I'll comment on two points you raised in this post.
1. You mentioned retinal detachments. I have never had a retina detach but had three torn retinas before my doctor started probing my habits and when he came to my love of my 300 Win Mag and my frequent trips to the range where I would usually shoot 40-50 rounds per range session. He said I was crazy to be subjecting myself to that much and so frequent recoil. I cut way back on my shooting of heavy recoiling rifles and voila! No more torn retinas!
2. You also mentioned the 30-378 Weatherby round and it's inherent recoil. No kidding! I had a Weatherby Mark 5 in 30-378 a few years ago that LOVED the Nosler 180gr BT bullet and was amazingly accurate out to 1000 yards. BUT!!! The recoil was so ferocious that it just wasn't any fun at all after about 7 rounds in a day. Also my nervous system would get jangled kind of like being punch drunk and my accuracy would go south about that time. LOL
Needless to say I sold both rifles and now shoot kinder and gentler recoiling rifles but still abhor a brake and won't even permit myself to be anywhere near the firing line when someone at the range shows up with one.
Believe it or not, For many years I would not consider a muzzle brake "AT ALL". When I bought an M 82 AI 50 BMG I finally reached my limit of reasonable recoil. The 50 BMG produces a recoil Of 117 ft/lbs with out a brake and is unacceptable to most shooters without a brake.
So That was when I started working on a new design that would reduce the recoil to a reasonable amount. after trying different designs, Recoil went from 117 ft/lbs to 49.4 ft/lbs. I shoot/hunt with some rifles that have lots of recoil and have a limit of somewhere around 85 ft/lbs before accuracy is affected because of my limits.
An un-braked 300 WIN MAG produces around 23 ft/lbs. With my brake design it is reduced to less than 9 ft/lbs in a standard hunting rifle. there is no doubt that the muzzle blast can effect other shooters, so people with brakes installed should be courteous and set up or remind others of the effects.
Also when I excepted the fact that hearing protection was needed when firing "ANY" firearm, with or without a brake to prevent damage/loss of hearing. It became a non issue.
I still have rifles that don't have a muzzle brakes up to 416s but this does limit the amount of shooting before the fun goes out of it.
There are many reasons to install a brake, and very few not to but it is just a personal choice and i respect that. What I tell people that are trying to decide if they want a brake or not, is that If you don,t enjoy shooting a/any rifle over 4 or 5 times, and if you are think about how it is going to kick the crap out of you, they probably need a brake.
Brakes have little or no effect on the rifles accuracy, It can have a great effect on the shooters accuracy because he can concentrate on breathing, trigger pull/control, site picture. position, ETC, instead of what is going to happen once he pulls the trigger.
In many cases, muzzle brakes are not needed, but in other cases they can be an asset. In some, they are almost a must to bring back the joy in shooting them.
Like them or not they are hear to stay and everyone has a choice what they want.
J E CUSTOM
