Recoil Pads and Quality Rifle Stocks vs Muzzle Brakes

LDHunter

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Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Messages
905
Location
NW Florida Piney Woods
Frankly I am quite perplexed about all the people on here that seem to think that recoil reduction necessitates a muzzle brake.

In the real world any and all muzzle brakes WILL damage your hearing permanently. Speaking as someone that can't hear very well even with quality hearing aids I can testify to the damage that shooting firearms with or without muzzle brakes WILL do to your hearing. It's subtle... You don't think there is any damage being done until one day your wife starts yelling to turn the dang TV down because she can't hear herself think.

Hearing loss is very hard to spot until it's bad and then it's simply too late.

Here's been my recoil fix for the past few years. First and foremost almost all my rifles that have any chance of causing noticeable recoil get good quality stocks. I have a few Remington Custom Shop rifles with McMillan "Kevlar"stocks which in reality didn't have all that much Kevlar in them but due to a GREAT design they absorb a lot of the perceived recoil and were pretty light. I know that these days there are a lot of other great stocks as well. Then I also added Pachmayr Decelerator® Slip-On Recoil Pads on top of the factory recoil pads. I have a long pull so on most of my stocks that just brought me right where I wanted to be in pull.

VOILA!!! Greatly reduced perceived recoil and I didn't have to increase the damage to my hearing and the people around me to do it.

I also simply stay away from rifles chambered in extreme shoulder pounding cartridges these days. They simply aren't worth it to me.

One more solution that we all probably need to look at is suppressors. I don't own one yet but not only do they greatly reduce muzzle blast even with the big magnums but they do provide a certain amount of recoil reduction as well and any little bit helps.
 
Frankly I am quite perplexed about all the people on here that seem to think that recoil reduction necessitates a muzzle brake.

In the real world any and all muzzle brakes WILL damage your hearing permanently. Speaking as someone that can't hear very well even with quality hearing aids I can testify to the damage that shooting firearms with or without muzzle brakes WILL do to your hearing. It's subtle... You don't think there is any damage being done until one day your wife starts yelling to turn the dang TV down because she can't hear herself think.

Hearing loss is very hard to spot until it's bad and then it's simply too late.

Here's been my recoil fix for the past few years. First and foremost almost all my rifles that have any chance of causing noticeable recoil get good quality stocks. I have a few Remington Custom Shop rifles with McMillan "Kevlar"stocks which in reality didn't have all that much Kevlar in them but due to a GREAT design they absorb a lot of the perceived recoil and were pretty light. I know that these days there are a lot of other great stocks as well. Then I also added Pachmayr Decelerator® Slip-On Recoil Pads on top of the factory recoil pads. I have a long pull so on most of my stocks that just brought me right where I wanted to be in pull.

VOILA!!! Greatly reduced perceived recoil and I didn't have to increase the damage to my hearing and the people around me to do it.

I also simply stay away from rifles chambered in extreme shoulder pounding cartridges these days. They simply aren't worth it to me.

One more solution that we all probably need to look at is suppressors. I don't own one yet but not only do they greatly reduce muzzle blast even with the big magnums but they do provide a certain amount of recoil reduction as well and any little bit helps.

"My personal" take on this is that, these are tools to help us enhance our shooting experience and becomes a personal choice whether we use it or not. I totally agree with you that a good stock and recoil pad helps in felt recoil. However, it does not mitigate muzzle rise even on non-magnum chamberings. An effective muzzle brake serves two purpose, reduce felt recoil and reduce muzzle rise; being able to spot target on impact is priceless. BTW, before my first muzzle brake install in 2003, I use super magnum PAST recoil protection shield for many years.

I am more perplexed with people complaining about hearing loss caused by firearms but not use any hearing protections on exposure to other high dB generating household tools and equipment, i.e., power tools, mowers, etc. I am one of those people that use hearing and eye protection and other PPEs, a habit I carried forward after my 10 years in flightline days generating and maintaining aircraft.

While the suppressor is not as good as the muzzle brake in recoil/muzzle rise reduction, it mitigates the noise reduction effectively and perhaps IMHO the best compromise but the wait is long and is pricey. Hopefully, it gets better.

I am enjoying my Eliteiron bravo suppressor and allows me to switch from one rifle to the next for what it is designed and rated.

