Favorite brake

Nik H

Nik H

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    • Jan 22, 2014
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    Small town New England
    #1
    Hello all,

    I just bought a new PROOF barrel from @DetroitRearView for my AI AT. It is threaded to accept a brake.

    I have never used a brake before and may not use one this time. Would like to get opinions on what brakes to consider for a 6.5 Creed.

    All opinions welcome
     
    #8
    I have the Area 419 Hellfire on my AIAT 6.5 and like it a lot. Easy to install. NIk H what barrel length did you get on the PROOF barrel? I've been think about one for my next barrel. I have the Little Bastard on the 308 barrel and that works well also. If I had to pick one I would go with the Hellfire.
     
    #19
    PVA Jetblast reduces recoil well. Comes off in seconds and reinstalls in minutes so that it can be cleaned. Does not blast the shooter with gas or debris.
     
    #20
    The Heathen is also a nice brake to consider, as it has tool-less installation/removal. I prefer it over the Little Bastard for that reason. The Hellfire would be next on my list to try except I've now gone the TBAC Compact Brake route for use with their suppressors.
     
    #26
    Speaking from experience, I have owned most of the popular ones people will mention. In my opinion- The A419 kit is the most innovative - especially if you plan to shoot suppressed. It has a universal barrel adaptor that you tighten down the actual muzzle brake on its conical surface thus very good concentricity numbers, accuracy and repeatability.

    If you have a suppressor (Omega, crux, tbac, I think he makes more too)- you can swap from a brake to suppressor in 10 seconds. Also you can just run one of each between all rifles with said barrel adaptor. If you're a rifle hooker like myself, this could save you a bunch in muzzle brakes alone. At least that was the justification to my wife.

    As far as recoil mitigation- its definitely one of the bests in terms of recoil reduction, maybe a bit less compared to MPAs, but definitely on par w/ APA LB.
     
    #27
    Nik H said:
    That would be a downer and would eliminate it from my list. Sounds like a bad approach.
    Click to expand...

    I'm running a 419 Hellfire. Have had PVA Mad Scientist, APA LB Gen II also.

    I wouldn't say that the 419 hits the shooter with gas, that's not the right way to describe it. If you have a brake with angled rearward ports (most all of them) then there is a bit of a pressure wave directed back at the shooter. A brake with straight sideways ports directs the gas less toward the shooter, but is less effective in reducing recoil. I prefer the angled rearward design and greater recoil reduction.

    PVA Jet Blast is supposed to be a mixture of the two designs, but I haven't tried it.
     
    #28
    Sheldon N said:
    I'm running a 419 Hellfire. Have had PVA Mad Scientist, APA LB Gen II also.

    I wouldn't say that the 419 hits the shooter with gas, that's not the right way to describe it. If you have a brake with angled rearward ports (most all of them) then there is a bit of a pressure wave directed back at the shooter. A brake with straight sideways ports directs the gas less toward the shooter, but is less effective in reducing recoil. I prefer the angled rearward design and greater recoil reduction.

    PVA Jet Blast is supposed to be a mixture of the two designs, but I haven't tried it.
    Click to expand...

    Thanks Sheldon...I always enjoy reading your posts. I have heard nothing but great reviews from people on the A419. I now understand what you are talking about.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Sheldon N
    #37
    Muzzle brakes and more BEAST 2 piece (self timing brake), APA little bastard and a Muscle brake self timing (clamp type). All worked well when not running a suppressor. The BEAST is a bargain.
     
    #38
    Nik H said:
    Amazingly one sided toward Hellfire. I really appreciate all of the comments
    Click to expand...
    The quality is unbelievable.....function, fit, finish, instructions on how to time it and mount it. Classy box, fast shipping, and it really works well.

    I'm really impressed with my Area 419 Hellfire. You can get something else that's good but I'll be surprised if you can find anything better/cheaper that is as finely built.

    VooDoo
     
    #39
    honeslty, there are a lot of good ones. I'd test and try them out. You'll read a ton of opinions why this one is the best or why that one is better. Only real way is to try them out. APA, Area 419, PVA, and many more. I run a can most of the time but have them all. I shoot best surpressed mainly because that's what I've become used too.
     
    #44
    I had a local gunsmith build a 5 port brake,parkerized to match barrel, taper to barrel, and thread barrel 5/8x24. All for $225. The brake doesn't have rearward angle in the ports, but it is very noticeable in reducing recoil vs no brake on 300 RUM. Looks nice and I'm happy with it. Question, would any of these brakes mentioned above in your guys opinion provide greater recoil reduction over the one I have, that the shooter would notice. Or is recoil difference between comparable brakes(size and port count) too small of a difference to worry about?
     
    #46
    I was running the PVA Mad Scientist, Switched to the MPA Brake - which is a license of the Alamo 4 Star COWL Induction brake. I haven't tried the PVA JetBlast brake yet, but happy with the MPA brake. Its more in the category of the Fat Bastard though in terms of size.

    The Alamo 4 Star Cowl Brake won first place (mostly) in Cal Zant's review of brakes on the precision rifle blog, so at least someone out there besides me thought it performed pretty well :)

    http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/08/21/muzzle-brake-summary-of-field-test-results/

    The testing is a bit old, so there are a lot of newer entries into the market like the PVA brakes...
     
    #49
    I always shot suppressed until switching to the Area 419 hellfire. I love it. I will say everything 180 degrees perpendicular to the brake besides the shooter seems to get blasted.
     
    #50
    I use an Insite Arms Heathen brake at the moment. It's one of their aluminum brakes and only weighs 1.6 ounces.

    I'll continue to use a Heathen until all the suppressors I've been ordering finally become available to me over the course of the next year.
     
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