Muzzle brake on varmint rifles

[urbanrifleman]

Check out Muzzle Brakes and More, Nathan's brakes are the best, especially the self timing ones.

Don Dunlap

I tweak mine based on the muzzle jump.

 

[BradY]

For those that use them, would a braked 223 sound someone similar in the report to an unbraked 308?

 

[AckleymanII]

My shooting partner and I were around 5' apart shooting P. dogs, our brakes never bothered each other. Not all brakes put out the same amount of concussion. It is best to wear ear plugs and electronic ear muffs so you can hear each other talk at a normal tone of voice.

Gentry muzzle breaks has forward leaning ports, and MUCH of the concussion is thrown forward, unlike radial brakes, and Tactical brakes.

If you shoot off the ground, you are forced to use a tactical brake with side and top discharge only.

 

[Tommie]

For those that use them, would a braked 223 sound someone similar in the report to an unbraked 308?

I hope not!

 

[AckleymanII]

For those that use them, would a braked 223 sound someone similar in the report to an unbraked 308?

Only if you are deaf!

 

[Iowa Fox]

I tweak mine based on the muzzle jump.

Can you explain how you tweak them? I assume timing them a little before top dead center.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Can you explain how you tweak them? I assume timing them a little before top dead center.

The Tubb brake comes with a lock nut on purpose. . You can not only tweek the position of the brake slightly forward of top dead center to minimize the jump, you can also use it as a tuner. .

 

[AckleymanII]

That is one heck of a brake!

 

[markT]

here's my favorite dog gun...20-222......about 17# as shown

Savage target action...Pac Nor full cylinder tube...9 twist

cut down & re chambered from 20BR..barrel length just short of 26"

The dog is flipped & dead even at 500 yds before you feel the recoil tap..

40 grain V max & H322...no brakes for me.....

I put Choate stocks ( varmint) on all my prairie dog hunting rifles. I added pieces of steel in the hollowed out areas in the forearm area. With a 6 br shooting 87 gr Vmax I can see my hits and stay behind the scope. Weight is the way to go... for me anyway.

 

[Brians356]

The Tubb brake comes with a lock nut on purpose. . You can not only. Week the position of the brakes lightly Ford of top dead center 2 minimize the jump, you can also use it as a tuner. .

That must have been mighty fine whisky.
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[urbanrifleman]

That is one heck of a brake!

My stupid voice recognition on my phone has gone full stupid.

 

[Brians356]

My stupid voice recognition on my phone has gone full stupid.

You used that excuse last time. Some of us might discern a pattern here.
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[AckleymanII]

He is far from Stupid!

 

[KY_Windage]

I wear PLUGS and MUFFS. Always.

Yes, and how wonderfully comfortable that set up is when you are trying to shoot for a few hours and the sun is beating down on the prairie -- compared to just having to have a pair of foam plugs barely stuck into your ears. And it is so much nicer for you and your buddy to be able to talk in a low voice (especially since loud talking alarms the squirrels) without having to unpack your ears.

But, the real scourge of unsuppressed shooting is not what it does to you, it is what it does to the pdogs, as in making them all scarce out to about 400 yards (depending on wind, etc.) With a suppressor, you scare the ones near your POA, but the others in the 340 degrees of the circle around you pay no attention to it. It provides for vastly better shooting opportunities.

I usually take what I need to clean my suppressor, but I also might go a thousand rounds before I clean it. That makes it harder to clean, but it is not a big deal -- the hot vinegar does 90% of the work -- I just have to let it boil longer.

And let's get something straight -- no one, and I mean NO ONE, shooting any bullet in a 22-250 or other typical varmint gun more than 100 yards sees the impact before the rifle recoils. The brake or suppressor merely stops the rifle from jumping so much, making it come back down onto the target in time for you to see the impact. I shoot 32-gr. bullets leaving at 4,000 in a 17 lb. set up (heaviest tapered bbl Bartlien makes), and I still have to wait for my muzzle to come back down before I can see the impact.

And I see a lot of them, but not all.

I also see guys pressing their scope down, trying to keep their muzzle from jumping so much. Try that on a paper target some time and let me know what it did to your groups.

 

[KY_Windage]

It’s not like we’re set up 4 feet from each other. To me a suppressor would be a waste of money that I could have spent on other things.

My son and I will set up 4 feet apart, both suppressed, and take turns shooting while the other one spots (with his rifle scope). I've gotten to where spotting is really about as much fun as shooting, if the shooter is good. The spotter gets to watch the bullet through it whole flight to the impact, something we never get to do shooting. The bullet looks like it is going wide until the last 25% of the trajectory, when the wind finally pushes it over for DRT explosion of pdog. After a few rounds his barrel needs to cool, so he spots while I shoot a few. That is BY FAR my favorite way to shoot pdogs. I will still set up and shoot them if I am alone, but it isn't nearly as much fun, and the closer your tables are together, the easier it is to watch the bullet in flight, and to figure out which dog he is about to attack.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Suppressed would be awesome. Too bad about that whole dealing with the gubment to get one... or I would have a dozen. They really do work.

