JE, it looks like you're using lighter weight barrels in your testing. I have a heavier weight barrel that is right at .911 where the barrel meets the brake. It's top ported as I wanted to control jump. Have you done testing on larger diameter barrels. What's your thoughts? Would assume you won't see the kind of whip and whatever else is going on with some of those barrels.
The test we did on the heavier barrels showed that the barrel was affected very little. (One of the reasons target and long range shooters prefer them over the light contours)
When we reached #5 or #6 contours we started encountered stock flex with over bored magnums. The flexing was from uneven forces applied to the rifle from the top ports and the effect was transferred to the weakest part of the system. Bench rest shooters avoid this by using heavy barrels and heavy stocks, and even they dont use muzzle brakes normally, it helps with the harmonics and the torque generated by the rifle twist.
Tuning the top ports can be done, but it is a time consuming process and these uneven forces are still there, but they are greatly reduced
if a neutral response is achieved. (No barrel rise or dip). The reason a rifle rises is the design of the bore centerline above the butstock that causes the reaction to be upward (Much like a pistol) there are many ways to minimize muzzle rise and we found that reducing recoil to the maximum produced the best results without adding extra stress to an already stressed system due to the bullet weights and powder charges we tend to use.
When recoil was minimized, The target remains in the field of view and spotting the hits was normal. There is another aspect that no one wants to talk about, and that Is follow through. If you can remain on target until the bullet strike many times you can also see the bullet shock wave and you will know that you followed through. If we train ourselves not to raise our heads as soon as the round goes off it will be a benefit.
The more recoil we can eliminate the better all round performance can be, especially to the shooter.
The downside to anything that places uneven stresses on a rifle is the flexing or the loading of bedding and working of the siting system that leads to premature failure of one or more components.
J E CUSTOM
