I will say that the Hawkins 3 port y’all have for around $60 is one of the best bang for the buck brakes out there.
-
Having trouble using the site?
Contact support
What brake do y’all recommend?
- Thread starter Jakeweb09
- Start date
I will say that the Hawkins 3 port y’all have for around $60 is one of the best bang for the buck brakes out there.
All the high end self timing brakes that are promoted on here work very well, in regards to recoil mitigation. It's the small details that set them apart.
My favorite is the Insite Arms Heathen. It's very effective at reducing recoil, but it's designed to not send much blast back to the shooter. The first main port is angled perpendicular to the shooter, directing blast away while also disrupting the blast from the next two ports which are angled back. The machining is the nicest on the Insite Arms as well, I love the knurling on the latest generation Heathens collar (personal preference here), and the edges are all radiused. They also have new 4 and 5 port versions coming out, if you want even more effective recoil mitigation.
Area 419 makes some nice stuff. Their brakes are effective, but the port designs have the blast directed back at the shooter, it's definitely a little more obnoxious to shoot. Myself and others have
My favorite is the Insite Arms Heathen. It's very effective at reducing recoil, but it's designed to not send much blast back to the shooter. The first main port is angled perpendicular to the shooter, directing blast away while also disrupting the blast from the next two ports which are angled back. The machining is the nicest on the Insite Arms as well, I love the knurling on the latest generation Heathens collar (personal preference here), and the edges are all radiused. They also have new 4 and 5 port versions coming out, if you want even more effective recoil mitigation.
Area 419 makes some nice stuff. Their brakes are effective, but the port designs have the blast directed back at the shooter, it's definitely a little more obnoxious to shoot. Myself and others have
Take a look at this comparison. I used the Terminator T4 before getting a suppressor.
Heathen brakes for me. If I was having a gun built I'd have the gunsmith add a seamless brake as well as a thread protector. If I'm paying all that money I won't it to look as good as it shoots.
+1 on the Muzze Brakes and More product. I have two of the Beast 3 port 2-piece Self Timing Brakes in 6.5 Creedmoor and the Brakes are ecpxcellent quality. The owner Nathan is great!
I have a 419 and the Heathen , the Heathen is definitely less blasty than 419. Recoil reduction seems close, but 419 might be slightly better in that aspect. Going to stay with Heathen though, enjoying less blast or whatever one would call it.
I’ve got a question about muzzle brakes that I don’t think warrants a new thread.
I understand that more ports are used on larger cartridges, i.e. 3 port for a 6mm something-or-other, 4 port for .308-ish, 5 port for the big ones. Obviously, a 3 port won’t be very effective on .338 Norma. And a 5 port is a tad overkill on something 6mm-ish. But is the overkill detrimental somehow? Can a commonly available muzzle brake be too big?
I understand that more ports are used on larger cartridges, i.e. 3 port for a 6mm something-or-other, 4 port for .308-ish, 5 port for the big ones. Obviously, a 3 port won’t be very effective on .338 Norma. And a 5 port is a tad overkill on something 6mm-ish. But is the overkill detrimental somehow? Can a commonly available muzzle brake be too big?
Not really, but more ports tends to be more cost, and it'll be slightly longer and heavier, possibly bigger in diameter. I can't bitch about any of those any more, though, since I am running a Maverick....
id root for this one but it may be a little extream bet it would look pretty cool .
www.army.mil
The M119 howitzer platform gets a new muzzle brake design
Engineers at Watervliet Arsenal have designed the 105mm Low Blast Overpressure Muzzle Brake or LBOP, which is the first large caliber muzzle brake designed specifically for an existing gun system.
Muzzle brakes and more, Nathan, has good videos comparing 3, 4, and 5 port breaks. He says up to 50 grains of powder not capacity three ports work great and don’t benefit from four or five ports and the transition from four to five ports is 65-70 grains of powder. I have two of he’s five ports on RUM cartridges and they work amazing. I have a three port on my 224 Valkyrie and can watch holes appear in paper.
Awesome, will try to get to those videos today. We’re potty training one of the rugrats this weekend so my time is a tad limited
Heathen here too. Have a .30 that bounces between calibers on AXSA.
No problems loosening up when hand-tightened, and noticeably less blast.
Prefer the tool-less swap b/t brake and direct thread cans.
No problems loosening up when hand-tightened, and noticeably less blast.
Prefer the tool-less swap b/t brake and direct thread cans.
My Hellfire in 6.5 came today. Looking forward to trying it out.
This weekend, I'll be testing out a Witt Machine clamp on brake....on a Remington 700 in 308 heavy varmint. I've never tried a clamp on brake before. It should be....interesting. If my friend tags along...he has the same barrel in .223 and 6.5....maybe see how the brake works across multiple calibers.
The Lil' Bastard has worked great on the 300PRC....but my next brake will be something that will also work as a quick detach for a suppressor.
The Lil' Bastard has worked great on the 300PRC....but my next brake will be something that will also work as a quick detach for a suppressor.
I am running the 419 Hellfire on my 300PRC and mitigates recoil very well compared to the TBAC break. It does have a little more blast. What I like the most is the ability to switch between bare muzzle, break and Suppressor depending on the situation I am shooting in. It is very well engineered, just like my TBAC break, there is no POI shift when I pull of my Ultra 7 then reinstall.
I will also mention that my suppressor has never loosened up in long strings of fire where my TBAC would. The left hand threads took a little getting used to but was really a non issue.
All in all for me it is a great system. Really never used any other break besides a Vias a few years back. It was good at controlling blast but not as good on recoil mitigation, also, with the bottom facing ports it would stir up a lot of dust!
