Quote Originally Posted by darkker
For the muzzle brake, I guess it depends on why/what you want.
I have the Ultimate Sniper stock on my FP. I can shoot over 200 rounds of 175 SMK's in a sitting, with no beat-up shoulder; I don't THINK the Varminter is a much lighter stock. So if recoil is the issue, I don't think that it will be. Muzzle brakes, to me, are a GREAT way to put powder burns on the bed of your pick-up, and go deaf; or annoy the fellow shooting beside you.
That said, around here most folks who send the barrel to a smith to get threaded with a variety of different branded brakes; spend about $2-300.
I suppose there might also be a significant reduction in recoil due to the pending install of the 26" heavy barrel. The added length and weight of the barrel [I'm guessing] could potentially reduce recoil significantly. Feel free to correct me. At this point, when laying in full prone and shooting, the [light] front end of my rifle tends to make a fairly significant vertical jump after each shot...