Muzzle Brakes - Necessity??

[fgw_in_fla]

I saw an old timer shooting what appeared to be a 22WMR with a long, fat barrel & a muzzle brake. I didn't think a 22WMR would need a muzzle brake.

What is the primary function of the muzzle break.... I mean besides driving the guy wacky next to you on the firing line.

I thought it was to reduce recoil on most larger calibers. Is there something I may have overlooked?

Thanks,
Frank in Fla

[82boy]

What is the primary function of the muzzle break....

Answer Reduce recoil.

Muzzle breaks work best on small over bore calibers. 22/250 come to mind. But they are also affective on any caliber. If there was not restriction on shooting class, I would place a muzzel break on ever gun I would ever shoot.

[nsaqam]

I on the other hand will never own a rifle short of a .50BMG with a muzzle brake.

Despise the things completely.

I'd like to see them banned from public ranges or at least relegated to the very end of the firing line with a wall between them and the rest of the benches.

[fgw_in_fla]

I have to kinda sorta half agree with nsaqam..... It never fails. I always manage to end up next to the guy with the muzzle brake that almost seems like it's "aimed" at me. It rattles the wax in my ears, knocks my spotter out of focus, Scares the bejeezus outta ya when I'm lining up that million dollar shot.

Although I have considered modifying one of my '06's. For some reason, one of them is tolerable with recoil & the other actually hurts to pull the trigger. Especially with a hi charge of RL-19 & 180's.

This weekend was a classic example of it. Nice tight shooting but I had to ice down my shoulder when I got home.

Maybe I'm just getting a little soft ::) ........ And old.... And fat...... And senile ....ANd.. What was I talking about?.....

Frank in FLa

[blom]

Are you sure it wasn't a tuner?

[bsekf]

I was in the "not necessary" camp until I acquired a 260 with a SSS brake. You can see the bullet impact through the scope, especially nice when you are shooting steel. Now I am in the 82 Boy camp. I did some research and found they do not have a negative impact on accuracy, in fact some thought they had a positive impact. They tend to keep your shooting area neat and tidy and keep unsolicited advice to a minimum. ;D

Bill

[darkker]

Muzzle brakes are what keep a Ma-Deuce from ripping your shoulder off.
Other than that application, they are a horrible idea.
Seems in my country Muzzle brakes are on guns that their owner doesn't want to shoot. But WILL shoot because he wouldn't dare admit it kicks too much for him.
Case in point a local @$$-bag likes to bring his 300 Weatherby with a brake to the local rock-chuck shoot. Will the gun work? of course it will.
However he shows up, gives us all 1 shot of artillery; ALL of us AND THE ROCK CHUCKS go home with headaches.

[BobT]

Do you guys that hate brakes wear hearing protection?

I spent an afternoon not long ago shooting next to my SIL who had a Savage LRH in .300WM with a brake, I really wasn't bothered by the noise but I wear plugs and muffs. If hunting with a brake on a rifle then I wear ear plugs and will not shoot without them.

Muzzle brakes are what keep a Ma-Deuce from ripping your shoulder off.

Just so you know, a "Ma Deuce" (Browning machine gun, .50 caliber M2) does not have a brake and is not fired from the shoulder.

Bob

[nsaqam]

Of course I wear hearing protection at the range.

It's not just the noise, it's the blast and concussion and no amount of hearing protection can shield you from that.

[snowgetter1]

They tend to keep your shooting area neat and tidy and keep unsolicited advice to a minimum. ;D

Bill

That is funny. I love brakes.

[skypilot]

Not a fan of muzzle brakes for clients during guided hunts on foot, especially when hog hunting.

I use a brake on a .223 when I am hunting alone from a hide and covering a wide open farm field of several hundred yards.
The brake gives a great view thru the scope of the dirt splashes and therefore makes any follow up easier.

My Pappy raised me better than to take a muzzle break to a public range ;D

[cgeorgemo]

My Pappy raised me better than to take a muzzle break to a public range ;D

+1

[nsaqam]

My Pappy raised me better than to take a muzzle break to a public range ;D

+1

Plus 2!

I wish more Pappy's raised there children with such respect.

[fgw_in_fla]

It almost sounds like the general concensus is in agreement.... more or less.

I have no love for brakes. I've been lining up a shot & have a guy next to me 3 stations over banging off shot after shot at 1/2 second intervals whilst I watch the site picture fuzz in & out with the rhythm. I've been shooting while the shooter next to me fires off shot after shot after shot & blow my writing pad & other light weight stuff off the benchtop.

I 'spose they have their place. Just not on the end of my rifle. If there was more benefit & less concussive blast, I'd have one. Considering the way my '06 rattles my brain, I have considered it on that rifle only.

ANyway, thanks for the input guys. I'm obliged to y'all.

Frank in Fla.

[Blue Avenger]

Sometimes when we are on the line, we have to put on our Big Boy Pants. ;D

OR GET OUT THE BIG HANDGUNS!! Payback can be fun also! :)

[sniper15545]

People install muzzle breaks on smaller calibers so they can see the bullet impact, And as far as banning them from public ranges maybe you should join the left who just want to ban anything to do with firearms because I think there is enough trivial laws and bans in this country already!

[82boy]

Sometimes when we are on the line, we have to put on our Big Boy Pants. ;D

+1

[stangfish]

If there was not restriction on shooting class, I would place a muzzel break on ever gun I would ever shoot.

Amen!

[cgeorgemo]

And as far as banning them from public ranges maybe you should join the left who just want to ban anything to do with firearms because I think there is enough trivial laws and bans in this country already!

