Why the muzzle brake hatred?

A brake reduces recoil and makes it easier to shoot better, it's no different than having proper stock fit and a good recoil pad, I really don't see the issue, wear proper hearing protection is all. If in the bush there's Surefire ear pro or electronic ear muffs, simple enough. At the range it can be an issue to some so just slide you gun case between each other if shooting prone, from a bench though it can be difficult.
 
I can't seem to find hard numbers on how much of a gun blast the shooter hears but if the average gun has a muzzle DB level of 155 unbraked and you use a brake, most if not all of that is directed to the side/rear of the gun.

Even with good hearing protection that is a lot to sustain, and most don't double plug and/or use protection that is not sufficient, such as muffs with low NRR's, to protect the shooter and those around.
 
I never did shoot a rifle with a brake, so I can't evaluete the advantage in reduction of recoil, but had shooters next to me using the brake. Yes on couple occasion had fellow shooting large capacity case 338/378 Wheaterby right next to me and the blast will make me jump not the noise...( I have good ear protection over ear plugs)
Personally I do not see the need to install muzzle brake on my rifles, I own several large case capacity: many .300mag including .300 RUM, 338w.mag, 9.3x62 , 45/70 and had a .375H&H for few years, and shoot all without discomfort as is. When bench rest I put a sheep skin over the rough planks of the bench in order to save my elbow when wearing short sleeves on summer, but I have nothing against peoples using muzzle brake.
 
At the range it can be an issue to some so just slide you gun case between each other if shooting prone, from a bench though it can be difficult.
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Good point except that some ranges that have an overhead cover are not well designed. One range I USED to belong to , had unusual acoustic qualities from the roof. Some sounds would get amplified & bounce around.
BTW. Even though I suffered hearing loss, I have nothing against muzzle brakes. When used properly they serve a useful function.
 
My range is usually dead but if there's one other person there, I go to the complete other end to fire off my SVT38 or one of my SVT40's. I haven't ever warned anyone in advance, though - I also haven't met anyone at my range who didn't know what an SVT sounded or felt like when fired, either though...
 
had a guy setup next to me w/ a 308 w/ brake fire off a bunch of rounds next to me , we left waited for green so we could move to different part of range. just not fun being around that. had a headache for a week after..
 
I frigging hate when the guy next to me has a brake; I can feel the slap of the airwave, everything on the table rattles and I'm left breathing directly the gasses.

If you can't shoot your rifle without a muzzle brake, then simply put it's too much caliber for you, so be a men, accept it, and go smaller.
 
I do not hunt with a brake but to tell others that they dont belong on a hunting rifle is ignorant and arrogant. What one chooses to hunt/shoot with is his choice...don't like it go else where. Bunch of nattering old women on here :nest:
 
Boomer said:
The problem with braked rifles is that their bark is literally worse than their bite. Recoil is an exhilarating, and enjoyable part of shooting powerful rifles, but redirecting the the muzzle blast back towards and out to the sides of the shooter is a flinch in the making. I challenge you to sit on the bench next to a .30-378 shooter, who is using a brake equipped rifle, and shoot a decent group. When he fires, you can feel the pressure wave hit you, not just hear it. That will disturb your aim to the extent that you'll give up in disgust and wait until he's finished.

Brakes have their place, which is on .50s, Cheytacs, and such. These rifles cannot be reasonably shot without a brake, but their long range capability suggest its unlikely they would be used on a standard rifle range where shooters were positioned close together.

I don't understand why anyone would use a brake while hunting. Rather than a brake, you need less gun if recoil is a problem. Recoil is best addressed through a quality recoil pad, proper gun fit, and the correct shooting technique. If it hurts, something is wrong, or the gun is too big for you. Either way, an adjustment must be made, perhaps to the LOP, perhaps to the quality of the recoil pad, perhaps to you shooting technique, but to trade flinch inducing recoil for flinch inducing blast seems counter productive. To continue using a rifle that is poorly set up for you, or to continue using a poor shooting technique, because you've traded one type of waste energy for another, will do little for your practical field marksmanship. Of course when shooting from the bench, a rifle can shoot tolerable groups even if the shooter is standing on his head, as he, for the most part, is removed from the equation.
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Makes you want to use a hack saw and cut the muzzle brake off.

