for the top end of the pistol spectrum. It should be noticed that this figure of 164.5 dB approaches the practical limit of impulse noise measurement capability inherent in most modern sound level meters.
Quoted from the chuckhawks website
If the advantage of muzzle brakes is reduced recoil, the disadvantage is increased muzzle blast. As always, in the real world, there is no free lunch. The increase in muzzle blast with these devices can be literally deafening, even for shooters wearing hearing protection.
The muzzle blast from a powerful muzzle brake equipped rifle is so loud that even with hearing protection the shooter risks suffering some permanent hearing damage after a few shots. Earmuff type hearing protectors typically reduce noise by about 25 dB. A muzzle brake equipped magnum rifle (like a .300 or .338 Magnum) produces a sound pressure level (spl) in the 130-dB range, according to reports I have read. Thus the spl inside the hearing protector is in excess of 100 dB, a potentially damaging level.
For a hunter in the field, shooting without ear protection, the muzzle blast from a muzzle brake is immediately deafening. Nearly complete temporary deafness usually lasts from about a minute to several minutes after firing a powerful magnum rifle equipped with a muzzle brake. Later almost all of the shooter's hearing returns, but a certain amount is permanently lost, and the losses are cumulative.
From the link posted below
http://guns.connect.fi/rs/mounting.html
Muzzle brake effect: Reflex Suppressor is a highly efficient muzzle brake, due to abrupt reflection or blowback of muzzle blast in the first expansion chamber. The threading for a suppressor also serves for mounting a separate muzzle brake. Attention! The devices serving only as muzzle brakes are not recommended, as they increase essentially the shooter's noise level! The peak noise level to shooter may go up from abt. 157 dB to up to abt.167 dB with a .308 Win rifle if equipped with a muzzle brake. Such a noise level can cause permanent damage to unprotected hearing even with single shots!
From the link below
http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml
Table 2. CENTERFIRE RIFLE DATA
.223, 55GR. Commercial load 18 _" barrel
155.5dB
.243 in 22" barrel
155.9dB
.30-30 in 20" barrel
156.0dB
7mm Magnum in 20" barrel
157.5dB
.308 in 24" barrel
156.2dB
.30-06 in 24" barrel
158.5dB
.30-06 in 18 _" barrel
163.2dB
.375 — 18" barrel with muzzle brake
170 dB
Krammer adds that sound pressure levels for the various pistols and ammunition tested yielded an average mean of 157.5 dB, which is greater than those previously shown for shotgun and rifle noise levels. There was also a greater range, from 152.4dB to 164.5dB, representing 12 dB difference, or more than 10 time as much acoustic energy for the top end of the pistol spectrum. It should be noticed that this figure of 164.5 dB approaches the practical limit of impulse noise measurement capability inherent in most modern sound level meters.
Lots of bulls**t in this thread... I wonder how many of you have shot a rifle with a muzzle break on it... or just been surprised by a callous shooter with a muzzle break at the range!
For the shooter behind the rifle there is definitely more noise but it is not all that dramatic. For people standing around the shooter it is very dramatic... and this is where the misinformation is born.
Shooting a high powered rifle is loud and they all will cause cumulative hearing loss....period.
We all wear hearing protection on the gun range but does anyone here use hearing protection when hunting... how about in the duck blind... groundhog hunting... what about in the deer stand??????
I wear it when I am hunting and am going to do a lot of shooting.... and yes I use a muzzle break on my .270WSM. It works great at its intended function, which is to keep the muzzle jump down when shooting at coyotes at long range from the prone position. It reduces recoil dramatically and allows me to see bullet strikes through the scope! It is no louder than my .300WM that has no break when I shoot it... I do wear hearing protection whenever I can with all my rifles.
A muzzle break is the most effective form of recoil reduction, if you need a to reduce recoil then get one... but use appropriate precautions... including warning the whining bastards who are standing around waiting to criticize for no reason.