From my .30 LARA ...

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... to my 6.5 CM ...

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Cheers!
 
Hearing loss sucks. I have fallen in love with brakes. I never dared shoot them without ear protection. I hated shooting regular rifles without it. My cure was to install brake and get soundgear hearing protection. I have a great lose of hearing from multiple things and shooting was not it now I must protect it. I can wear them all day long and never notice them.
I always get worried about guides. I had one sitting right next to me while I let lose 5 rounds and I mentioned he needs protection and he said naw it's fine. I couldn't imagine.
 
Hello ,
Here is my two cents worth on this subject thatseriously looks at several issues. Having seen my last patient several years ago, I can tell you there are seven different nerves affected every time you pull the trigger on a recoiling weapon. Recoil and noise reduction aids in accurate placement of that all important first shot. I have several rifles as large as .375 H&H. The best recoil pad I have is the Limbsavers and I recommend them. The best muzzle brake I have is the JP that allows you to see the impact on firing. These two, in tandem, allows total concentration on aiming and viewing the results when firing a high powered rifle. There may be more effective products available. I am simply not aware of them.
Gene S. C./L. O., C. Ped. (Ret.)
 
Hearing loss is a problem for many reasons. Mostly people that do not not protect there hearing in marginal sound levels. anything that can produce DB levels over 85 can/will damage your ears over time Like Feenix said. even ear plugs help even though they are not 100 %.

While testing DB levels on (Quite brakes) to see how much quieter they were, they were not any quieter than a rifle without anything. The range was from 105 to 108 DB with or without anything, So hearing protection is/should be required when shooting any rifle.

Recoil pads or any other recoil reducers can help with recoil, but they don't address the DB issue that cause hearing loss.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM
 
I totally AGREE with the OP's post !!! I shoot, a .243 Win for Varmints/ Deer and a .270 WSM for Elk. Both have, very REASONABLE recoil with, Limb Saver Pads and proper "Comb" alignment, on the stock. I don't have to worry about losing my Hearing in case,.. I DON'T have TIME, to put Plugs IN, while Hunting ! Serious Hearing damage, can/ WILL be done with, a Brake with-OUT, Plugs/ Muff's on ! I can shoot many MANY, Rounds at Practice with, both Rifles ! Too many, Young "Hunters" think that, they "NEED" a .300 /. 338 Magnum to kill an Elk and that's,.."Bull Chit" ! I thought about putting a Brake on my .243 to see hits and started watching YouTube about, Brakes and found out that, Ton's of UNHAPPY .300 Mag owners, HAVE to Brake their Rifles in order to shoot them, "well',... NO THANKS !!
 
Here is the bad news guys. Shooting with muffs and or plugs will eventuality damage your hearing anyway. I shoot about 40,000 shotgun rounds a year. All with 31db suppression. I can no longer hear anyone not looking directly at me. A beaked 300 RUM no longer hurts or rings my ears. Suppressors are illegal to hunt with in my state. Everyone should write their congressman and beg to have this changes for the benefit of younger shooters. I know they could care less about us, but they do care about votes. Make your voice heard. It is too late for me, but not my children. In many countries it is considered rude to go to a range without a supressor. It should be that way here.
 
I am 74 years old. I started shooting as a teenager. About age 30 I discovered hearing plugs and earmuffs and have been using them sense. And yet I sit here with hearing aids in both ears.

My dad used to shoot when he was a teenager on the farm and didn't shoot any after that. He could hear pretty good all this life. My mom never fried a gun, did not work in noisy environment and her hearing went down the tube as she aged. Therefore I conclude some of it is hereditary and I got those jeans.
 
Prefer to control recoil with properly fitted stocks and recoil pads. Though, from the bench, I cheat and use a PAST recoil shield. I tried a "brake" on my rifle when I had it build....it became a "trout line sinker"! As the rifle has a little less than 60 ft/lbs recoil....I'm good. But, don't do a lot of bench work! memtb
 
I have been using hearing protection since the late 60's and back then we just used foam ear plugs and then when I got my first set of Peltor muffs I thought I'd arrived. Then I graduated to electronically amplified earmuffs and a few years ago my wife mentioned that I was asking her to repeat more often on evenings after I'd been to the range that morning.

