APA little fat bastard vs Area 419 hellfire?
- Thread starter Boone45
- Start date
Check out the latest Precision Rifle Blog. It discusses these two brakes in a What the Pros Use segment.
Had both, both are good brakes. APA was a little more obnoxious to me personally and the 419 is 10 times easier to self time IMO.
I went Area419 for the ability to remove it and mount a suppressor. It is stupid easy to time properly and install.
I like the Area419. I can share one brake and suppressor between multiple rifles. It’s a slick system. The brake really effective too.
I have two APA LBs and I find that they are much more obnoxious to everyone, the shooter and neighboring shooters, than other brakes including the Area 419. I also had two Impact Precision muzzle brakes, and one PVA Jetblast. The Impact and PVA Jetblast work very well and don't blow gas and dirt all over the shooter and neighboring shooter and in my opinion, are just as effective at reducing recoil and keeping the rifle on target. Out of the brakes that I own, I'm impressed most by the PVA Jetblast as having the best combination of recoil reduction, staying on target, and minimizing gas and dirt blasting around the shooter.
Having owned both I can say they are both very effective at their job. I prefer the APA -- to me I think it does a bit better at reducing recoil and I don't personally notice the obnoxious report of the APA. In addition, although a very innovative move by Area 419, I'm not a fat of having an attachment (universal mount) then another attachment (brake) to install the Area 419. Too many threads -- barrel threads, universal adapter threads, then brake threads. I'm sure this doesn't cause an issue of accuracy, but my conscience bugs me to have multiple adapters to get one job done. APA gets my vote.
This week I took a 3 day class from Sawtooth Rifles, Scott Satterlee. I was shooting a 6.5 CM with a PVA Jetblast and my friend next to me was shooting a 6.5 CM with an APA LB. When shooting prone, he did not get any gas blast or dirt blown on him by my shots but every time he fired, I got a direct blast of gas to my face and I got dirt blown all over me and my gear.
I've got a few of both but prefer the APA because it actually stays put. The 419 brakes kept coming loose initially until I got them tightened down with leather and a wrench. The nice thing about the APA brakes you just tighten the big nut and they lockdown securely yet can be easily removed the same way for cleaning or putting on another rifle.
Timing of both brakes is very straightforward but the APA has the advantage here in my opinion also because there is such little to consider and far less parts. The sound is obnoxious to the people beside you because the brake is effective. A good muzzle brake is loud, I see no way around this and some of the most effective brakes do seem louder than others. But from the shooter perspective I don't find either one of these brakes sound bothersome.
Timing of both brakes is very straightforward but the APA has the advantage here in my opinion also because there is such little to consider and far less parts. The sound is obnoxious to the people beside you because the brake is effective. A good muzzle brake is loud, I see no way around this and some of the most effective brakes do seem louder than others. But from the shooter perspective I don't find either one of these brakes sound bothersome.
I hear you!!! The sound and concussion aren’t what is bothersome about the APA, what is bothersome is the blast of gas and dirt blown all over me and my stuff. What I found with the PVA Jetblast and the Impact brake was that they were loud but they don’t blow gas and dirt directly on the neighboring shooters
Both brakes are great but I hated removing and then trying to time the APA brake. The Area 419 is easier to do that.
I had the little bastard and currently run the hellfire. I much prefer the hellfire. I feel like it works better than the little bastard too as far as recoil reduction.
APA looks cooler, has a cooler name, and gets more ass than the 419.
The APA is the simplest brake to install I have ever owned. I'm not sure what to make of the posts above about difficulty timing them. You line it up and tighten one nut.
The PVA Jetblast is self timing and as easy to install as the APA LB. The Impact brake is self timing and even easier to install than the others. With the Impact you turn it to where you want it and tighten the Allen head bolt to clamp it in place.
Its self timing.
Just a more refined brake overall. All 3 have very similar recoil reducing properties.
APA:
- not tool-less, requires a wrench to tighten
- my brake had a tendency to come loose, and at the worse times
- sends a lot of blast back to the shooter, obnoxious to shoot
Area 419:
- tool-less timing
- gets carbon locked easily. Mine carbon locked right up after the first time out shooting it
- brake gills are sharp as knifes. I sliced my hand up good when trying to get the brake "unstuck". Quite honestly, I would expect a machined part of this caliber to have much more refined machining.
Insite Arms Heathen:
- tool-less timing
- has never carbon locked
- sends the least amount of blast back to shooter
- best machining quality
- prefer the timing nut on this brake the most, easiest to grip
- new version just came out with changeable inserts to make it caliber specific
Overall, they all reduce recoil the same. The Insite Heathen is the most refined out of all of them.
I prefer the APA, have shot more than one gun with them and they make a quality product. Any brake is going to make the person next to you unhappy because of the bark and if the brake is expelling the gasses, it going to move the dirt around you. I don't find it to be overwhelming with the APA.
On another note, I run a SilencerCo ASR on my .308 and it is very effective, relatively inexpensive and reduces recoil quite a bit over no brake.
On another note, I run a SilencerCo ASR on my .308 and it is very effective, relatively inexpensive and reduces recoil quite a bit over no brake.
Did they release the version with interchangeable inserts yet? Haven’t seen it on their site