For the shooter behind the rifle there is definitely more noise but it is not all that dramatic. For people standing around the shooter it is very dramatic... and this is where the misinformation is born.
Shooting a high powered rifle is loud and they all will cause cumulative hearing loss....period.
We all wear hearing protection on the gun range but does anyone here use hearing protection when hunting... how about in the duck blind... groundhog hunting... what about in the deer stand??????
I wear it when I am hunting and am going to do a lot of shooting.... and yes I use a muzzle break on my .270WSM. It works great at its intended function, which is to keep the muzzle jump down when shooting at coyotes at long range from the prone position. It reduces recoil dramatically and allows me to see bullet strikes through the scope! It is no louder than my .300WM that has no break when I shoot it... I do wear hearing protection whenever I can with all my rifles.
A muzzle break is the most effective form of recoil reduction, if you need a to reduce recoil then get one... but use appropriate precautions... including warning the whining bastards who are standing around waiting to criticize for no reason.
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My most recent experience is limited to a .308 with a 2 port brake. Factory original. With plugs and muffs, it is unpleasant to fire. A shockwave can be felt passing over one's head. It does reduce felt recoil. I cannot imagine shooting it without ear protection.
X2 Well said Red.BIGREDD said:Lots of bulls**t in this thread... I wonder how many of you have shot a rifle with a muzzle break on it... or just been surprised by a callous shooter with a muzzle break at the range!
For the shooter behind the rifle there is definitely more noise but it is not all that dramatic. For people standing around the shooter it is very dramatic... and this is where the misinformation is born.
Shooting a high powered rifle is loud and they all will cause cumulative hearing loss....period.
We all wear hearing protection on the gun range but does anyone here use hearing protection when hunting... how about in the duck blind... groundhog hunting... what about in the deer stand??????
I wear it when I am hunting and am going to do a lot of shooting.... and yes I use a muzzle break on my .270WSM. It works great at its intended function, which is to keep the muzzle jump down when shooting at coyotes at long range from the prone position. It reduces recoil dramatically and allows me to see bullet strikes through the scope! It is no louder than my .300WM that has no break when I shoot it... I do wear hearing protection whenever I can with all my rifles.
A muzzle break is the most effective form of recoil reduction, if you need a to reduce recoil then get one... but use appropriate precautions... including warning the whining bastards who are standing around waiting to criticize for no reason.
It is a trade off my 338 (ruger all-weather the old ugly stock) which has a break on it recoil wise is rather mild, my stevens 200 in 270 seems to have more recoil.
If i was to do it again I would get a removable one. do most practice/load dev with it on, then final sighting before the season with it off. Usually I do not hunt with hearing protection in and that 338 has rung my ears a few times. If it is removable you can trade back for recoil which is usually more manageble when it's 1 or 2 shots in heavier clothes
And besides sometimes it fun to be evil and punish those at the range without protection
If i was to do it again I would get a removable one. do most practice/load dev with it on, then final sighting before the season with it off. Usually I do not hunt with hearing protection in and that 338 has rung my ears a few times. If it is removable you can trade back for recoil which is usually more manageble when it's 1 or 2 shots in heavier clothes
And besides sometimes it fun to be evil and punish those at the range without protection
you live in ontario. if I lived there (NEVER AGAIN) and owned a .300mag that punished my shoulder I would sell it in a heartbeat and buy a .270win or .308win.
there is nothing in ontario (or canada for that matter) that requires a magnum. why waste money on a muzzle brake?
there is nothing in ontario (or canada for that matter) that requires a magnum. why waste money on a muzzle brake?
I have my hearing tested every year at the plant that I work in and after 26 years,my hearing is still normal.I always wear hearing protection at the range but never while hunting.A fellow club member used to be able to say the same thing until he fired his new 300win mag a single time while hunting without hearing protection.His ears rang for a few hours and afterward he thought that something was wrong with his hearing.His next hearing test showed a measurable loss in hearing from his last test that has remained ever since.Before firing that single shot with the braked 300winmag,his hearing tests had been normal for over 20 years.
