I recently had a muzzle brake made and installed by a smith recommended by several friends. I took this rifle to the range to shoot it and the bullets were hitting the brake between the second and third port. The brake is on a Weatherby 300 win mag with three ports per side and small ports on top to use prone. It reduces recoil wonderfully but as you can imagine shoots a mile high. I returned it to the smith and his solution was to open the brake up more. It took .008 to clean up where it was hitting plus he took a couple thousands more for clearance. I was originally bored .015 over. Does this sound like the proper solution or should i be concerned. Thanks for your help this is the first brake I have had done.
muzzle brake problems
- Thread starter elkbird
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
Broz
Well-Known Member
I would say it is still too tight to the bore. I believe for a .308 bullet you would want the brake bore to be closer to .040" over. This making the finished brake bore close to .345" or so.
Jeff
Jeff
Fiftydriver
Official LRH Sponsor
For my Painkiller muzzle brakes I tell customers and other smiths to ream them a minimum of 20 thou over bullet diameter. If the threads are machined true, this is plenty of room but I never recommend anything tighter then this.
Your situation confuses me somewhat. Was your brake supposed to be set up already for a 30 cal bore? If it was reamed by your smith, how could the center partition passage be tighter then the others?
ALWAYS check that any brake is reamed properly before shooting, that goes for ALL port passages. This is one reason why I do not ship prereamed brakes, its better to make the smith or machinest ream the brakes to the recommended diameter then to have them ASSUME you did it for them.
If the bore is reamed 20 thou over bullet diameter and your still hitting some portion of the brake, something is seriously out of alignment but hitting in the center of the brake makes no sense at all. I suspect the brake has not been reamed.....
Your situation confuses me somewhat. Was your brake supposed to be set up already for a 30 cal bore? If it was reamed by your smith, how could the center partition passage be tighter then the others?
ALWAYS check that any brake is reamed properly before shooting, that goes for ALL port passages. This is one reason why I do not ship prereamed brakes, its better to make the smith or machinest ream the brakes to the recommended diameter then to have them ASSUME you did it for them.
If the bore is reamed 20 thou over bullet diameter and your still hitting some portion of the brake, something is seriously out of alignment but hitting in the center of the brake makes no sense at all. I suspect the brake has not been reamed.....
sorry I left off that the bullet only struck the bottom of the brake and was fine on all other sides. It sound as if I have an alignment problem. This was not a factory brake but one he machined for me. He has made them for others with no problems but mine not so lucky. If my bullets are moving through the brake with uneven spacing on all sides how will that affect my accuracy? Should I consider having him remake the brake? Thanks for your help.
SidecarFlip
Well-Known Member
Something sounds fishy...
I have to ask, is this a fully machined muzzle brake, that is machined from a length of stock (loosely termed 'billet' in todays speak) or..
Is it a cast from metal and subsequently machined brake?
If the pill is contacting the brake bore only in one segment (in this case the bottom segment), that means the bore of the brake isn't concentric with the rifle bore, thats a big issue....why I'm curious about the design of the unit itself....
Finally, is this brake your gunsmith's proprietary design or did he source the brake from someone else and just mount it?
I have to ask, is this a fully machined muzzle brake, that is machined from a length of stock (loosely termed 'billet' in todays speak) or..
Is it a cast from metal and subsequently machined brake?
If the pill is contacting the brake bore only in one segment (in this case the bottom segment), that means the bore of the brake isn't concentric with the rifle bore, thats a big issue....why I'm curious about the design of the unit itself....
Finally, is this brake your gunsmith's proprietary design or did he source the brake from someone else and just mount it?
Fiftydriver
Official LRH Sponsor
If this smith "MADE" the brake I am sure its a fully machined brake. It would be extremely expensive to do cast investment on a brake unless you were making a HUGE run of them. Just saying.
Fiftydriver
Official LRH Sponsor
Sounds like a burr or something got raised while machining the brake. Still do not understand how the front and rear of the brake are clear but the middle is contacting if the brake was reamed to proper diameter as the final step of making the brake. Reaming the bore of the brake SHOULD be the very last step.
As far as accuracy and out of align brakes. Its really far less critical then most think. That said, it depends on bullet weight and the design of the muzzle brake. Partition style brakes, it really does not make a lot of difference as long as the bullet clears the partition walls untouched. IF your shooting light weight bullets, they can be effected more by turbulence inside the muzzle brake, the heavier the bullet, generally the longer and in many cases, most of the bullet has already passed through the brake by the time the muzzle gas is released from the muzzle unless this brake is a very long design.
Post some pics of the brake, curious to see its design.
