Recoil Pads and Quality Rifle Stocks vs Muzzle Brakes

There's a direct correlation between aging and hearing loss (among other things) ... just saying ... and I am slowly getting there. :cool:

Exactly! I mentioned it before but will mention it again, my mother never fired a gun and lost her hearing as she aged. My dad fired a gun when he was young and on the farm and had good hearing clear up until when he died at age 92. It's hereditary in some cases.
 
I'm perplexed by the amount of people that gripe about how "loud" a brake makes their rifle, and then turn around and say that they do not wear hearing protection. That seems like an oxymoron to me, maybe a bit on the side of ignorance. A good brake is the most effective way to reduce recoil followed probably by weight of the rifle, then the others (pad, stock, reduced loads, lighter bullets, grip/hold, shooting position, etc).
I run some of my rifles suppressed, but most have barrels long enough that I don't use the suppressor on them hunting much. They help with the noise level, but not nearly as well on recoil as a brake.
I train Infantrymen and Infantry Mortarmen and wear electronic hearing protection all the time. The average we fire is over 20,000 rounds of small arms every month; plus the mortars, demolitions, grenades, simulators, blah-blah-blah. I have a permanent profile for hearing, my ears ring continuously and pretty much have to be looking at you to understand what you say. However, shooting a rifle without plugs or muffs still ring my ears for days...even without a brake.
If ya don't like them, don't use them. I like them and I like using them.
 
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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.
I worked in a loud steel mill for 43 years and my hearing is bad, then about 6 years ago around this time of year, just before Christmas I was setting on my chair watching TV and my left ear got like it does in an elevation change I tried yawning but noting helped I had lost my hearing 99% in that ear! I had a lot of loss prior also in my right ear, I bought a break for a 300 win. Mag. and when I shot it the first time it about knocked me over, my hearing aid for my right ear was supposed to limit the level of noise but it was too much and I ended up with ringing ears for a week or more and a very noticeable increase in my hearing loss in my right ear ! My left was already shot now my right was very, very bad! I had to get another hearing aid but I still have trouble understanding what people are saying and my favorite music and songs no longer sound the same ! Many times the songs that I love are nearly over before I even know what song is playing ! Yes you are right ! Brakes can hurt your ears, to anyone that has one or is getting one, make sure that you and all around you have hearing protection on before shooting a gun that has a break on it ! I even double up on the protection now because my next step would be learning sign language ! Guys take heed ! It isn't any fun, many times I hear a plane fling over and it comes and goes without me ever seeing it ! I can only hear some out of my right ear and I can't tell what direction it is coming from ! Turkey hunting is a real nightmare, I keep scooting around a tree trying to decide in what direction the turkey is answering in ! Too late for me, but I don't want to loose the little bit that I have left ! But for you, always wear hearing protection !
 
Personally, I don't like the added length/weight a suppressor adds, but see the usefulness to others. Separate from any hearing issues, I 've founds that for recoil taming and smooth shooting, a Limbsaver and a good scope with 4" of eye relief is all you need, even for a lightweight 338WM.
 
For those that worry about muzzle flip I really don't understand it. Yes there' is a certain amount of muzzle flip with almost any rifle but it's mostly a function of stock design and rifle weight unless you're shooting a heavy magnum.

I use light rifles with fairly heavy barrels and the only time I notice muzzle flip is at the range. When I'm hunting by the time I've fired my rifle and am looking to see what the result was on the rifle I'm not really noticing muzzle rise. However a chambering that produces a lot of recoil WILL cause you to temporarily have blurry vision. That recoil once again goes back to stock design and rifle weight.

I can see if you're a prairie dog hunter and want to see if you hit that tiny target way out there and are using a light rifle. Other than that if you aim well you will kill your game DRT unless the game is like elk size or bigger and then muzzle flip or no you'll see it running off if it's not DRT.

I've always heard the muzzle flip reason and never noticed it at all when I'm hunting. In my world its a solution without a problem but then all my stocks are custom except on my Model 700 LTR rifles and those have those excellent HS Precision stocks with the aluminum bedding blocks which are fantastic if you skim bed the action to the aluminum bedding blocks.

I understand that a lot of hunting guides won't let you use a brake because it damages their hearing so much. I don't blame them. If you're standing directly behind a shooter in an open area and they aren't using a brake the sound isn't likely to be very bad because most of the sound is projected forward, but if they're using a brake there simply isn't a good place to be standing and heavy hearing protection is a must if you value your hearing at all and most people don't want to have to deal with that much hearing protection.

Here's another thought. To say that because someone has lost their hearing because of genetics to point out that rifle noise doesn't affect their or your hearing is a bit over the top. Really? Are you saying that just for the sake of arguing or because you don't want to believe that you invested in a muzzle brake and don't want to believe that it wasn't prudent?

There are plenty of scientific studies that prove that loud noise damages hearing. If you dispute that then I'd like to sell you some ocean front property in Arizona. It's on sale... ;)

I guess I've stirred up a bunch of arguing and maybe the discussion of muzzle brakes is like politics and religion. Nobody will ever change their mind no matter how obvious the facts are...

I regret if this turns into a flame war and I also regret even bringing this up now that I see where it's going. Let's just agree to disagree and keep LR Hunting a fun place to share and learn.

Bob out....
 
For those that worry about muzzle flip I really don't understand it. Yes there' is a certain amount of muzzle flip with almost any rifle but it's mostly a function of stock design and rifle weight unless you're shooting a heavy magnum.