And for the record,I have owned two braked rifles,a browning 7mmremmag with the BOSS and a 300wby with a kdf.I fired the browning once without hearing protection and my ears rang for over an hour.However I was fortunate enough that I suffered no measureable long term hearing loss from that single shot.I quit while I was ahead and sold both rifles.
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Check out Pete 1's rig here. It's a Rem.700 .300 WM with brake:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60351
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60351
BIGREDD said:Lots of bulls**t in this thread... I wonder how many of you have shot a rifle with a muzzle break on it... or just been surprised by a callous shooter with a muzzle break at the range!
For the shooter behind the rifle there is definitely more noise but it is not all that dramatic. For people standing around the shooter it is very dramatic... and this is where the misinformation is born.
Shooting a high powered rifle is loud and they all will cause cumulative hearing loss....period.
We all wear hearing protection on the gun range but does anyone here use hearing protection when hunting... how about in the duck blind... groundhog hunting... what about in the deer stand??????
I wear it when I am hunting and am going to do a lot of shooting.... and yes I use a muzzle break on my .270WSM. It works great at its intended function, which is to keep the muzzle jump down when shooting at coyotes at long range from the prone position. It reduces recoil dramatically and allows me to see bullet strikes through the scope! It is no louder than my .300WM that has no break when I shoot it... I do wear hearing protection whenever I can with all my rifles.
A muzzle break is the most effective form of recoil reduction, if you need a to reduce recoil then get one... but use appropriate precautions... including warning the whining bastards who are standing around waiting to criticize for no reason.
I too agree with the BIG guy! I have a brake on my 7mmRem Mag. Not because I can't handle the recoil, but because my glasses cannot handle it! Scope gets them without the brake. I also have a difficult time with contact lenses. Combined with the fact that I love my 7mm and know it so well, I will continue using the brake.
Brakes are typically designed to vent the pressure sideways/up/down, but not back to the shooter. Because the pressure goes sideways, those around the shooter will experience more of the sound than from an unbraked rifle.
If you are worried about the sound while at the range, try using ear plugs with ear muffs! While hunting, I never remember the sound, just have the memory of the animal dropping!
If you don't have glasses, I would suggest trying a Pachymer Decelerator recoil pad or Limbsaver Recoil pad first ($50). If that doesn't help, then try the brake ($200).
I've shot and hunted-lots...I'veused brakes at the range, too
Last year, I had a quick chance to shot at a California Bighorn...
I really had onl yone chance, and it was at a steep , steep angle.
I was hunkered down in a stone chimney area, I was enclosed by a couple of clifffs. I missed the shot, but.......HOLEY CRAP did my ears ever ring!!!
If I had been using a muzzle brake, the sound from that closed rock chimney probbaly woud have killed me...
It's up to you. If I shot a rifle with a brake, I'd use plugs and muffs.
IMHO, there are better ways to get from A to B than a brake
Last year, I had a quick chance to shot at a California Bighorn...
I really had onl yone chance, and it was at a steep , steep angle.
I was hunkered down in a stone chimney area, I was enclosed by a couple of clifffs. I missed the shot, but.......HOLEY CRAP did my ears ever ring!!!
If I had been using a muzzle brake, the sound from that closed rock chimney probbaly woud have killed me...
It's up to you. If I shot a rifle with a brake, I'd use plugs and muffs.
IMHO, there are better ways to get from A to B than a brake
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
A pal of mine snap shot at a bear from along side his house with his breaked .375 and said it took a couple of days for his hearing to come around. At the range I had the opportunity to shoot a .30-378, both with and without the break. The break reduced recoil dramatically, but standing behind the shooter when the rifle fired was a real experience - the compressed air wave redirected by the break was surprisingly strong, and you could feel it in your chest.
