Muzzle brake or not?

[midnightmalloy]

As a big game rifle, a 7-300WM will only be shot once or twice and the recoil is perfectly manageable for that volume. Personally, I'd put a brake on it but when I went hunting I'd pull it off and check the zero.

This is what I would suggest. I use a west Texas ordinance MK-2 that is turned down to match my barrel contour. Works great. Then I pull it off for hunting. Easy peasy!

 

[lacajun]

That video is quite the eye opener.

Yes it is

 

[WildRose]

This is the one I was looking for. Search muzzle brakes and more on YouTube. There's a bunch.

I like his testing table.

 

[lacajun]

Me too never dreamed a brake made that much difference.

 

[lacajun]

I am having a rifle built right now. Going to call them tomorrow and tell them to thread the barrel

 

[WildRose]

Me too never dreamed a brake made that much difference.

I've got 7.5lbs .300 Rum and about an 8 lbs .375 Ruger.

Neither were horrible to shoot without a brake but admittedly I'm not particularly recoil shy.

Adding the brakes to them made both a real pleasure to shoot.

Too bad he couldn't unstrap them in his test to show the muzzle flip reductions but custom rifles flying off and crashing gets expensive quick.

 

[Clucknmoan]

You guys might think I'm crazy, but have you ever noticed animals act different when shooting a brake? There's something to this.

So before any smarty pants chime in with "They all die the same," let me clarify by saying im talking about the animals other than the one getting the bullet. I dont know if it's the perceived increase in sound or if it's the fact that the sound is redirected by ports and they can't quite pinpoint where it came from or what.

There is something to this around here though. They seem to just stand around like "what the hell was that? And why is Fred doing somersaults down the hill?"

I've seen this time and again since I started shooting brakes.

 

[JJMoody]

I wonder.... interesting thought on sound redirection. Probably fairly difficult to establish any scientific method of confirming. Many variables one of which could be that we're often shooting them from farther away.

 

[Clucknmoan]

I wonder.... interesting thought on sound redirection. Probably fairly difficult to establish any scientific method of confirming. Many variables one of which could be that we're often shooting them from farther away.

I'm talking under 300. I don't shoot elk and deer very far away. I am too lazy to go get them! Varmints its game on.

 

[WildRose]

You guys might think I'm crazy, but have you ever noticed animals act different when shooting a brake? There's something to this.

So before any smarty pants chime in with "They all die the same," let me clarify by saying im talking about the animals other than the one getting the bullet. I dont know if it's the perceived increase in sound or if it's the fact that the sound is redirected by ports and they can't quite pinpoint where it came from or what.

There is something to this around here though. They seem to just stand around like "what the hell was that? And why is Fred doing somersaults down the hill?"

I've seen this time and again since I started shooting brakes.

No, you're certainly not crazy. The way the majority of the blast is directed away from the target seems to make them unsure of the direction it's coming from.

A few years back I filled all five of my tags in less than a minute on a herd of deer that just kept trotting back and forth about 100 yards to/from the same two spots trying to narrow down where I was. Two literally were lying on top of one another and the other three in about a 15yd circle.

 

[Ron Simmons]

I've spent a fair amount of time behind unbraked 300Ultras and 375 Rugers so I've developed a degree of recoil tolerance, but for a LR hunting rig I recommend going with a brake. The main reason is ability to spot your own shots if needed. I put a brake on everything 6mm and up. I carry electronic muffs in the field for noise abatement. I have a pair of plugs on a cord around my neck in case I need to make a hasty shot at close range.

 

[ATH]

I find the question of brakes impacting game behavior interesting. I am convinced that shooting past a certain range of something like 300-400 yards reduces the game's reaction to the muzzle blast of the rifle. Often they just stand there confused.

But if you've ever worked the pits at an F-class match, you know that as long as the bullet is supersonic the crack as the bullet reaches the game is significant and will remain so as long as the bullet is supersonic when it gets there. But it seems impossible to tell direction, at least to me.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

Brake yes. Earpro absolutely.

 

[Capt RB]

You guys might think I'm crazy, but have you ever noticed animals act different when shooting a brake? There's something to this.

So before any smarty pants chime in with "They all die the same," let me clarify by saying im talking about the animals other than the one getting the bullet. I dont know if it's the perceived increase in sound or if it's the fact that the sound is redirected by ports and they can't quite pinpoint where it came from or what.

There is something to this around here though. They seem to just stand around like "what the hell was that? And why is Fred doing somersaults down the hill?"

I've seen this time and again since I started shooting brakes.

Kirby Allen had a good take on this a bunch of years ago. I hunt winter songdogs when they get those big packs around the moons. I see dogs standing around after the first shot with a brake when I don't recall seeing that before using one. Being in Mass a suppressor isn't something I can possess due to the communist party leadership in our state. Otherwise I'd have one for all my rifles and my single barrels shotguns for certain. If a brake is good at this a suppressor must be even better