What would it take to get this off?

[Stephens300]

I had this Brockman B.E.S.T muzzle break put on some 10 years ago by a gunsmith that is no longer in business and I have no idea where he might have gone, or even what his name was. Can you guys give me any idea how it is probably attached? Would he have loc-tite'd it? I am curios because I am thinking about trying different muzzle breaks.

Stephen

 

[bassin93]

More then likely threaded to the barrel. I would soak it with a penetrant then put a rod through two holes that line up, have someone hold the gun and turn it off. If that does not work you may have to heat it up to get loctite if was used to soften and then turn off.

 

[kcebcj]

I would take it to the smith that you want to install the new brake and have him just cut the barrel off and crown it. The barrel probably needs to be rethreaded and indexed anyway and you will have a clean crown.

 

[Hired Gun]

That looks like a very effective design and you would be hard pressed to feel much more recoil reduction from other brake designs. There is no reason to believe there is anything wrong with the threads or the crown. Being it is not a timed brake I doubt it is loc tited. If it is, it takes 450 degrees to release it. Other brakes are going to need to be fitted and if the threads don't match then a loss of barrel length and associated velocity will go with each change. They are not a simple spin on. The only thing you could improve is the reduction of ground blast with a baffle styled brake. You could freshen the look of that one up with a quick "shoe shine" with a bit of 320 paper.

 

[Stephens300]

It is prettier than it was before. It is stainless and the barrel is stainless. Not sure how the barrel is blacked but it has lots of scratches on it. When I had it put on, I told the smith I wanted it to match the barrel. He painted it with the ports closed. That made it extremely hard to open and close due to the precision of the machining between the inner and out parts. So I soaked it in Hoppes. Took the paint right off the break. The whole thing needs some beautification but that has never been high on my priority list. I am more interested in it shooting well. I would love to just throw $1500 at it and get it accurized with a new match barrel. Unfortunately, money doesn't grow on trees.
As for effectiveness. Between that and a Limbsaver, you really only feel 220s. Could shoot dozens of 165s at 3200fps without it hurting. The concussion is probably most of what you feel.
BTW, the best thing I ever did for the rifle was pull the factory HARD rubber buttpad off and replace it with a limbsaver. Even with the muzzle break, I did not look forward to shooting it. Now I do.

Stephen

 

[hnts4fun]

What caliber is your rifle?

 

[sp6x6]

That is a VERY unique feature that the brake can be open and closed. I have not seen that and noticed in picture it has a patent. As a hunter i would call that the ideal brake, I hate shooting with my brake, in a quick timber type shot, without ear protection it is terrible. I would keep what you have. I have a brake very similar in design, radial, and I have a big muscle type on a similar rifle , I cant tell difference

 

[dig]

I had one of these off/on jobs on a 375 H&H and a buddy on a 460 Weatherby, the design was really cool, use it on the bench turn off in the Field. The 460 quit working in short order, he had to use a strap wrench to break it loose. I maintained mine well but it still became stiff with carbon and required CONSTANT attention. I though these would be ideal as I hate breaks. Bottom line, great concept but would probably work much better on a mouse caliber.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I had one of these off/on jobs on a 375 H&H and a buddy on a 460 Weatherby, the design was really cool, use it on the bench turn off in the Field. The 460 quit working in short order, he had to use a strap wrench to break it loose. I maintained mine well but it still became stiff with carbon and required CONSTANT attention. I though these would be ideal as I hate breaks. Bottom line, great concept but would probably work much better on a mouse caliber.

They work just fine if kept clean with brake cleaner.

 

[Stephens300]

It is a 300 Win Mag. Yes, taking good care of them is the key. Brockman only sells them on their customer rifles now but E. Arthur Brown Co. (eabco.com) has licensed them and can set you up.

Stephen

 

[specweldtom]

I'm just guessing, but in order to stay put while turning the brake ports on and off, the barrel thread may have been loctited. If the ports in the brake have matching holes at 180 deg, find a piece of drillrod that fits good in them, stick it through the back holes, and heat the brake with a hot air gun to loosen the loctite. Don't stay on it too long. If you tap the drillrod with a light hammer, it should pop loose and then unscrew easily. 99.9% chance it's a right hand thread.

I think the shell was intended to shut off and turn on by hand. If not, it would be easy to make a hook spanner to turn it. When you get it freed up, you might decide to keep it on the rifle. If you always turn it in the direction of tightening when you turn the ports on or off, you shouldn't need any loctite.

Plus 1 on a new crown.

Good luck, Tom