Magnaport

[Bas]

Everyere you look you see derogatory remarks concerning muzzle brakes on rifles taken afield while hunting. How does Magnaport stack up in this day and age. Shunned or accepted?

 

[Philip Glass]

Muzzle brakes are becoming very popular now for obvious reasons. I don’t have a magnaported gun but it works on the same principal. We all should be using hearing protection anyway and if the brake helps you shoot better then use it regardless of what anyone says.
I shoot both rifles with and without brakes. It depends on the situation. DG Hunting is where many people don’t like brakes because in the heat of the moment you may not have time to ensure you or your guide have hearing protection. Ironic though as DG hunting requires the bigger calibers that benefit the most from the brakes,
Many opinions here.
Philip

 

[enysse]

Definitely not accepted as the norm but it will help you shoot the gun better. I don’t think it’s near as loud as a muzzlebrake.

 

[matt85]

if your gun has too much recoil then either learn to deal with it or get a smaller gun. muzzle breaks have no business in any situation where someone else has to deal with your muzzle blast.

sorry to come across as harsh but i would rather a fellow hunter slap me across the face then fire a gun with a muzzle break near me. ive had plenty of range trips completely ruined by people with muzzle breaks and i was even wearing hearing protection.

-matt

 

[GA Hunter]

I’ve had both muzzle brakes and a magna ported rifle. From a simple performance standpoint magnaporting is no different than a standard muzzle brake.

That being said, I despise them both because of the noise factor. Do they help tame the recoil? Yes definitely. Do they improve the overall accuracy of the gun/shooter combination? Almost always. The caveat to this last point is that the improvement is seldom enough to make a difference in a hunting scenario. UNLESS it helps an individual tame a flinch.

Another option may be to look into a suppressor. Yes there are at least an equal number of pros and cons for them as there are for other methods of taming recoil but I believe it’s worth considering.

I could go on and on about the good and bad associated with both options and I suspect others probably will but I’ll just leave you with this. Look into both options and make your own informed decision.

Good luck.

BD

 

[TTundra]

Have one rifle with magnaporting, a marlin 1895M. It will be chopped down to be rid of it. It's just obnoxious on the 450 marlin. I utilize brakes often in shooting steel and sighting in, but remove them for the hunt. I see more value in a rifle with a threaded barrel to have such an option than without now. I think you're better off with a flush seamless brake that is removable than magnaporting as the latter is not removable without a saw...

 

[Dr Ray]

Muzzle brakes are becoming very popular now for obvious reasons. I don’t have a magnaported gun but it works on the same principal. We all should be using hearing protection anyway and if the brake helps you shoot better then use it regardless of what anyone says.
I shoot both rifles with and without brakes. It depends on the situation. DG Hunting is where many people don’t like brakes because in the heat of the moment you may not have time to ensure you or your guide have hearing protection. Ironic though as DG hunting requires the bigger calibers that benefit the most from the brakes,
Many opinions here.
Philip

I hate muzzle blast. I have it a few times - didn’t have time to block ears etc.
Shooting better with a muzzle brake -yes. But in the heat of the moment I doubt whether you’ll notice the recoil.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

Magna Ports don't cause as much noise as a muzzle brake . In my experience , the only rifle l ever fired which actually NEEDED a muzzle brake to be fired comfortably was a .460 Weatherby Magnum Mark V. Even then , Recoil was atrocious

 

[mark-hunter]

Considering that there are more and more light rifles around, my guess is that muzzle brakes, and magnaports, will be more common in forthcoming years.

 

[Milehighshooter]

Get a removable brake and use it at the range. Take it off, recheck zero without the brake and go hunt

 

[Bas]

Been looking at older 378 and 416 Weatherby mags . It's a mix as to what's on the end of the barrel. Didn't if Magnaport was as loud as the current brakes. Just wondering.....

 

[35bore]

I guess I'm one of "those guys" . I'd rather have ALL that friggin noise go forward instead of to the sides. I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble or trying to dictate anything. It's an opinion. I've shot too many times in an enclosed area/room with firearms w/o a mussle brake. And I cannot endorse one on any firearm. In the woods, it's not as noticeable, but not worth the chance of f***ing up you hearing. If it's a caliber you feel you HAVE to have a break or porting on, then its probably the wrong caliber... There are too many options out there for someone to accept a rifle that's going to kick their ass..... Again, just an opinion.

 

[35bore]

I'm not claiming to be a badass, so please don't take it that way. I literally had a Remington 7600 carbine in 30 and augt6 that killed at one end and maimed at the other. Kicked harder than my 375...

