Muzzle Break for 50 BMG

jimisbell

Well-Known Member
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Jul 24, 2020
Messages
486
Location
ingleside, TX
Looking for muzzle break suggestions for new rifle.
The barrel is a Walther, SS, chambered for 50 BMG, 1-15 twist 36" long on a McMillian action.
I am looking for reduction of recoil without clearing the range on either side of me.
The science seems to be mostly black magic and lots of arm waving. I dont want to go out and spend good money on one that doesnt work and then I have to go buy another one. Etc.
 
"I am looking for reduction of recoil without clearing the range on either side of me."

I have a Tank Brake on my 50. It blows paper off the adjoining benches.
I would be glad to learn about a 50 brake that is not obnoxious.
 
Mine is also a single port "Tank Break". The PO said it is good at reducing recoil but is "obnoxious". I havent shot it yet but thought it best to start on the right foot when I go to the range. No need in making people mad.
 

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Don't have one but the only 50 cal suppressor I've ever really seen is the SOCOM 50 from Surefire and they claim some percentage of recoil reduction. Let us know what you end up with.
Having said that, I'd bet that single port brake is going to beat the snot out of you. I've shot 50's with 2 port brakes and they didn't do much. The T Rex seemed to be pretty fair at recoil reduction and the original tank brake from Bushmaster was very impressive. But you'll be in the same boat you're in as both of those tend to clear the benches next to you. Even the full coffee cups.

Good luck
 
I am looking for reduction of recoil without clearing the range on either side of me.
That's impossible for any brake - the gas has to go somewhere, the only option other than forward is out the sides. Unless you turned a tank brake sideways, but that's going to drive the gun off target. The blast pattern can only be angled so far back towards the shooter, but still has to be something less than 90* to the bore to get recoil reduction. You're burning 225+gns of powder, it's going to suck in the blast department regardless. The consideration you're showing is very nice, but a 50 won't play well with others on a tight firing line. Shoot on one end and show up when the three benches next to you are empty IMO.


The Barrett QDL suppressor comes with a brake on the end that will achieve a combination of recoil reduction/mitigation and be less obnoxious to people around you, but even then it's going to be unpleasant to be on the line next to.
 
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That is not imposssible! I didnt say NO side blast I did not say eliminate recoil, I just said reduce recoil and not drive people off the range. Simple compromise. But your idea of sitting on the end is good. Might just keep the Tank device and **** off only half the people. Thats compromise.
 
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I'm not trying to be rude, and I actually appreciate your thoughtfulness of wanting to not be "that guy", it's just that the facts are stacked against you here because you said "50 BMG".

At 172 decibels the 50 BMG is twice as loud as a 20" 308, and almost four times as loud as an 24" 6XC. Then you put a a brake on it and redirect the blast towards the shooters next to you. The volume they're blasted with can double, or even double then half again, compared to a bare muzzle. Even with double ear pro it's not safe to be within 10 feet of the brake on a 50. It's barely safe to be the shooter, they're largely protected by the angles of the baffles but even then it's questionable to not wear double ear pro. And that's not a WAG, that's math.

3M Peltor X5 muffs have an NRR of 31 dB, which is the highest certified rating I'm aware of. Combined with plugs, that gets you a max of 36dB NRR. The OSHA impulse threshold of 140dB, plus the protection of double ear pro, means you can be exposed to 176 dB without suffering hearing damage. At ~5ft the pressure level of your braked 50BMG will be at least 182 dB if using an effective brake that redirects any blast past 90* behind the bore, and could be as high as 187 dB. At any closer than 10 feet it's impossible to mitigate the sound pressure below the damaging level of 176 dB with any hearing protection devices. At 15 feet it's still louder than being 5 feet from a normal 30 cal centerfire rifle. This means that any sound redirected at adjacent benches cannot safely be mitigated other than by distance. Which means that smart people should refuse to sit on at least the two benches on either side of you.

I stand by saying that it's impossible for a brake (specifically, other things can, but not a brake) to functionally reduce recoil and not clear the benches beside you because the brake has to be angled somewhere between 0-60 degrees on the shooter side of perpendicular to the bore in order to reduce recoil. That means it's literally pointing at the shooters next to you. The only way to mitigate the sound pressure of your shot is with distance, there is no hearing protection available that is sufficient to be within 10 feet of your muzzle. It's physics, the ejecta mass of the propellent is a component of recoil, that's what the brake is redirecting to reduce both the overall momentum of the rifle and peak force of recoil, and that's what creates that sound pressure waves.

There's also the fact that no one should sit within 10 feet of you anyways because the danger of fragmentation on a baffle strike, but that's all brakes, and no one ever seems pays attention to that little factoid anyways. This is part of why I detest public ranges, but I digress...

The suppressor/brake combination is the best way to achieve the goal you stated. This IS the suppressor forum after all. And that combination will work, because the expansion chamber of the suppressor will reduce recoil - they are specifically highly effective at reducing peak force because of how they slow the ejecta mass leaving the muzzle. They're not as effective as brakes in overall momentum reduction because they don't redirect any of it rearward, but they spread the force out over a much longer time frame. A brake on a suppressor isn't as effective as a bare brake in reducing overall momentum because a significant amount of the ejecta velocity is lost inside the suppressor, but it's still move effective than a bare suppressor. Suppressor/ brakes is a good combination for your usage. I don't use the brake option on my SilencerCo cans, but that's mainly because the brake isn't very effective with it's tight baffle spacing and 90* orientation.
 
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I have not yet taken it to a FCSA match (broken shoulder) so dont know how others will react to the tank brake but if it is as bad as you say for ALL 50BMG then I would assume they would be more understanding than at a match for Precision.

The seller said that the brake is very effective for recoil. Said his 12 year old grandson of 90 pounds, fired it and didnt think it was so bad. It does weigh 42 pounds so that helps a little bit I am sure.
 
I have not yet taken it to a FCSA match (broken shoulder) so dont know how others will react to the tank brake but if it is as bad as you say for ALL 50BMG then I would assume they would be more understanding than at a match for Precision.

The seller said that the brake is very effective for recoil. Said his 12 year old grandson of 90 pounds, fired it and didnt think it was so bad. It does weigh 42 pounds so that helps a little bit I am sure.
You "CAN" shoot a 50 on a regular range but that is definitely not what they were designed for. If you insist on shooting one on a standard range then do it when no one else is within 50 feet and when you aren't in a shooting shed or overhead covered bench. These are open country long distance machines, use it in the conditions it was designed for. You can mitigate it some but not enough to make it civilised.
 
Oh, you commented that this was the suppressoe forum. I didnt intentionaly post here, one of the moderators moved my post here. Maybe there should be a separate Brake forum?
 
At a match they'll set up up 15-20 feet apart from the next shooter, not at a bench three feet apart like a normal range. You'll also be on-line with the other shooters, so the blast angles of the baffles actually makes things better, not worse.
 
Back in the day we put ear plugs in our noses to keep the blast from getting to the sinuses. The big tank and fishgill brakes can be brutal but very effective!
Sorry I cant help with more recent developments as a shoulder injury and funds took me out of the BMG game years ago.
 
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