Muzzle brakes

[milanuk]

Hello, all.

I am trying to decide which muzzle brake I want to get on the next long range varmint gun I pick up, probably in .220 Swift or 6mm Remington.

I have shot a friend's gun w/ an original Vais brake, and it was pretty nice, both visually and functionally. I had heard that this design had been sold and someone else was marketing it now. Any leads as to who and how much?

My existing .220 Swift has an Answer Rifle Trimline brake, which looks very nice and seems to work O.K., but I think it could be better, at least for the money it cost.

I have seen another gun w/ a 'new' Vais brake that is supposedly very funtional, but IMHO, looks like crap, so I'm not seriously considering it at this point.

The two main contenders at this point are either an original Vais style brake, if still available, or a Holland brake. Any other opinions/recommendations?

TIA,

Monte

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Without answering your question; keep this in mind. Brakes on a varmint rig can be a major pain in the ***.
Shooting prone off a bi-pod causes a catastrophic blast of dust, dirt, grass and everything else. It is most unpleasant.
Shooting off your vehicle hood or roof (where legal) can cause immediate damage to glass or paint and can even dent sheet metal.
Not only do you have to always wear ear protection but so does anyone else who happens to be around.
Recoil on a heavy barreled 6mm is almost nil. The only benefit, IMO, is the increase in your ability to spot your own shot. That's nice but is it worth all the other trouble. Only you can decide that.
I do not have a single brake on my varmint rigs but have a respect for the job that they can do for those bone crunchin' cartridges. You know, like a 300 TOMAHAWK in a 6lb. mountain rifle.

[ 01-30-2002: Message edited by: Varmint Hunter ]

 

[milanuk]

Well, I have usually done most of my varmint hunting solo, and that traditionally meant that I have to shoot w/ my hand draped over the scope pulling it down into the bag or rest. I got to where I can shoot pretty well this way out to 300+ yds w/ my .223 Rem. Hopefully I will be doing more and more shooting from either a bench/tripod, perhaps a bipod a little. I had always heard that the brakes w/ the closed bottoms like the Holland didn't have the big problems w/ the dust blast. Is this not right?

TIA,

Monte

 

[Steve Shelp]

Milanuk,
As I understand it, George Vais sold his business to Ron Bartlett and went to Europe. Ron is still running the original Vais Arms, Inc. with all original equipment for sale under that name.
I've been told that George is back in the country and marketing an "improved" Vais brake, but not sure of the actual name of his "new" company. All of the Vais brakes that I've seen are good. Don't have any experience with Holland brakes at all.

I've never seen a certain brand or type of brake be more accurate than another as long as it was built parrallel and perpendicular with enough of a clearance hole for the bullet. The only time I've seen a brake drastically affect accuracy was with a homemade type and the guy had the clearance hole just 5 or so thousands over the bullet diameter. Carbon built up in there and the bullet would hit it. He bored it out another .020" and everything was fine.

Steve

 

[Varmint Hunter]

IMO, if you're going to be using mostly a bench/tri-pod you would be best off just using a heavy barreled rifle w/o a brake. With a heavy rifle you should not need to pull down on your scope for rifle control or stability and recoil will be minimized with the cartridges that you mentioned.
As for the brakes that have no holes on the bottom; I am told that they REDUCE but do not ELIMINATE the flying dirt that is raised when shooting off a bi-pod in the field.
Either way, good luck and safe shootin'
VH

 

[milanuk]

Heh! I already shoot a Rem 40XB-KS w/ the ~7 1/2 contour barrel in .220 Swift, and it moved too much for me to spot my own shots, so I got an Answer Rifle 'trimline' brake installed (should have gotten the 'varmint snyper' w/ the top and bottom not perforated), and it still moves enough on the bags that I can't quite see the impact. Bipod might be another story, but short of getting another stock, the gun isn't getting much heavier!!

 

[jhendri2]

Steve,

You are right about Vais, Ron Bartlett owns them now, he lives about 10 miles from the house.

Milanuk,

I have an Answer brake on my 7 STW, they work very well, the Vais brake is very nice also, I don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

Jim

 

[No Fear in Accuracy]

Do they come with any diameter sizes?
I'm planning to use it on 1.35" barrel diameter.

-DG

 

[jhendri2]

NFIA,

I know for a fact that the Vais can be made up to 2 inche's. Ron is putting one a 50 BMG as we speak.

As far as the Answer, I'm not sure, the one I have is only .975

Jim

 

[Nicholas]

Who makes the most effective muzzlebreak for the big guns (ultras, 338 lapua)? I know it probably is one of the loudest brakes too, but that doesn't bother me. Have you guys seen Badger Ordnances muzzlebrake, I hear it is pretty good?

 

[Steve Shelp]

sr90,
I can't give you a brand name for who has the most effective brake. But I can say that the brakes that cut down the most on recoil have large internal chambers in them and not just a clearance hole for the bullet to pass through with vent holes out the side. I had one of Dave Tooley's chamber brakes on a 300 Winny that a 9yr old kid shot very comfortably. I would say it was a lot like shooting a 243 Win without much jump.

Hope the description above gives you a mental picture. If not let me know and I'll try to get a picture posted of what I'm talking about.

BTW: That brake must have been doing something, because I've had more than one person at matches ask me what caliber I was shooting. The noise was that much more noticable to them over the other rifles being fired.

Steve

 

[Nicholas]

Thanks Steve, I think I can make a pretty accurate picture of it. But if you have a picture on hand then I would definitely like to see it.