What muzzle breaks do there are 2 types

Flash hiders hide flash

Muzzle brakes redirect gas

It doesn't make the gun loweder it just moves the gas in a diffren't direction meaning more gas travels in 1 direction instead of spreading out in a circle so people beside it can be hit but if you turn the brake so it goes up instead of sideways then it push the muzzle down and the noise travels up
 
haha49 said:
It doesn't make the gun louder it just moves the gas in a diffren't direction meaning more gas travels in 1 direction
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It may not make it louder, but it sure makes it louder for those beside and that is the issue/debate here.

If you're beside a .338 or bigger the DB is 170 so if you direct that to the side or rear you subject the shooter and bystanders to huge DB damage even with exceptional hearing protection.
 
Real men don't mind recoil, in fact we like it. Bruising and high levels of pain tolerance are signs of manhood. "I don't need no stinkin' brake".

Seriously though, i don't care if someone uses a brake or not. I personally think that practising with a brake and hunting without is counter-productive since it's not practsing under realistic conditions, but if that's what a guy wants to do then i'm fine with it. At least he's practising some shooting which is better than 90% of the hunters do.

I don't have any rifles that i need braked to shoot properly, but if i did i would have one. Use whatever you want and don't worry about it - just be considerate of fellow shooters at a shooting range.
 
THIS JUST IN!... 'Guns are loud'

Complaining about the noise of a brake at a gun range is like complaining that the cars drive too fast at a Nascar event.
 
tiriaq said:
Brakes are routine in the matches I shoot. Simply doesn't seem to be a problem.
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Highlighted to give some ammo to the complainers.


bearkilr said:
That's all fine and dandy, but this is the "Hunting and Sporting Arms" forum. Brakes have no place on a hunting rifle IMO. For those that are recoil shy, get a lighter caliber or a heavier gun with a good recoil pad, problem solved.
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+1
if you can't handle the recoil for 1-20 shots, get a shooting coat, smaller caliber or add more weight. For my hunting rifles, I test loads how I shoot in the field. So what you shoot >1 moa off the bench, if you can't produce results in the field, who cares?

POI will probably change as you add /remove the brake.
Put it on and leave it on, or take it off completely.

Practice with your gun how it will used away from the bench otherwise you'll have a missed shot, or worse, and wounded animal; but I digress.

I'm not a fudd, I don't reminiscence on the way things "used to be", I embrace new technology - but:

Brakes have their place, as do comps, and flash hiders. On my bolt action hunting rifle? No. On my mossberg .22? no. On my shotgun? Maybe for competitions. On my black rifle? yes. On my range only, 400+ yard, 100 round at a time .30 cal? yes.

I've seen guys with .204's with brakes...stupid loud and just plain stupid.

When all the majority of your shots are in the field and without ear pro, why would you subject yourself to MORE noise for ~ -2 pounds of recoil energy?


my rant for the day.
 
That's what that was! I was at a shooting range in the states and the guy next to me had a AR -- pretty much the same as the one I was shooting. Except every time he would shoot I'd feel like I was getting punched in the chest. Just a big WOOSH everytime he fired. nuts.
 
Why...? Because loud noises startle some people.

Muzzle Brakes have their place on large caliber, heavy recoil guns especially when these are hunting rifles. Target rifles with heavy barrels, heavy, beefy target stocks, shot off rests most of the time can absorb recoil. You can add bags of sand or shot to help if shooting off a rest.

But if practicing shooting from different hunting positions then recoil may be a problem with these rifles and a muzzle brake might be a solution. But these rifles are LOUD and do startle other shooters on the range especially if you're shooting from bays with a roof. Just have some consideration and move down the line away from others.

In the field, who cares? Not the dead deer.
 
I always wear plugs and earmuffs at the range but if some c**ksucker comes next to me with a muzzle brake I leave. I've got plenty of self-inflicted hearing loss already, I don't need that aggravation.
 
fugawi said:
In the field, who cares? Not the dead deer.
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Actually you should care. The shooter is always subjected to noise loud enough to do damage, even without muzzle brakes. With a brake, any gun that is big enough to need one will do hearing damage every time it is fired without hearing protection, and not just to bystanders. Shooting a braked rifle without hearing protection will damage your own hearing. Period.

If you don't know that, you are just too young to have learned it yet.
 
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