 

[Bas]

I guess I'm one of "those guys" . I'd rather have ALL that friggin noise go forward instead of to the sides. I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble or trying to dictate anything. It's an opinion. I've shot too many times in an enclosed area/room with firearms w/o a mussle brake. And I cannot endorse one on any firearm. In the woods, it's not as noticeable, but not worth the chance of f***ing up you hearing. If it's a caliber you feel you HAVE to have a break or porting on, then its probably the wrong caliber... There are too many options out there for someone to accept a rifle that's going to kick their ass..... Again, just an opinion.

Duly noted.

 

[Ridge Runner]

My experience is at the range when it comes to muzzleloading brakes. If not standing behind the guy shooting a hunt 50 Cal. BMG you can feel the heat and blast come over you and blowing anything not nailed down goes flying.

Muzzle brakes force the exploded gas and concussion to the sides.

Magna ports are generally located on top of the barrel around the front sight, or where a front sight would be located.

Magna ports reduce barrel rise by forcing the exposed gas up thus pushing the barrel down. The concussion gets pushed out the muzzle. Making magna ports a whole lot safer for those standing near the shooter than muzzle brake.

I have a 4 inch barrel .44 mag that is much more comfortable to shoot than the 7 1/2 inch barrel I use to have that wasn't ported. No difference in noise levels. With less barrel rise I can keep on target for a quick 2nd shot rather than bringing the gun back to the target.

 

[Bas]

I was

My experience is at the range when it comes to muzzleloading brakes. If not standing behind the guy shooting a hunt 50 Cal. BMG you can feel the heat and blast come over you and blowing anything not nailed down goes flying.

Muzzle brakes force the exploded gas and concussion to the sides.

Magna ports are generally located on top of the barrel around the front sight, or where a front sight would be located.

Magna ports reduce barrel rise by forcing the exposed gas up thus pushing the barrel down. The concussion gets pushed out the muzzle. Making magna ports a whole lot safer for those standing near the shooter than muzzle brake.

I have a 4 inch barrel .44 mag that is much more comfortable to shoot than the 7 1/2 inch barrel I use to have that wasn't ported. No difference in noise levels. With less barrel rise I can keep on target for a quick 2nd shot rather than bringing the gun back to the target.

I was thinking the same thing. I was shooting my 460 Weatherby and my Browning (unported , no brake) 375 h&h at the range last summer and an observer told me the muzzle rise was greater with the 375.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Considering that there are more and more light rifles around, my guess is that muzzle brakes, and magnaports, will be more common in forthcoming years.

Yes. My father in law’s gunsmith buddy is noted for his custom made rifles here in Colorado and elsewhere. I think his “forte” is lightweight, longer range rifles using Howa or Weatherby Vanguard actions in .340 Weatherby or .338 WM and others, or the newer 6.5 cartridges. All the larger calibers have his own designed (removable) muzzle brake. Craig Boddington used one of his rifles and/or brakes on a hunt and wrote a positive article on it. Point being that many of these long range, light rifles are being fitted with brakes. I don’t like brakes because they are loud and don’ have one on any of my rifles. But, MANY people do and are bringing them to hunt in Africa.

 

[Ridge Runner]

A proper magna ports does 3 things:

1. Pushes barrel down.
2. Reduces recoil by releasing gas evenly forward and rearward
3. Better gun control by evenly pushing the firearm straight back into the shooter's hand or shoulder.

Having seen a .460 Weatherby Mag magna ports it does make the muzzle resemble Swiss cheese compared to the 8 (4 on each side) holes at the front sight of my .44 mag.

Now for AR fans, what some might consider a muzzle brake at the end of the barrel was/ is a flash suppressor, designed to break up muzzle flash/flame being seen by the opposite side and ruining the rifleman's night vision during a firefight.

 

[flat8]

if your gun has too much recoil then either learn to deal with it or get a smaller gun. muzzle breaks have no business in any situation where someone else has to deal with your muzzle blast.

sorry to come across as harsh but i would rather a fellow hunter slap me across the face then fire a gun with a muzzle break near me. ive had plenty of range trips completely ruined by people with muzzle breaks and i was even wearing hearing protection.

-matt

+1 on this.

I can’t stand them. Go down in caliber or add weight to the gun. This trend towards ultra light mountain rifles with muzzle breaks is ridiculous. If you can’t haul around 2 or 3 pounds of extra gun than get your tail in shape!!

 

[rafaellinne]

I shot a Bläser R8 magnaported chambered in 8x68s while hunting beceite ibex in Spain. It works and it is not that loud.