Why does politics have to be injected into a discussion on courtesy to others on a shooting range?
Muzzle brakes are not the problem it's people using them and not being considerate of others that is the problem.
I've done enough weapons firing in my life with loud noises and distracting conditions to never want to put up with it again if I don't have to.

Sometimes when we are on the line, we have to put on our Big Boy Pants.

Pithy response follows...
Maybe you should take off your entitlement hat and consider the fellow shooters you are sharing the range with.

[bootsmcguire]

Personally I like all of my brakes and plan on adding a few more. I try to respect other shooters as much as possible, if I arrive first then i try to choose a bench on one end or the other so others that come can go to the opposite end. If they are there first, then I explain I have a brake, and if they mind (and are nice in their response) then I wait or shoot something else until they are gone and if they are a P.I.T.A$$ about it then I pull out the Braked-458WM.

Ok not really but I think about it every time .

We have to consider our fellow shooters whether we have the brake or they do.

[brtelec]

I agree that if you are running a brake on a big caliber you should do what you can to be considerate. When I shoot my 338 LM at the range I try to take an end bench away from the crowd if it is available. I don't however not shoot if I can not get away from the rest of the rank and file. I do not see the difference between them dealing with my rifle and my dealing with being hit on the head by their brass as they fire some hideous semi-auto in rapid fire slinging brass 4 benches down. That is just part of going to a public range. Either deal with the people around you or find someplace else to shoot. Yes people should try to be considerate and at the same time people should learn to be more tolerant.

[fgw_in_fla]

Actually, All I really wanted to know was what they were for other than reducing recoil. I was curious if there was possibly some other function or purpose for them. The part about driving the guy next to you crazy was purely in jest. Humor, odd though it may have been.

The only other purpose I can think of would be - They do look pretty cool sometimes. I've had a look at rifles at the range that had some pretty funky looking brakes (breaks?). By the way... what's the correct word here? Is it "brake" or "break"?. The baffles on the end of a Barrett .416 or .50 are pretty cool looking and would undoubtedly blow off a guys hair piece. I mean, if a guy was wearing one, that is..... ::)

Again... It's just a curiousity thing.

Thanks,
Frank in Fla.

[nsaqam]

The proper word is BRAKES.

[darkker]

The baffles on the end of a Barrett .416 or .50 are pretty cool looking and would undoubtedly blow off a guys hair piece. I mean, if a guy was wearing one, that is..... ::)

Thanks,
Frank in Fla.

Not sure about a rug, but they can ignite cheatgrass, and Carhartts on fire.......so I've heard! ;D

[82boy]

Well, I am going to jump on my soap box for a minute. I spend most of my shooting in a competition format sitting beside dozens of rifles shooting at the same time. I can say I know first hand what it is like to shoot beside someone with a muzzel break, and I can say I know what its like to shoot with muzzel breaks on either side of me. I have sat beside people shooting muzzel breaks on calibers from 223 all the way up to 300 win mag, and I can say that the only time I have been bothered by a muzzel break is when someone put ir on a 308 Win. I dont know why but this is the most horrible thing. I am glad hardly anyone shots this round in copetition, but I can stand behine a line of 30+ gun, going off, and I can tell you wich one is a 308.

Now for all of you that would like to ban breaks at a public range, I will tell you of things far worse I have seen and witnesed at public ranges that nobody would raise and eye brow at. To start when I do go out to the range it takes me 30 minute to 1 hr to set up, that is before the first shot is fired. I usualy go out on weekday early in the morning. It never fails me that when I am set up, all happy, and have shot a few groups, I get a tactical twit and his buddy come in to shoot.

Now I ask you this, What is worse dealing with my muzzel break, or me dealing with the two of them shooting their ak and ar15 rapid fire, and there brass hitting me in the head, and bouncing all over the ground and benches? Or could it be that they are shooting wolf steel case ammo, and they leave pilles of it all over the range that they will never pick up, and will rust all over the place? Or could it be all the stuff they shoot? I have seen people shoot everything from tree shreaders, lawn mowers, TV, computers, fire extingushiers, propane cylinders, and tansinight. What makes it worse is they dont want to clean up ther mess, or they will take thier heaping pile, of shot up stee,l EPA violating, junk, and leave it by the trash containers, as if the range has a way of disposing of this. Let alone this guys dont know where there bullets are going, and dont care. I know of 4 clubs that in the last could of years have had bullets leave the range, and hit houses miles away, and they almost closed. (Guess who is cleaning this up, could it be me with my offending muzzel break that donates hours of my time to the range.)

Or even some other bad offenders, is the member that shows up once a year to sight in for hunting season. Now I ask what is worse my muzzel brake or the gun firing a 12 gauge shot gun with the hulls hitting me and the bench, as he shots everything in sight including my wind flags? Or they guy that is "going out west" and needs to sight in his rifle, and he has a 220 swift or 300 win mag laoded so hot it is blanking primers, and fires one right after another, and calls it good. Or how about the rimfire shooters that buy thousands of rounds of ammo, shooting them all at the range in one trip, and leaving the brass lay all around. Or could it be the guy that shows up with no guns just to BS, and tells you that your proven match winning gun could be out shot by his contender in 243 win, when all you want to do is shoot.

So what is worse my shoting a rifle with a muzzel break, where I can account for every shot, not leaving a mess, and not bother a person, or all the rest of the examples I have stated?

In closing, I can say at every range I have shot at the maintaince is done by the people who care about guns, and care about the range, not the once a year hunter, or the tactical twits, it is usualy some one that does some kind of competition shooting. Now if a competition shooter uses a muzzel break, are you going to ban him from the club as well?