Re: Vote, Muzzle device on your rifle
Frank, please add some clarification on "muzzle device". There is a huge difference between brakes and suppressors but both could fall under your heading. Since most of the responses seem to be geared toward the brake users, I will throw my two cents in.
The trend is obvious that many are moving to brakes on even the small caliber rifles. At the recent Fall Bash in south Texas, I would guess 75 percent of the shooters were running brakes. The other 25% was split between naked barrels and suppressors.
It was kind of amusing to see several shooters close together when all were running brakes. You could see the shooters to each side of a brake being moved by the blast and their visibility down to 10% after the first shots.
On the events that required several competitors on the line at once, I personally had a brake shooter to each side. Not a lot of fun and definitely had an affect on my shooting. My best shooting was when I could time my observation and shooting between their shots. One event required 3 shooters at a time to move to a large concrete culvert and simultaniously engage their assigned mover with a total of 10 rounds. After skanking my 4th round because of the blast from fellow shooters, I unloaded and stood up for the remainder of the stage. I just couldn't hang. BTW, both of my fellow shooters that were running brakes to my immediate right and left are great guys and it was a pleasure to be in your squad. My comments here are not meant to be personal or negative to you.
Interestingly, the trend is that more of the top shooters were shooting naked barrels or suppressed. I can assure you that some of the fastest rapids were shot with these rifles. Most (not all) of the brake shooters that did well were fortunate to not have competitor's brakes flanking them.
While brakes obviously decrease recoil, they do have certain penalties even when shooting alone. Many have the belief that when you're driving a rifle package that weighs 14-15 pounds or more with modern stock designs, you can run it very very efficiently without the negative effects of a brake.
I had SWAT from one agency contact me about barrel work/replacement on their 8 rifles. Seems all eight were recently "upgraded" with name brand brakes. Their team leaders attended SHOT and had also been sold on the idea by a big name rifle smith. First training cycle with the newly modified rifles had everyone bitching. Setting up in a concealed position or proximate to a wall or AC unit proved abusive. Concussion and blast on the shooter was really bad due to the brake's exhaust being redirected from the adjacent structures.
If they were lucky enough to train with a spotter, the spotter could not observe results of the shot due to the blast and their FOV being being clouded by the brake exhaust at the moment of the shot. Their rifles will be coming in here in rotations of 2 at a time to have the brakes removed and a flash hider installed if the threads are applicable.
This is exactly why I religiously preach against brakes on bolt guns and entry weapons destined for duty use.
I am obvioulsy in the minority on this by about 800% but will hold my ground until convinced otherwise. The is a ton of money to be made by manufacturing and installing brakes so the marketing will certainly continue to drive this trend. Besides, they do look cool.