I realized then that not only did I need ear plugs but I ALSO needed good ear muffs on top of them and I can tell you that if I'm under the shed roof at my rifle range and someone lets off a round from a rifle with a brake it actually hurts my ears even with plugs and muffs.

It seems that the tin roofs of our sheds which provide wonderful relief from the hot sun in the summer and from rain year around are bouncing the muzzle blast back at us at a barely reduced rate.

Something else I noticed. When I shot a rifle outdoors when I lived in Colorado I barely noticed the muzzle blast but here in Florida when I touch off a high powered rifle round it sounds quite loud if I'm in thick woods or near a reflective surface.

Call it reflected sound or whatever causes this, it makes perfect sense that the hearing damage is greatly amplified by a tin roof at a rifle range or even trees in the woods. So.... Since 98% of my actual shooting is at a rifle range under a tin roof I'll never own another braked rifle again unless it's strictly to be shot out in the open and even then I intend to wear ear plugs or muffs even for only one shot.

Remember that hearing loss creeps up on you and it's almost never immediately apparent or even not in a year or so unless you really shoot a braked rifle a lot.

I miss my good hearing I had when I was young and now I wear amplified ear muffs when I hunt so I can hear something besides these danged crickets that follow me around all the time. LOL

There was a study done a few years ago because the sniper instructors were going deaf and they were absolutely required to wear very good hearing protection. They found that you simply can't guard against the concussion effects that travel through the bones in your skull that still damage the nerves involved in hearing.

No... I don't think brakes are a good idea. Yes I think they are guaranteed to damage your hearing much more than a rifle that does not have a brake and even a 22 rimfire rifle without a brake can damage your hearing.

I guess I'm rambling but it's a big deal to me that I have lost a good part of my hearing and I wish I'd been much more careful with hearing protection through the years.

At my range if you show up with a rifle with a brake people start packing up and leaving it's so obnoxiously loud.

Climbing down off my soap box and feeling a bit sheepish but I'm glad I got that off my chest.
 
I've got hearing loss big time and I've been careful to use earmuffs and or plugs. I just ordered a Thunderbeast Ultra 9; a friend kept telling me to get a suppressor. I thought it was too much money but honestly I can't afford not to get one. He kept saying if I would just order one the 9 month background check would be over before knew it and I'd be happier shooting and not go deaf. I with I would have listened to him years ago.
 
Frankly I am quite perplexed about all the people on here that seem to think that recoil reduction necessitates a muzzle brake.

In the real world any and all muzzle brakes WILL damage your hearing permanently. Speaking as someone that can't hear very well even with quality hearing aids I can testify to the damage that shooting firearms with or without muzzle brakes WILL do to your hearing. It's subtle... You don't think there is any damage being done until one day your wife starts yelling to turn the dang TV down because she can't hear herself think.

Hearing loss is very hard to spot until it's bad and then it's simply too late.

Here's been my recoil fix for the past few years. First and foremost almost all my rifles that have any chance of causing noticeable recoil get good quality stocks. I have a few Remington Custom Shop rifles with McMillan "Kevlar"stocks which in reality didn't have all that much Kevlar in them but due to a GREAT design they absorb a lot of the perceived recoil and were pretty light. I know that these days there are a lot of other great stocks as well. Then I also added Pachmayr Decelerator® Slip-On Recoil Pads on top of the factory recoil pads. I have a long pull so on most of my stocks that just brought me right where I wanted to be in pull.

VOILA!!! Greatly reduced perceived recoil and I didn't have to increase the damage to my hearing and the people around me to do it.

I also simply stay away from rifles chambered in extreme shoulder pounding cartridges these days. They simply aren't worth it to me.

One more solution that we all probably need to look at is suppressors. I don't own one yet but not only do they greatly reduce muzzle blast even with the big magnums but they do provide a certain amount of recoil reduction as well and any little bit helps.
There's not a stock design anywhere that will reduce muzzle flip the way a good MB does and being able to spot your hits is invaluable.

Recoil pads work, but they cannot compensate for recoil the way a good MB does.

It's not a MB vs anything situation, a quality stock, decent recoil pad and quality brake work together to greatly reduce felt recoil and muzzle flip.

You should be wearing hearing protection even when shooting suppressed period.
 
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