Muzzle Brake?

I have a muzzle break on my .300 Remington Ultra Mag, I didn't do it because there was to much recoild for me to handle. I did it becaue it allows me to practice more. Without my muzzle break I could only shoot maybe 10-15 times before I started to get flinchy. Now I can shoot the thing all day long with no neglagable effects to me or my shooting abbility. The only good news about my particular muzzle break is that I can take it off when it comes time to hunt and shoot just as well as I do with it on. I never had the intention of being rude to anybody. I thought it was just a device to help people practice more with large caliber rifles. I know that i can shoot very well with deer slugs and large caliber muzzle loaders. I just don't want to shoot those guns all day. I don't think that it is a matter of being recoil shy, as much as it is about people wanting to be able to practice more with the guns that they are going to be taking very important shots with.

I have a muzzlebreak on my .300 RUM too but I don´t know if it helps me with the recoil at all. One thing for sure, it blast like a volcano. I have to wear earmuff on the field or I end dizzy.

Really? Thats odd. I notice a 50-60% reduction in recoil with my break on. That's on top of a sims recoil pad. You must have a really good recoil, pad on it then. I know the first time I shot mine with the muzzle break, my ears were ringing for a week. Great round though.

Well, to be honest I must say that I don´t know the difference, because when I bought the rifle it already had the muzzlebreak on it. It´s a customized barrell. But it does have a good recoil pad .

I agree with duckman90. Muzzle brakes work. They are not a gimmick and their value is not limited to military applications. They reduce the felt recoil of firearms. So do recoil pads (some being better than others) and so do mechanical and mercury "in stock" recoil reducers. And to some extent, so does simply adding weight to the firearm.

I shot competitive Trap and Skeet for over 20 years. Shotguns with ported barrels are very common there. The porting is holes or slots cut in the sides of the muzzle, behind the choke, reduces the recoil and the muzzle jump which allows for quicker second shots, and less shooter fatigue for several hundred target events.

I still shoot 100+ 12 ga shells at Skeet and Trap every week, just because I like to shoot. Both of my shotguns are ported, as are the shotguns of many of my friends that I shoot with. The only time we notice loud shotgun reports is in the fall when guys come out to shoot a box or two of field loads through their non-ported field guns.

I had muzzle brakes installed on two of my hunting rifles. The first one was a .375 RUM that I bought for a Cape Buffalo hunt. It came from the factory without porting or a muzzle brake, and the first time I shot it, it's recoil was worse than uncomfortable AND it was loud. A shooter several benches away asked me what kind of cannon I was shooting. I only shot 8 shells through it that day. It was NOT fun to shoot.

Before I shot that .375 RUM again, I re-stocked it with a shock that fits me, and I had a KDF muzzle brake installed on it. It is not uncomfortable to shoot now. It doesn't hurt, so I practice with it more. I've taken it to Africa twice, and shot a variety of animals from Steenbok to Eland and Buffalo with it. I even shot several animals from a prone position without any recoil discomfort.

The other rifle that I had a KDF muzzle brake installed on is a .300 Weatherby that I built a couple of years ago. This rifle is also a pleasure to shoot, and the felt recoil is about the same as a .308 Win.

Both of these rifles have stocks that fit me, and they also have a mechanical or mercury reducer in their stocks, and they both have 1" Limbsaver recoil pads on them.

The noise from all firearms can cause hearing damage. When I go to the range, I put in hearing protection when I get out of my car. When I'm hunting, I put earplugs in before I shoot, and if I'm hunting with a guide, like in Africa, I tell the PH before I shoot so he and his staff can cover their ears.

.30-06 Class cartridges burn about 60 or less grains of powder. Large capacity cases that burn 80 to 100+ grains of powder increase the velocity of the bullet, AND increase the felt recoil and muzzle blast. A muzzle brake is an effective tool to reduce the felt recoil, and hearing protection, which you should be wearing anyway, will reduce the muzzle noise that you hear.

I agree 100% with Buffybr...there is a use for muzzlebrakes, mercury reducers, recoil pads, fitted stocks and hearing protection. Are they gadgets? Sure, but since when hasn't the hunting industry been about selling gadgets to make hunting more comfortable or easier .

I used a rifle with a muzzle break for the first time last season, when finishing off a buffalo with a client's .458 Win mag (at client's request). I am right handed and the gun was left handed and so I shot it from my left shoulder, something I rarely if ever do. Now I can tell you that percieved recoil was like letting off a .308. The buffalo was very hard to see, laying down in long grass, with only the top of the head visible. With the scope sighted rifle I was able to, very deliberately, deliver the shot to the brain. At the shot there was so little recoil I was able to see the impact of the shot, and the buffalo roll over. This particular shot was much easier to deliver with a scope sighted rifle than my customary open sighted Lott, and yes the break allowed for minimal felt recoil, but i must also say that for MY hearing (I have suffered substantial hearing loss to muzzle blast in my past), THE MUZZLE BLAST WAS SHOCKING.
I would strongly urge those leaning to breaks to get those that can be sleaved or taken off whilst hunting.
While they are a great asset in familiarisation, practice and target shooting they are enough of a distraction, particularly in the confines of hunting dangerous game in thick cover, to cause anyone in the immediate surrounds (perhaps your P.H who is trying to back you up) to be put off.
By all means use whatever neccessary for you to become familiar and confortable with your rifle at home and on the range, then sleeve it or take it off for the hunt.
When you have that 100lb bull or big buff in your sights at 30yds, you will not feel the recoil from you rifle, break or no break, and it is unlikely that you will need to fire any more than a few shots to get the job done.
If you've done enough practice at home, you should be able to recover from recoil and re-aquire target fast enough, even without the break and I would go far enough to suggest that if you don't feel confortable enough, or cannot recover from the recoil and re-aquire target adequately WITHOUT the break, you may be better served hunting with a milder cartridge.
Just my opinion.
Paul.

Muzzle breaks work. No doubt about it.

They also can cause hearing loss to people around the shooter....no doubt about it.

If you need one for the range, at least make it a removable one so you don't cause your PH/Guide to go deaf in the field where you never notice recoil anyway.

I DO like the Mag-Na-Port slits. They are not as loud as a muzzle break and direct a lot of the gas UP which keeps the rifle from coming UP so much and just make the recoil be more of a straight push against the shoulder. I put it on my .270 and .7mm-08 because with it I can shoot it the lack of "up" motion means I can watch the animals in the scope after I shoot. I have stood near people shooting guns with the Mag-Na-Port slits and they are not near as loud as guns with Muzzle Breaks

I DO like the Mag-Na-Port slits

+1!