I will not own a breaked rifle - unless I get into .50 BMG shooting. To me the recoil reduction from normal sporting rifles does not justify the potential for injury. When you lay behind a .50 you understand what it is you are going to do, but particularly on a powerful hunting rifle, sooner or later I - like my pal - would end up taking a shot at game without hearing protection - so I'll just avoid the whole thing and just put up with the recoil.
As for breaks and range whiners - I can't help but remember the day I was at a down south range and on the next bench sat a guy with a Mk-V in .300 Weatherby. Well the Weatherby guy was shooting inch and a half groups - which I didn't think was too bad considering that long pencil thin barrel they put on those things. Anyway he's getting frustrated because his big dollar outfit is shooting groups twice the size of the groups I was shooting with my ADL '06 and it's hundred dollar Bushnell scope. I can still see him sitting there measuring his case heads with one of those micrometers that looks like a little C clamp...shaking his head. In all fairness though, that load of 4831 boomed pretty good out of my 22" barrel, but hell it's a range not a library. Now I hadn't said a word to this guy, but he snaps - cusses me out saying that the muzzle blast from my rifle is screwing up his groups. If I had a breaked rifle that day - he'd of likely just shot me....breaks are dangerous!!
I will not own a breaked rifle - unless I get into .50 BMG shooting. To me the recoil reduction from normal sporting rifles does not justify the potential for injury. When you lay behind a .50 you understand what it is you are going to do, but particularly on a powerful hunting rifle, sooner or later I - like my pal - would end up taking a shot at game without hearing protection - so I'll just avoid the whole thing and just put up with the recoil.
As for breaks and range whiners - I can't help but remember the day I was at a down south range and on the next bench sat a guy with a Mk-V in .300 Weatherby. Well the Weatherby guy was shooting inch and a half groups - which I didn't think was too bad considering that long pencil thin barrel they put on those things. Anyway he's getting frustrated because his big dollar outfit is shooting groups twice the size of the groups I was shooting with my ADL '06 and it's hundred dollar Bushnell scope. I can still see him sitting there measuring his case heads with one of those micrometers that looks like a little C clamp...shaking his head. In all fairness though, that load of 4831 boomed pretty good out of my 22" barrel, but hell it's a range not a library. Now I hadn't said a word to this guy, but he snaps - cusses me out saying that the muzzle blast from my rifle is screwing up his groups. If I had a breaked rifle that day - he'd of likely just shot me....breaks are dangerous!!
If you absalutely have to have a brake, get it removable. You'll have to resight after removeing for hunting. To be honest you really shouldn't need a brake with a 300, shoot it lots till you're used to it. Get a PAST recoil pad for under your jacket at the range. Doesn't sound like it would make that much difference but it'll take the sting out of your gun.
- Location
- Central; Alberta
I HAD a KDF on my 338 Win Mag thios was not my smartest gun desicion I have ever made, but at the time I thought it the best way to graduate into a magnum rifle. I have regretted basradising my M70 Supergrade each time I have to look at the knurned thread cap, which will never have the brake on it again. try shooting one prone, on a gravel /rock base, then pick dirt out of your face. Th last time i fired my 338 with the KDF on it it was foggy/rainy out, and I fired two shots into a Mule buck. The shock wave in the dense air was defening/painful, and I hope that the damage was not too severe.
I know its been said a million times, but I f you cannot handle the recoil, get a smaller rifle caliber
I know its been said a million times, but I f you cannot handle the recoil, get a smaller rifle caliber
I started the opposition here, last fall I was at our range, several guys shooting. A fellow shows up with a 270 browning with the BOSS. I was sitting 4 benches away, I was wearing plugs and muffs, my ears didn't come around for 2-3 hours after he shot 3, count'em 3 rounds. Being near anyone shooting a rifle with a brake is hazardous to your health. They are probably the most selfish thing a fellow shooter can use to piss off others. They are a health risk, yours and anybody else anywhere near you. Get a smaller rifle, if you can't(or don't want to)handle the recoil of a 300 win, shoot 150 or 165 gr X bullets to reduce recoil, move down to a 3006 or 270 and keep your friends.
