Do muzzlebrakes impact group size?

[Tumbleweed]

I'll bring up one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet. And this is probably not a consideration for you unless you're shooting past 800-900 yards.

Hornady has discovered through their 2000 yard Doppler Radar testing that muzzle breaks negatively affect the ballistic coefficient or drag curve of a bullet. They found that with no muzzle break b/c's were the best. Radial breaks tended to have a lesser negative affect than slab brakes. So technically a break could create a tiny bit of instability (gas disrupts bullet) when leaving the break. This causes a lower point of impact due to the extra drag created by minor imbalance induced from muzzle break gases. I can see where this could affect grouping as well. Just another factor to think about.

 

[Kiwi Greg]

I'll bring up one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet. And this is probably not a consideration for you unless you're shooting past 800-900 yards.

Hornady has discovered through their 2000 yard Doppler Radar testing that muzzle breaks negatively affect the ballistic coefficient or drag curve of a bullet. They found that with no muzzle break b/c's were the best. Radial breaks tended to have a lesser negative affect than slab brakes. So technically a break could create a tiny bit of instability (gas disrupts bullet) when leaving the break. This causes a lower point of impact due to the extra drag created by minor imbalance induced from muzzle break gases. I can see where this could affect grouping as well. Just another factor to think about.

That's an interesting concept

 

[Mark Warner]

I agree with Weatherby Fan, a good brake will slightly change your POI but not your accuracy. I have Hollands Brake on 243, 300mag, 30-338 mag and 338 mag, accuracy is still excellent and even the magnums are easyer to shoot and you almost always see your bullet impact at any range.

 

[can1010]

I'll bring up one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet. And this is probably not a consideration for you unless you're shooting past 800-900 yards.

Hornady has discovered through their 2000 yard Doppler Radar testing that muzzle breaks negatively affect the ballistic coefficient or drag curve of a bullet. They found that with no muzzle break b/c's were the best. Radial breaks tended to have a lesser negative affect than slab brakes. So technically a break could create a tiny bit of instability (gas disrupts bullet) when leaving the break. This causes a lower point of impact due to the extra drag created by minor imbalance induced from muzzle break gases. I can see where this could affect grouping as well. Just another factor to think about.

that is interesting where did you see that info?

 

[gohring3006]

I'll bring up one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet. And this is probably not a consideration for you unless you're shooting past 800-900 yards.

Hornady has discovered through their 2000 yard Doppler Radar testing that muzzle breaks negatively affect the ballistic coefficient or drag curve of a bullet. They found that with no muzzle break b/c's were the best. Radial breaks tended to have a lesser negative affect than slab brakes. So technically a break could create a tiny bit of instability (gas disrupts bullet) when leaving the break. This causes a lower point of impact due to the extra drag created by minor imbalance induced from muzzle break gases. I can see where this could affect grouping as well. Just another factor to think about.

Can you link the info?
The bullet is long gone before the gases are exiting the brake.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Here's the article I was referring to. It was done by an an independent observer covering methods of how Hornady created their 4DOF program and the bullet testing methods that were done using Doppler Radar. The section on muzzle brake testing is down a ways in the article.

https://www.snipershide.com/drag-variability/

 

[4xforfun]

Adding- removing a break..or anything else that adds- subtracts weight on the end of a bbl can ABSOLUTELY affect group size....not just as a component of recoil.

Change the harmonics of a BBL and you need to adjust the load accordingly.

Anyone who as ever messed with a tuner can attest to that.

On sporter weight, hard kickers, where the accuracy of the gun may be 1/2 MOA, or worse, messing with the tune ( ie adding or subtracting weight of a "tuned" gun) probably won't be noticed much, but, adding the brake will usually make you shoot better...provided you have hearing protection.

On ALL of my 1000 yard bench tubes and on all of the different platforms, where groups are measured to the .001.....1/10 th MOA is a BIG DEAL, you can see the difference in tune when shooting with / without a brake. I did lots of testing since I shoot my BR gear in "F" class , where a break isn't allowed in comp. With those tubes I have different loads with vs. without the break.

I found this out "on accident" ( as the kids say) with my 300 WBY bench gun my 1st year out. I noticed that my year long 10 shot HG agg was about the same as my LG 5 shot agg. Back then you couldn't use a brake in HG.....I had only one gun at the time, so I simply removed my break, dialed down 1 moa and left 3/4 moa ( POI change...which was exact, and happend EVERY TIME) and went to work. I took the brake off for the LG as well as HG. My 5 shot groups shrank considerably and shot the best LG groups by far that that gun had ever shot. I needed to "retune" . Unfortunaly, another thing I learned that year is that BBLs don't last forever!!

So, short answer....adding a break can change POI, and can also affect accuracy by changing the tune.

Tod