Muzzle brake considerations

T

trauma1

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
May 23, 2012
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#1
I am in the middle of my sons first rifle build. 8 y/o.
I have had awesome results from Elite iron. I thought I would do some research to see if any newer designs offer more recoil reductions.
Is there a comparison study on here?
Thanks for your time
 
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#2
Check out Precision Rifle blog. They did a pretty decent job scientifically measuring recoil reduction on a bunch of muzzle brakes. One of the newer ones that wasn't out when that testing went down is the Area 419 Hellfire. Its my favorite at the moment. It works as well as the APA, MPA and similarly designed muzzle brakes. The difference being the way it secure the self timing brake. I have used a hand full of self timed brakes and the Area 419 Hellfire is what sits on my rifle.
 
#3
Have a look at you tube for a recoil sled test by Terminator muzzle brakes from
NZ . I've Shot 338LM with a Terminator T4 : amazing brake , less recoil than my
unbraked 308 Tikka and no headache or concussion from brake blast . They are
not very well known in the US yet it seems , but are very popular over this side
of the Pacific .

Getting a T 4 Terminator brake for my 300 Norma build for sure . For a smaller cal ,
the T 2 or T 3 brake would be the go . Same design , just smaller .
 
#5
I also have the Area 419 self timing Hellfire muzzle brake on my 6.5 Creedmoor. Works very well, easy to install. Install video on the webpage. I have the Little Bastard brake on my 308 barrel and that works very well also. The Hellfire was a little easier to setup. Both are very good and both are very close in price.
 
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#8
Clearlight said:
Have a look at you tube for a recoil sled test by Terminator muzzle brakes from
NZ . I've Shot 338LM with a Terminator T4 : amazing brake , less recoil than my
unbraked 308 Tikka and no headache or concussion from brake blast . They are
not very well known in the US yet it seems , but are very popular over this side
of the Pacific .

Getting a T 4 Terminator brake for my 300 Norma build for sure . For a smaller cal ,
the T 2 or T 3 brake would be the go . Same design , just smaller .
Click to expand...

+1 on the Terminator brakes. Nothing on any sled test can beat it. Have a T-4 on my 338LM Improved, the recoil reduction is amazing, much better than any of the fat or little bastard brakes. The only thing that comes close are the Beast brakes by Muzzle brakes & more. www.muzzlebrakesandmore.com.
 
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#11
trauma1 said:
I am in the middle of my sons first rifle build. 8 y/o.
I have had awesome results from Elite iron. I thought I would do some research to see if any newer designs offer more recoil reductions.
Is there a comparison study on here?
Thanks for your time
Click to expand...

I wouldn't use a muzzle brake on a child's rifle. The more aggressive ones make so much noise at the shooter it is unlikely any kind of doubled up hearing protection can make them safe levels even when used properly. I can't imagine a child keeping that gear in place correctly.

The more aggressively styled muzzle brakes work OK, but they should include a coupon for a free set of hearing aids. I'd have him shoot a lighter caliber, or a heavier rifle, if the recoil is too much vs. using any kind of brake.
 
#13
XOR said:
I wouldn't use a muzzle brake on a child's rifle.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. In my opinion, muzzle blast is the biggest detriment to accurate shooting for an inexperienced shooter, even more so than recoil. My 8yo nephew struggled mightily with shot anticipation on a braked 7RM, but he loved my suppressed 300NM.
 
#14
I've been using the SUREFIRE MB in 5.56 & 7.62. I'm sure there are better MBs on the market but I set up my M4, 308 & 300 WM (bolt guns) for use w/ a SF SOCOM RC2 7.62 suppressor.

This particular suppressor meets my overall needs the best. My zero has changed a little on each gun but not much. So far I'm very pleased w/ overall results.
 
#16
Fursniper said:
+1 on the Terminator brakes. Nothing on any sled test can beat it. Have a T-4 on my 338LM Improved, the recoil reduction is amazing, much better than any of the fat or little bastard brakes. The only thing that comes close are the Beast brakes by Muzzle brakes & more. www.muzzlebrakesandmore.com.
Click to expand...

What other brakes have you tried on your 338 LM Improved? I'm tempted by the T4 but have some sticker shock going on.

 
#17
TripleBull said:
What other brakes have you tried on your 338 LM Improved? I'm tempted by the T4 but have some sticker shock going on.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the "T" brakes are really expensive for sure. What got me started on them was shooting 375 CT's with them and how soft they made those boomers shoot (T-5's). I shot a bunch of LM's that were friends rifles before deciding to build one, they had a variety of brakes on them, bastard brakes, etc. Then I had opportunity to shoot my smith's LM with a T brake. Once again, like the 375's, it shot so nicely I was sold on the Terminator line. The sled tests videos from terminator pretty much confirmed what I was experiencing as well, the "T" line was out performing ALL the others. Having said that, I had watched the sled tests from Nathan at muzzlebrakesandmore (the "Beast" line) and his new 5 port 1 1/4" "super" Beast was neck & neck with the terminators at about 1/3 the cost. Problem was he wasn't actually producing them for sale at that time yet & I needed a brake for my build. If I was doing the build now, I'm pretty sure I'd go with the beast brakes due to essentially equal performance but WAY cheaper. So, to answer your question, never actually tried different brakes on my 338LM improved, but did shoot several others with otherwise impressive LOOKING brakes, but their recoil mitigation was lacking in comparison. Most of the others were real ugly mugly brakes too, the terminators are bad ass looking. Check out the sled tests from terminator & the Beast brakes (all available on ytube) pretty revealing really. Pretty sure you'll come to the same conclusion. The T's were designed to be timed (no crush washer, etc) so that adds to the expense as well. Nathan makes self timed brakes I know, just not sure if he makes the self timing versions for the really large calibers though.
 
