How not to install a muzzle brake

[J E Custom]

With the trend to do it your self, I see lots of poor installations. I am a do it your self person and encourage the process, but as Clint Eastwood would say "A man has to know his limitations".

I recently talked to a guy that had a muzzle brake installed by a friend and it was not doing well.

When I looked at it I knew something was wrong because the bore hole was .369 and the rifle was a .308 caliber. it should be around .338 to .343.

So I figured it was bored larger to clear the bullet. IT was badly misaligned with the bore. Another clue was the Loctite that was holding it on.

After a lot of effort to get it off and cleaning it up here is what I found.=

The barrel tenon was threaded using a die nut, and grossly under sized.

The threads in the brake were poor and .041 off center of the rifle bore from end to end.

The outside of the brake took over .030 to clean up to be in alignment with the threads.

The bore hole had to be opened to .408 just to be concentric.

I did this exercise to find out why the brake was not working/performing and had no intention of Re using it.The accuracy was poor and I did not find anything that was correct about the installation and building of this brake.

Obviously, the brake cannot be used, and another brake will be installed after the barrel is
cut back and re threaded. There wasn't a large enough thread on the barrel tenon to simply down size and save barrel length, so it had to be shortened and re threaded. I guess the many errors canceled some of the problems out (Lucky) and prevented a major problem.

In order to function properly, a brake, flash hider or a suppressor has to be installed correctly
or problems will present themselves.

There are some things that can be done by do it your self people, and some that cant/shouldn't
be attempted and are best left to a competent Gun Smith.

Another example is the clamp on brakes, A range rod should be used that verifies the alignment and the bore hole should be between .020 and .025 if it is any larger it will not perform as well as it should. I have seen many clamp on brakes with a much larger bore hole just to prevent bullet strikes.

Gun smiths Make lots of money "FIXING" Problems that should not have been. so have it done right the first time and save money and time.

Just a comment to hopefully keep people out of trouble.

J E CUSTOM

PS:This is not the place to try and save money and in the end will probably cost a lot more to fix
if you are lucky.

 

[shortgrass]

Do you feel like you're a "warranty station" for the do-it-yourselfer or wanna-be? Same holds true for those who think they need to buy all their own parts without consulting the guy who'll be doing the work. Just as reference,,,, the price of "parts" between what the (FFL Licensed) gunsmith pays and retail has become very, very thin. What gunsmith can charge more than the published price that the 'discounters' (those who price lower than 'manufactures suggested retail") have on their web sites? There's little or no money to be made on most "parts". The key is knowing what works best for the individual 'smith and what is compatible with what. Volume rules,,, in sales and in purchasing.

 

[J E Custom]

Do you feel like you're a "warranty station" for the do-it-yourselfer or wanna-be? Same holds true for those who think they need to buy all their own parts without consulting the guy who'll be doing the work. Just as reference,,,, the price of "parts" between what the (FFL Licensed) gunsmith pays and retail has become very, very thin. What gunsmith can charge more than the published price that the 'discounters' (those who price lower than 'manufactures suggested retail") have on their web sites? There's little or no money to be made on most "parts". The key is knowing what works best for the individual 'smith and what is compatible with what. Volume rules,,, in sales and in purchasing.

Fortunately, I don't do this for a living (Retired) but I can only imagine what full time Gun Smiths
Must see.

I have trouble understanding why someone will spend thousands of dollars on a action, stock, barrel and trigger. and then scrimp on accessories like muzzle brakes, scope bases and rings, scopes and there installation.

You don't have to spend a fortune to get a custom rifle that will out shoot anything you ever had.

Try to spend time with your smith talking about your budget and let him make recommendations
on how to stay within your budget and still end up with a great look and performing rifle.

If you don't have time/money to do a job right the first time, You wont have time/money to fix it.

There are many ways to save money without sacrificing quality. The components that I feel are the most important are the action, barrel and a muzzle brake (If Used) because the bullet is directly effected by there quality and installation. Other parts are important but can range from $100.00 to $1000.00 with little change in performance. Example= you can spend $600.00+ dollars on a stock or buy a $200.00 stock that will perform just as good. $400.00 dollars would go a long way towards other things that are more important if your budget is limited.

Just some advice from an old guy that hates to see poor work and decisions.

J E CUSTOM