Question for the Experienced Muzzle Brake Shooter

[royinidaho]

Background: Recoil reduction.
Pre-Brake thinking: add more weight. Thicker wider quality recoil pad.

Post Brake thinking: All of the above may be exactly backwards , especially the added weight.

I seem to recall reading recently that a reduction in weight will result in a reduction of recoil with a brake (Holland QD).

Well then, why not remove that pound and a half of lead from the stock before I had the brake installed? It seems that there is more going on with the brake and weight than you can see from the surface, so to speak./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

However, I'm a bit scope shock sensitive at the moment. W/a "good" scope (Weaver tactical 4-14) will the 'increased' deceleration be worse or no difference?

If this is a dumb question, well Good! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif at least now I'm askin' before running off into one of those "unresolved safety questions", or is it la la land. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Meister]

Added weight helps dampen recoil, so everything you have done sounds right. The monarchs are well suited to heavy recoil rifles. I think you've done all the right things. Think about it this way, a heavier object takes more force to move than a lighter one- if you have 2 forces, recoil, and muzzle brake deflection, the forces are finite(meaning a set value) Now how in the world can a muzzle brake become more effective with a lighter rifle? Weight of the rifle is one of the main values involved when recoil is calculated. Think of it this way, muzzle brake action acts to cancel recoil by expelling gasses out and back to cause the rifle to accelerate foreward. 25 lbs/sec recoil minus 12 lbs/sec muzzle brake deflection equals 13 lbs/sec total acceleration. 13 lbs/sec acceleration on a 30 lb gun is equal to 13.953 ft/lbs, 13 lbs/sec acceleration in a 6 lb rifle is 69.67 ft/lbs. My gunsmith makes his own muzzle brakes, and they are very efficient, but not all brakes are created equal. Here's another thing to confuse you, A sound suppressor also dampens felt recoil by containing the escaping gasses and not allowing them to escape forward, causing further rearward acceleration.

 

[1doug]

[ QUOTE ]
Now how in the world can a muzzle brake become more effective with a lighter rifle?

[/ QUOTE ]

the muzzle gases has to pull the rifle away from the shooter to reduce felt recoil with a brake. a heavier rifle will make it harder to pull the rifle. that is why lighter rifles with brakes are more effective. A rifle witout a brake needs as much weight to slow the recoil down.

 

[Tailgunner]

Ummm the reduction in ejecta energy will be the same, regardless of rifle weight. However the percentage of felt recoil reduction will be greater with the lighter rifle. The heavier rifle will still have less felt recoil than the lighter rifle.

 

[Guest]

If a brake will boost your confidence and in turn make you more accurate... I have a question for you...

why wouldn't you get one... your lighter weight rifle doesn't do you any good if you can't hit your poa...

 

[Meister]

When I did my stay at Purdue I had just started to become interested in guns, I graphed recoil calculations to learn about the mechanics of firearms using vectors (argh!) In the real world things aren't always so finite, but I can tell you this: I have 3 308 rifles, all with the same barrel threading (fits muzzle brake and Bi-Lock) The light gun hurts less with the muzzle brake, but still hurts after 20 rounds or so (savage model 10fp 20").

 

[royinidaho]

[ QUOTE ]
The light gun hurts less with the muzzle brake, but still hurts after 20 rounds or so (savage model 10fp 20").

[/ QUOTE ]

Seems to agree with what I read somewhere.

I don't understand your brake effectiveness. I'm shooting a Rem 700 w/250gr bullets moving pretty good and can shoot it all day. Most limiting factor is bbl heat.

 

[wapiti13]

There is another factor to consider. Reduced muzzle rise with quicker recovery for a second shot. With a really effective brake on a medium caliber and you can spot your own shots. You might chech under the optics topic and a discussion of scopes & muzzle brakes is going on now. Muzzle breaks will really "test" your scope by applying a reverse thrust.

 

[royinidaho]

[ QUOTE ]
You might check under the optics topic and a discussion of scopes & muzzle brakes is going on now.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea there is. I think I'm the one that started that thread.

I still get some jump but its more from the stock design. Felt recoil is a non-issue. Yep, its hard on scopes but that is now solved.

Next will be getting the rifle to come straight back during recoil so as to spot my own shots as I used to with the 270 Win and thumbhole stock.