#19
Got to try out my APA Little Bastard brake on my .308 last Sunday. Very impressive. Not as loud as I thought and the recoil was very soft with little job. Very happy with my choice. and it self times on.
 
#20
On my latest build I started with the Hellfire, not bad but didn't seem to work as good as the Holland's I had on my last 6mm. So I switched to the Mad Scientist and ran that for a while, also a good brake. A guy at a recent match turned me on to the BPR BFF and it made a world of difference. The rifle barely moves, even in precarious shooting positions. Really like this brake for a self-timing option. For not self-timing brakes, I personally would stick with the Holland's.
 
#21
Insite Arms Heathen. Just as (if not more) effective than the APA and Area 419 brakes, but less obnoxious on the shooter as the gas is directed perpendicular to the shooter
 
#22
There's just too many options!!!!! I've used several including but not limited to: hellfire, mad scientist and MPA's muzzle break.

I was not overly impressed with the hellfires assistance when it came to staying on target. They do have a great timing feature. Arguably the best.

The mad scientist, I felt did a better job of recoil management and I was able to follow my bullets trace much better.

I felt like more was better so I ordered MPAs "PRS" muzzle break.

First and limited impressions: The black finish was no where near nice or equivalent to the other 2 breaks mentioned in this post. Recoil reduction was the best of the 3.

However, it pops the shooter in the the face with the rearward diverted gasses. This causes me to blink/move and thus, I'm not as efficient at following my trace.

Will test the MPA more before I make a overall decision but the mad scientist is in the lead.
 
#23
noisewaterphd said:
On my latest build I started with the Hellfire, not bad but didn't seem to work as good as the Holland's I had on my last 6mm. So I switched to the Mad Scientist and ran that for a while, also a good brake. A guy at a recent match turned me on to the BPR BFF and it made a world of difference. The rifle barely moves, even in precarious shooting positions. Really like this brake for a self-timing option. For not self-timing brakes, I personally would stick with the Holland's.
Click to expand...
This does look appealing. I like the top ports also. Don't you like how every break on the market (not every but many) say they have the best recoil reduction/ "most efficient" and always add some kind of percentage next to their statement.
 
#26
I would go with the APA little bastard. That brake is extremely effective but it gets its name honestly.

I personally run a SiCo ASR brake and I find it is really nice. It pushes the rifle almost straight back and I can spot my hits at 300. I had a Ross Schuler brake and my SiCo is more effective IMO. His brakes look nice when they are blended with the barrel though.
 
#27
I don't think you mentioned caliber of rifle which makes a lot of difference in what brake you might want to consider. For instance, I am running a Dasher so I went with a PVA Mad Scientist because they are know for having less concussion and I was more looking for muzzle rise reduction than anything else. Super impressed with the brake and Josh is great to deal with. Huge difference if you're building him up a .223, .308 class...or something bigger....etc....
 
#28
I have a APA lil bastard, area 419 hellfire, muzzlebrake and more 3 port, deserttech factory, and an Impact Precision.
The Impact and the 419 are the easiest to install and to see if you like them due to being of the clamp style. So the are my go to. They do make things very loud so I'd get the shooter comfortable with the rifle before adding in a possible reasoning for flinching.
 
#29
When considering whether/which muzzle brake - it is a trade off. Reduced recoil in exchange for concussion and gas. Any muzzle brake with rearward directed gas ports will provide the greatest recoil reduction, and with that, the attendant increase in concussion and gas to the shooter. Your tolerance for concussion and gas may outweigh the benefits of lower recoil. Bare muzzle, neutral port, or rearward port muzzle brake - all viable options. The variable will be the shooters tolerance to recoil vs concussion/gas.

No silver bullet here - don't get caught up in the hype.
 
#30
RampedRaptor said:
This does look appealing. I like the top ports also. Don't you like how every break on the market (not every but many) say they have the best recoil reduction/ "most efficient" and always add some kind of percentage next to their statement.
Click to expand...

Haha, ya, kind of stupid. I'd venture to guess it's because there is no standard way of measuring the recoil.

To be honest I don't think the BFF made any difference in recoil. It definitely made a difference in staying on target though, which is more important to me. They remind me of a little JEC.
 
#32
I compared my SiCo asr brake to my muzzle brakes and more beast break last night and its not even remotely close, the beast cuts LOTS more recoil.........still have a fondness for the can over either even though recoil reduction is not as much, very different recoil
 
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