You may not be aware or believe, but some enjoy seeing the impact. Brakes allow that.

I use light rifles with fairly heavy barrels and the only time I notice muzzle flip is at the range. When I'm hunting by the time I've fired my rifle and am looking to see what the result was on the rifle I'm not really noticing muzzle rise. However a chambering that produces a lot of recoil WILL cause you to temporarily have blurry vision. That recoil once again goes back to stock design and rifle weight.

People who use brakes don't have blurry vision.

I can see if you're a prairie dog hunter and want to see if you hit that tiny target way out there and are using a light rifle. Other than that if you aim well you will kill your game DRT unless the game is like elk size or bigger and then muzzle flip or no you'll see it running off if it's not DRT.

You are showing a lack of experience.

I've always heard the muzzle flip reason and never noticed it at all when I'm hunting. In my world its a solution without a problem but then all my stocks are custom except on my Model 700 LTR rifles and those have those excellent HS Precision stocks with the aluminum bedding blocks which are fantastic if you skim bed the action to the aluminum bedding blocks.

Your world is only yours.

I understand that a lot of hunting guides won't let you use a brake because it damages their hearing so much. I don't blame them. If you're standing directly behind a shooter in an open area and they aren't using a brake the sound isn't likely to be very bad because most of the sound is projected forward, but if they're using a brake there simply isn't a good place to be standing and heavy hearing protection is a must if you value your hearing at all and most people don't want to have to deal with that much hearing protection.

Again you are displaying a lack of experience.

Here's another thought. To say that because someone has lost their hearing because of genetics to point out that rifle noise doesn't affect their or your hearing is a bit over the top. Really? Are you saying that just for the sake of arguing or because you don't want to believe that you invested in a muzzle brake and don't want to believe that it wasn't prudent?

You are being argumentative here. No one mentioned what you are addressing in your paragraph. That is a straw man.

There are plenty of scientific studies that prove that loud noise damages hearing. If you dispute that then I'd like to sell you some ocean front property in Arizona. It's on sale... ;)

No one is disagreeing with this.

I guess I've stirred up a bunch of arguing and maybe the discussion of muzzle brakes is like politics and religion. Nobody will ever change their mind no matter how obvious the facts are....

Again you are showing your lack of experience.

I regret if this turns into a flame war and I also regret even bringing this up now that I see where it's going. Let's just agree to disagree and keep LR Hunting a fun place to share and learn..

Bob out....[/QUOTE]

Okay.
 
For those that worry about muzzle flip I really don't understand it. Yes there' is a certain amount of muzzle flip with almost any rifle but it's mostly a function of stock design and rifle weight unless you're shooting a heavy magnum.

I use light rifles with fairly heavy barrels and the only time I notice muzzle flip is at the range. When I'm hunting by the time I've fired my rifle and am looking to see what the result was on the rifle I'm not really noticing muzzle rise. However a chambering that produces a lot of recoil WILL cause you to temporarily have blurry vision. That recoil once again goes back to stock design and rifle weight.

I can see if you're a prairie dog hunter and want to see if you hit that tiny target way out there and are using a light rifle. Other than that if you aim well you will kill your game DRT unless the game is like elk size or bigger and then muzzle flip or no you'll see it running off if it's not DRT.

I've always heard the muzzle flip reason and never noticed it at all when I'm hunting. In my world its a solution without a problem but then all my stocks are custom except on my Model 700 LTR rifles and those have those excellent HS Precision stocks with the aluminum bedding blocks which are fantastic if you skim bed the action to the aluminum bedding blocks.

I understand that a lot of hunting guides won't let you use a brake because it damages their hearing so much. I don't blame them. If you're standing directly behind a shooter in an open area and they aren't using a brake the sound isn't likely to be very bad because most of the sound is projected forward, but if they're using a brake there simply isn't a good place to be standing and heavy hearing protection is a must if you value your hearing at all and most people don't want to have to deal with that much hearing protection.

Here's another thought. To say that because someone has lost their hearing because of genetics to point out that rifle noise doesn't affect their or your hearing is a bit over the top. Really? Are you saying that just for the sake of arguing or because you don't want to believe that you invested in a muzzle brake and don't want to believe that it wasn't prudent?

There are plenty of scientific studies that prove that loud noise damages hearing. If you dispute that then I'd like to sell you some ocean front property in Arizona. It's on sale... ;)

I guess I've stirred up a bunch of arguing and maybe the discussion of muzzle brakes is like politics and religion. Nobody will ever change their mind no matter how obvious the facts are...

I regret if this turns into a flame war and I also regret even bringing this up now that I see where it's going. Let's just agree to disagree and keep LR Hunting a fun place to share and learn.

Bob out....
It's all about the value of being able to spot your hits. Particularly at long distance that's invaluable.

As for brakes, guides etc, if they aren't smart enough to stand behind you when you're shooting and wearing hearing protection or at least covering their ears for the shot they need to find another line of work.

If a guide objects to you showing up with a MB on your rifle, find another guide.
 
Stock design is no doubt important and every rifle I have wears an excellent recoil pad but with a muzzle brake I don't have to control the rifle, I can shoot it much looser which is much more consistent in more positions. I'm wearing hearing protection regardless so I enjoy having a brake. My daughter has been comfortably shooting my 28 Nosler since she was 10, stock design and pad won't allow that!!
 
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