Holland QD Muzzle Brake - 2 Shot Review

[Mysticplayer]

I think many forget how and why a muzzle brake works. It is simply a device to divert exiting gases from going straight ahead. It does not affect rifle accuracy at all (proper install required of course).

The bullet is in front of the gas front so acts as a stopper/cork. This helps force the gases to travel sideways. This is why you want the brake bore to be as close to bullet diameter as possible. However, it must still be large enough so that the bullet does not hit the brake during its travel. 0.020" over bullet diameter seems to be a good compromise. The longer the brake, the larger the bore the ports furthest from the muzzle should be.

How it does affect accuracy is that it changes the barrel harmonics. Some will test using a muzzle brake then take it off for hunting. Bad idea unless additional testing is done to confirm the load in the 'new' barrel and POI.

Have yet to find a rifle that would tolerate removing a muzzle brake without some adjustments.

Like Kirby, I prefer the partition or fish gill type brake. Bigger is better at reducing recoil. The multiport singe expansion chamber brakes are not as effective. Anytime you allow gases to travel forward, you reduce its affectiveness. The more effective a brake is, the louder it will be perceived. Simple a relation to amount of gas diverted and direction of diverted muzzle blast.

As they say, no free lunch. Unfortunately, we are not blessed with being able to shoot silencers. If we were, we would have the best of both worlds - recoil reduction with quiet shooting.

I have had very good luck with a Micaluk (sp?) AR15 brake. Very similar to the Holland in style and equally effective..

As to indexing, it has no effect on accuracy. It simply causes the rifle to not recoil straight. But that can have it uses too...

Jerry

[royinidaho]

The game plan today was load up some Sierra 250s to ensure POI after brake was installed. Then switch to the WC 252s and see what they'd do.

I had previously shot 3 consecutive 0.5MOA 200 yd groups then things went south, way south.

I figured that recoil was getting to me. Wrong. Rifle shot 250gr sierras, 252gr WCs and 225gr Hornady's for squat. Best group which was probably 50% smaller than the average of the rest of the groups and was right at 1MOA or 2 inches (I do all my shooting @ 200yds when not at the range.. Pretty much exactly the way it was before the brake installation.

Bottom line, brake seems to have no impact on accuracy, one way or the other.

About an inch and a half of the bbl was bedded just ahead of the action. Today was warm and bbl heat was a problem and I wasn't patient enough to wait until it was cool, though I did wait a bit between shots. So I free floated the entire barrel. Groups more than doubled in size. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Quit shooting, shined myself up a bit and went to my wife's highschool class reunion. It was great. Came home and took the stock off and would ya believe it there in the bottom of the recoil lug channel were two chips that I had neglected to remove when I hogged out the bbl channel. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] Sierra/WC/Alliant love me today.

Anyway the Brake is wonderful. 35 shots, last six prone. I'm ready to rock and roll (When I get the rifle shooting again). Most loads were 252gr bullets at 2860 or so.

Video shows 3 gas releases. Two out the side and one to the front. Prone shots raised only a bit of dust ahead of me. Don't think this installation will pass Kregg's paper test. The upper holes release a smaller amount of gasses. Had an umbrella for shade as the sun was bright and hot. It only wiggled a bit with each shot.

All in all the Holland is definitely a keeper as far as I'm concerned. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Also all shooting was done in a tee shirt.

[Darrell Holland]

Gentlemen,

Greetings once again.

First off, there is NO QUIET MUZZLE brake!!!! Do not be beguiled by anyone saying there is... ALWAYS wear ear protection. Brakes claiming to be quiet are less efficient as most of them direct the gases forward away from the shooter and this lessens efficiency.

Brakes with blank areas on the bottom are not less accurate that full 360 degree hole patterns. Our design affords better dfownward pressure eliminating muzzle rise, but most importantly when shooting in the field they do not blow debris up around the shooter. Imagine being several miles from the truck and shooting your 360 degree hole patterned brake in a sandy/dusty environment and getting something in your eye???? Doing the Helen Keller back to the truck can be quite difficult.

The OPS inc brake is a good design, but I feel ours is superior as we have considerably more exhaust/baffle area for the gases to work against. It would be an interesting test should someone entertain the idea?

Hopefully I've shed some light on the above topic????

Be safe, shoot straight and beware of your backstop!

Respectfully,


Darrell Holland

[GeorgeD]

Hello all,
I recently purchased a Holland QD muzzle brake for my Ruger 480 SRH. My question is, does anybody know if the barrel on this revolver is removable?

I also am planning on shortening the barrel from 9 1/2" to 6 1/2" to make it more manageable. I have a friend who is a machinist that has offered to help me with the installation. As every one knows, money is tight all around. But I do wish to do it right.

I would appreciate any help on this project. You can email me direct at: defazio@ntcnet.com


Thanks.