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338 brake on a 30 cal rifle

Not proof of anything other than his rifle shoots very well. My last Creedmoor barrel with no brake shot factory ammo just like the one I posted pics of so the brake has nothing to do with it.

Mike what are the specs of the rifle and load you shot and what is the rifle used for?
 
This is what I meant by "holding the rifle"...

sweetiepie_zpslznu51qg.jpg

See any benches? See any whizbang ball bearing gizmo rests?

Nope, just a simple bipod up front and polyfill bag under the stock @ rear. IE, the shooter directly influences where the rifle is pointed... without the aid of a custom hunk of steel/ball bearing/micro adjust front rest directing the rifle onto target and holding it there...

Furthermore, when I say "hold the rifle", I mean specifically that it is the shooter who must control the rifle through the recoil pulse via proper body position. That is in stark contrast to allowing purpose built stock fitted inside custom front and rear rests to insure that the rifle will "track straight" when fired by much less physical contact between rifle & shooter...

BTW, that lil' darling has no problem sparkin' off 90+ gr of Retumbo in that Norma Mag 'cat.
Kicks less than a .243, thanks to the (oversized?) APA FB Gen2 brake...

As Rob01 eluded to, if you're into the BR arms race & want to squeeze that last hundreth of an inch out of your group size, then it may behoove one to insist on a precisely machined brake fitted to an exact & pre-determined clearance. But, if you're wanting to shave some recoil off your rifle, and maybe wanna use the same brake on more than one caliber in the future, going with a slightly larger bored brake will not result in any tangible difference in accuracy...

Have fun!
 
This is what I meant by "holding the rifle"...

sweetiepie_zpslznu51qg.jpg

See any benches? See any whizbang ball bearing gizmo rests?

Nope, just a simple bipod up front and polyfill bag under the stock @ rear. IE, the shooter directly influences where the rifle is pointed... without the aid of a custom hunk of steel/ball bearing/micro adjust front rest directing the rifle onto target and holding it there...

Furthermore, when I say "hold the rifle", I mean specifically that it is the shooter who must control the rifle through the recoil pulse via proper body position. That is in stark contrast to allowing purpose built stock fitted inside custom front and rear rests to insure that the rifle will "track straight" when fired by much less physical contact between rifle & shooter...

BTW, that lil' darling has no problem sparkin' off 90+ gr of Retumbo in that Norma Mag 'cat.
Kicks less than a .243, thanks to the (oversized?) APA FB Gen2 brake...

As Rob01 eluded to, if you're into the BR arms race & want to squeeze that last hundreth of an inch out of your group size, then it may behoove one to insist on a precisely machined brake fitted to an exact & pre-determined clearance. But, if you're wanting to shave some recoil off your rifle, and maybe wanna use the same brake on more than one caliber in the future, going with a slightly larger bored brake will not result in any tangible difference in accuracy...

Have fun!
Holding a rifle means standing on your legs and holding it. I shoot that way also. By the way, the test results I read they started out small with the holes and made them bigger and bigger. They did it on multiple guns and everyone opened up. Some of them substantially. Even the PPC opened up. This is an accuracy site and I stated about accuracy. There are many articles of tests done on brakes. Some by makers of brakes and some by independents. They 're available to read online. I just answered the OP becuase he asked if it would hurt accuracy and it's obvious it does. Matt
 
Holding a rifle means standing on your legs and holding it. I shoot that way also. By the way, the test results I read they started out small with the holes and made them bigger and bigger. They did it on multiple guns and everyone opened up. Some of them substantially. Even the PPC opened up. This is an accuracy site and I stated about accuracy. There are many articles of tests done on brakes. Some by makers of brakes and some by independents. They 're available to read online. I just answered the OP becuase he asked if it would hurt accuracy and it's obvious it does. Matt

With all due respect, I'll stand by my interpretation of "holding a rifle", as compared to the gizmos you BR guys employ...

To refresh your memory, here's part of a PM you sent me on (dated 1/8/16) where you felt compelled to share your bona fides, dated 1/8/16:

dkhunt14 said:
By the way my gun has a 36 inch 1.450 barrel glued in a block just like my heavy gun for BR. It weighs 45 pounds and is shot off a very solid chain drive table. Matt

I'd bet a dolla to a donut that you don't "hold" those rifles the way I explained and illustrated in my pic. (belly/bipod). And would bet a baker's dozen that you ain't "holding" them the way you described...(standing/offhand) So, let's cease the semantics, shall we?

Just wanted to clarify where both points are coming from, so nobody gets confused.

That settled, here are the two takeaways for the OP:

1. if you enjoy pressing the trigger on a heavy BR rail gun type rifle, off a "chain drive table" or other similarly engineered mechanism to "hold" your rifle, you might better get that brake sized to what these guys are recommending. They obviously know their game, and how best to shave group size.

2. if you're doing more practical, positional type shooting with a more traditional rifle, then it is very likely that whatever minuscule (if any) effect on accuracy an oversized brake might have, it will be lost in the white noise of how you shoot. In other words, ignore it, cuz you won't see the difference on target...and just have fun shooting!

And happy weekend!
 
My .243 shoots dang good with a 30 caliber Muzzle Brakes and More 4 port Beast brake on it. I do believe that a proper sized brake for the caliber your shooting aides in smaller group accuracy, but if that is what I wanted I'd pull out one of my benchrest rifles. In the future I may purchase diameter specific brakes for the caliber I will be shooting. For now PRS shooting and .5 MOA or better is ok with me.



Don Dunlap
 
From what I've gleaned from 1000 yard match results, the most accurate rifle - ammo combinations shoot all bullets for the lives of the barrels put all fired shots inside 6 to 7 inches. Groups average about half that. Smallest ones set records in competition as well as conversation. Smallest ones are seldom, if ever, bettered by the same barrel used to set them.
 
I put a 338 brake on a 243win barrel and it worked superbly.
I was surprised to say the least.
Rifle did not move when being shot, let alone had any recoil.

If I could post a video on here I would, to show how well it worked.

Accuracy was better with the brake compared to bare muzzle. Zero recoil had probably something to do with it.
 
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My 300wsm barrel is threaded 3/4-24, and the brake is only available with that thread in 338 size.

my quick research shows, and sorry, don't have the handbook with me at the moment, that 3/4-24 has a minor diameter of 0.6992 and 5/8-24 has a major diameter of 0.6250. i'm not seeing any reason why the barrel can't be re-threaded.
 
I'm in the school of thought to remove the littlest amount possible from the muzzle, even if the recoil reduction isn't as marked.
 
Jarad at American Precision Arms is a very good source on brakes. I have one on my 338LM and it moves some air. Even pushing 300gr Bergers and the recoil is less then my 308 with a Badger brake.

If the brake is that much bigger sounds like a good reason to buy a 338.
 
So should I send it back or shoot it. I bought a Patriot Valley Arms (4 large ports) Shock wave. Point of buying this brake was an improvement over previous brake which was a 2"round cylinder with 20 holes drilled at 90 degrees,but its bore is .312. PVA brake is .335. Great information in this thread especially PRblog . If I shoot it I can't send it back,so will this brake be an improvement over previous brake ?
 
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Yes it will. The PVA brakes are excellent and made to reduce recoil with the way the ports are angles more than just holes drilled. Being larger isn't going to hurt anything.
 

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