 

[Iowa Fox]

KY Windage is right about rifle jump. I have found even the 22 rimfire bounces enough to blur impact on longer shots. If I ever get another rimfire barrel made I'll have it threaded for a brake or suppressor. Centerfire for absolute sure.

 

[Ackman]

And it is so much nicer for you and your buddy to be able to talk in a low voice (especially since loud talking alarms the squirrels) without having to unpack your ears.

But, the real scourge of unsuppressed shooting is not what it does to you, it is what it does to the pdogs, as in making them all scarce out to about 400 yards (depending on wind, etc.) With a suppressor, you scare the ones near your POA, but the others in the 340 degrees of the circle around you pay no attention to it. It provides for vastly better shooting opportunities.

And let's get something straight -- no one, and I mean NO ONE, shooting any bullet in a 22-250 or other typical varmint gun more than 100 yards sees the impact before the rifle recoils. The brake or suppressor merely stops the rifle from jumping so much, making it come back down onto the target in time for you to see the impact. I shoot 32-gr. bullets leaving at 4,000 in a 17 lb. set up (heaviest tapered bbl Bartlien makes), and I still have to wait for my muzzle to come back down before I can see the impact.

I also see guys pressing their scope down, trying to keep their muzzle from jumping so much. Try that on a paper target some time and let me know what it did to your groups.

Use electronic muffs. They work beautifully and I've never found them to be too hot.

Actually, crank off a few rounds and it'll bring some up to see what's going on.

Most .223's and everything larger is braked. And to get something straight -- how's someone to see a hit before the gun even recoils? Further.......shooting braked 22-250AI and 243AI (which are also weighted) varmint guns, even cranked up to 24X or more, there's so little muzzle jump I'm always, always, able to see the whole show. And I've never pressed down on the scope,not ever. Don't need a spotter either. Brakes simply work.

 

[KY_Windage]

Use electronic muffs. They work beautifully and I've never found them to be too hot.

Actually, crank off a few rounds and it'll bring some up to see what's going on.

Most .223's and everything larger is braked. And to get something straight -- how's someone to see a hit before the gun even recoils? Further.......shooting braked 22-250AI and 243AI (which are also weighted) varmint guns, even cranked up to 24X or more, there's so little muzzle jump I'm always, always, able to see the whole show. And I've never pressed down on the scope,not ever. Don't need a spotter either. Brakes simply work.

I'm beginning to wonder if you have ever even shot p-dogs. The idea that you can increase the number of visible squirrels by "cranking off a few rounds" would only be said by someone who has never spent 10 minutes over a dog-town.

I have electronic muffs and they get full of sweat on a hot day on the prairie, which can happen even when it is freezing at night. Muffs also eliminate the possibility of wearing a large hat to protect your head and neck from the sun on those sunny days.

Finally, I didn't say I "needed" a spotter, I said we really enjoy spotting while our barrels are cooling off. With out tables set up side-by-side, we don't have to move at all (which alarms the squirrels) to switch from shooting to spotting, or back. We get to watch the shooter's bullets going down-range, something you never get to see while shooting.

Brakes suck, compared to suppressors. Just ask anyone who has (actually) shot both ways.

 

[Ackman]

I'm beginning to wonder if you have ever even shot p-dogs. The idea that you can increase the number of visible squirrels by "cranking off a few rounds" would only be said by someone who has never spent 10 minutes over a dog-town.

I have electronic muffs and they get full of sweat on a hot day on the prairie, which can happen even when it is freezing at night. Muffs also eliminate the possibility of wearing a large hat to protect your head and neck from the sun on those sunny days.

Finally, I didn't say I "needed" a spotter, I said we really enjoy spotting while our barrels are cooling off. With out tables set up side-by-side, we don't have to move at all (which alarms the squirrels) to switch from shooting to spotting, or back. We get to watch the shooter's bullets going down-range, something you never get to see while shooting.

Brakes suck, compared to suppressors. Just ask anyone who has (actually) shot both ways.

Ahh, that must be it, I've never spent 10min. over a dog town. I've seen it many many times when there's not much out, dogs popping up to see what's what.

And now you're talking squirrels? So is it dogs or groundsquirrels. Well squirrels are dumb! Noise doesn't bother those things. And I've shot them in places where they were so thick you couldn't chamber and pull the trigger fast enough.

I like the idea of suppressors, but I don't need one. Brakes work great. So you do your thing and don't be such a knowitall about what others do.