Do muzzle brakes?

[hollyspring]

In your on words do muzzle brakes harm the accuracy of benchrest rifle's?


Thanks

 

[mc223]

A muzzle brake can have a detrimental effect due to disturbance of the gasses that propel the bullet upon exit of the muzzle. Same as a bad crown.
May not be noticeable at shorter ranges or without a sighting device capable of resolving a difference.

 

[MarkS]

No , if they are done right. Most 600 and 1000 yd benchuns have Brakes.

Mark Schronce

 

[ollie]

I have never seen any decline in accuracy in any of my bench guns.

 

[DennisH]

I have never seen any decline in accuracy in any of my bench guns.

if it's done correctly.

 

[Larryh128]

I my experience with hunting rifles, quite a few will actually shoot better with the brake. The theory is that the bullet exits the muzzle cleanly protected in this little baffle, so it's not initially messed up by wind etc. Whether or not this is entirely factual, I'm not sure, but I do know that the brake needs to have a decent expansion chamber to make things work right. Porting usually won't do a thing for accuracy but a brake can.

 

[K0na_stinky]

Another thing to think about is if it helps you get rid of a flinch. If you can't shoot your gun accuratly it doesn't matter how accurate your gun is.

 

[flatlander]

I'd been installing brakes on customer's rifles for some time before trying one myself. Been shooting a 6x47 Lapua in BR Varmint Silhouette matches, and wanted to be able to see the hits - whether on the target, or on the berm when I missed. The brake makes it easy - especially when shooting the ground squirrels & jackrabbits. If my position is good, and I've got the rifle tracking correctly on the rests, I can see whether it's a center hit, or whether the target spins off and which side it was hit on. That's a huge advantage when trying to dope the wind at 385 & 500m. The Vais brake I'm using on this rifle certainly didn't cause any loss of accuracy, but I dialed in the bore carefully using a .0001" test indicator before turning the muzzle down & threading.

I've also been playing with an AAC SCAR-H supperssor on a straight 284W & 6.5x47 Lapua, and can say that accuracy is at least as good with as it is without it installed.

 

[fdshuster]

Yes, in my experience they can help accuracy. I did have to tune my existing loads, but once that was done, the group sizes shrunk. The fact that the rifle no longer had the torqueing/twisting recoil (308) that I had without the brake, and since the recoil is now straight back to the rear, tracking nicely in the front rest, with about the recoil of a 243, must also be a factor. For me, it was a big plus.

 

[alf]

My Hunter Class gun in 30x47 had a Vais brake on it till they were voted out. After that, I had the threads cut off, muzzle recrowned, and it shot as good as before, with no new tuning.

Of course, more recoil and bag disturbance had to be dealt with....

 

[HillbillySniper]

If its dun right I can't see it harming it. I see lots of bench guns with breaks and if it did harm the accuracy I don't think you'd see that many!

Hillbilly