I will also mention that my suppressor has never loosened up in long strings of fire where my TBAC would. The left hand threads took a little getting used to but was really a non issue.
All in all for me it is a great system. Really never used any other break besides a Vias a few years back. It was good at controlling blast but not as good on recoil mitigation, also, with the bottom facing ports it would stir up a lot of dust!
+1 for MBM. I put a 5 port Beast brake on my 300WM, hunting rig. Recoil about like a 308 maybe a bit less. Recoil never really bothers me when I am shooting but afterward is another story. I can't help but wonder how much that gets into your subconscious. So having the break is one less variable when you are trying to pull of a clean shot on what may be the bull of a lifetime. I took an elk at 650 yards last season, so I call it a win. Any breaks I need in the future will be MBM.
Check MBM out on Youtube, he does a lot of side by side comparisons with a lot of the breaks mentioned in this thread.
I've had a second gen APA lil bastard for a while but never had anything to put it on, my rifles at the time were not threaded. I recently bought another rifle and this one had a threaded muzzle so on the brake went.
Honestly, other brakes have the rear port going straight out so it is not so blasty to the shooter. Others have mentioned that the lil bastard is great at reducing recoil but that they felt it was too harsh in blast and concussion. I won't lie, I've never shot with a brake before so I was a bit nervous at first.
After shooting with it, I realized there was no blast or concussion that I could tell. I obviously had ear protection. The brake went on an FN SPR in 308 that I bought and I did not shoot it without the brake so I can't say it helped a lot in reducing the felt recoil but I do know it was minimal. Again, the blast was really non-existent for me and I enjoyed shooting the rifle with the lil bastard.
Just my 2 cents...
Honestly, other brakes have the rear port going straight out so it is not so blasty to the shooter. Others have mentioned that the lil bastard is great at reducing recoil but that they felt it was too harsh in blast and concussion. I won't lie, I've never shot with a brake before so I was a bit nervous at first.
After shooting with it, I realized there was no blast or concussion that I could tell. I obviously had ear protection. The brake went on an FN SPR in 308 that I bought and I did not shoot it without the brake so I can't say it helped a lot in reducing the felt recoil but I do know it was minimal. Again, the blast was really non-existent for me and I enjoyed shooting the rifle with the lil bastard.
Just my 2 cents...
It turned a 308 that had a little snap in the recoil...into a 22lr. I was pleasantly surprised. It looks a little beefy out on the end...but the sound wasn't bad....then again I'm used to the 300PRC with the Lil'B on it. If I had a friend that had a cheaper rifle and didn't want to pay to get the muzzle threaded...I'd recommend it.
I have a 6mm Hellfire on a 22BR and a 6.5 Hellfire on my 6.5 barrel. My son has a MBM 3 port self timing Beast brake in 6.5 that he had on a RPR. It does eliminate more recoil than the Hellfire, but it comes at the cost of a lot more blast back at the shooter. I have been around a lot of Heathen brakes and they are a good balance of recoil reduction and keeping the blast from the shooter. That being said, I only hunt with a suppressor, doesn't matter what rifle it is.
My experience exactly. Very minimal blast to the shooter. We have a gen 2 lil bastard and a gen 3 lil bastard. Like both of them.
There is minimal blast to the shooter....HOWEVER....your buddy 6 feet away on another bench...heh...now that is funny. Recently blew the hat of the guy sitting next to me...I warned him first though...he had a startled look on his face....he was wearing nice earpro.
So...if you like minimal recoil...and you don't like people crowding your bench...the APA Lil' B is the greatest thing since chilidogs.
My son and I both shoot these. We pu around 10 feet between us on the ground and all is good. Anything closer starts getting kinda retarded
After trying several brakes on my .30-06, I ended up with an APA Fat Bastard. Works great and isn't terribly "blast-y" when you're behind it. Not pleasant to be next to however. Prior to that I tried the Precision Armament M4-72, and a VG-6 Gamma. Both were good brakes, but didn't give the reduction I was looking for. The Fat Bastard is far and away better. Just my 2 cents.
I just don't like the conversation you have with others when they ask "What type of brake you using?".... me; "Fat Bastard"...them: "Well screw you too buddy!"
Josh is a constant innovator and even so, his first iteration of his brakes were unique in how the design was science based rather than facsimiles of existing models with a slight cosmetic difference.
For the folks saying they don't get a lot of blast from their brake while shooting - I thought the same thing for a long time, but I struggled with sinus migraines after PRS matches where I could be miserable for 2-3 days after a match. After talking to several other people that had the same problem, and we had all come to the same conclusion - it was concussion from the muzzle brakes. I've run a brake back to back with a Maverick now, and I can 100% feel the difference in concussion after even a short range session.
Just because you're not immediately noticing the concussion doesn't mean it isn't affecting you in some way.
Just because you're not immediately noticing the concussion doesn't mean it isn't affecting you in some way.
Maybe your just the sensitive type?
I'll admit, I had some pretty fucked up sinuses before I got into PRS/long range stuff - but as I said before, I know several other people (all long time shooters) that have had similar issues with concussion. I'm sure any ENT doc you went and talked to will tell you it's not good for your sinuses long term, and you can still get hearing damage from it even with ear pro.
My match rifle was just about the last rifle I wasn't shooting suppressed full time, and the Maverick at least let me mitigate it when I am shooting a match. Any decent can will have the same end result for blast/concussion mitigation, of course.
Just something to consider.
I have shot my 22BR better at matches with a can even though it has a little more recoil than my Hellfire brake. I can see all my impacts with the brake, but the blast does get to me. The Maverick is on my list after I get my Dominus.
