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Muzzle Brake Installation Fee

antelopedundee

What is a reasonable fee to pay for installation of a muzzle brake? Also is there any reason to be concerned about galling if a stainless brake is fit onto a stainless barrel?

Also is there ever any reason that one would want to clean it?
 
I'd say depending on brake. If it's a radial...$150. If it needs timed...more $$. Galling can be minimized by using anti seize or grease. Yes, they need cleaned too...
 
Ive had over the years 5 or 6 installed. They were about $100 back 6 or 8 years ago, and I suspect they are slightly more now. They need to be cleaned! But they need to be removed first. If you can not pass a piece of drill rod or some other pin through the brake to act as a wrench some other means needs to be made to remove the brake. I had a 7mm brake that the holes didn't line up and had to use a strap wrench to remove it. I believe the smith threaded it so the torque of the rifle made the brake to get tighter as it was shot. I was almost impossible to remove. If the smith had milled a couple of flats in the device a wrench could be used for removal. I cleaned by soaking in a cup of carb cleaner.
 
I use mostly self timing brakes or radials. Threading cost me $75.00-$100.00 depending on who is doing it for me. A timed brake will definitely run more, and then some if it has to be bored.

Don Dunlap
 
ebb said:
Ive had over the years 5 or 6 installed. They were about $100 back 6 or 8 years ago, and I suspect they are slightly more now. They need to be cleaned! But they need to be removed first. If you can not pass a piece of drill rod or some other pin through the brake to act as a wrench some other means needs to be made to remove the brake. I had a 7mm brake that the holes didn't line up and had to use a strap wrench to remove it. I believe the smith threaded it so the torque of the rifle made the brake to get tighter as it was shot. I was almost impossible to remove. If the smith had milled a couple of flats in the device a wrench could be used for removal. I cleaned by soaking in a cup of carb cleaner.
Click to expand...

What would be cheaper and easier to do? The wrench flats or knurling? The knurling would be more esthetically pleasing and provide a non-slip surface if one opted to use a cloth and pliers to start the removal process. For reloading dies with the knurled top I use a strip of stout cardboard and channel-locks if the die ends up being too tight in the press to remove it by hand.
 
I paid $150 for the last one. It had to be bored but was self timing. I thought that was a fair price.
 
I wear hearing protection I don't know anything about one brake being quitter than another. I like the Harrell's brakes. Knurling and pliers ain't gonna do it. A large diameter pin or wrench flats.
 
The reason muzzle brakes become tighter over time is vibration. Every time you fire the gun joint between the brake and the barrel and the threads get together more and more. Technically it is called fretting. Parts under stress and subject to vibration fret against each other and that is what makes them difficult to disassemble. You can use anti-seize compound to help prevent galling.

You can compare a muzzle brake on a barrel to a spark plug in a cylinder head. Where there is high stress, vibration and heat there will probably be fretting corrosion.
 
skeeljc said:
The reason muzzle brakes become tighter over time is vibration. Every time you fire the gun joint between the brake and the barrel and the threads get together more and more. Technically it is called fretting. Parts under stress and subject to vibration fret against each other and that is what makes them difficult to disassemble. You can use anti-seize compound to help prevent galling.

You can compare a muzzle brake on a barrel to a spark plug in a cylinder head. Where there is high stress, vibration and heat there will probably be fretting corrosion.
Click to expand...

Is there some sort of rule of thumb about how many shots you should go before cleaning?

Also is it a good idea to remove and reinstall it every so often to avoid getting it too tight?
 
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Most people are moving toward self timing muzzle brakes now which is a lot less work. However, to properly do the job you need to set up the barrel as well as you do for a chamber on the other end. Then the brake should be bored AFTER install. So if a guy is charging a budget price he is probably not doing a precision setup and bore. --Jerry
 
Muzzle Brakes and more on a rem 700 charged me $75 to thread my muzzle and time the brake. + brake and cerakoted. did an excellent job. Also didn’t take very long. Highly recommended.

My smith charged $75 thread and time when building one of my rifles last.
 
I hate installing brakes. Not that they are difficult, it's usually the people that want it done. The guy claims his rifle shoots quarter minute and then claims it wont do it now that the brake is on...I "must have done something wrong". So now I make them bring the rifle with some ammo and we go out back and shoot before the brake is installed. Funny how I aint seen the first damn quarter minute rifle yet!!!!
I think $400 for a brake installed is too much.
 
msinc said:
I hate installing brakes. Not that they are difficult, it's usually the people that want it done. The guy claims his rifle shoots quarter minute and then claims it wont do it now that the brake is on...I "must have done something wrong". So now I make them bring the rifle with some ammo and we go out back and shoot before the brake is installed. Funny how I aint seen the first damn quarter minute rifle yet!!!!
I think $400 for a brake installed is too much.
Click to expand...


$130 for a stainless steel bead blasted brake. $215 to install on a stainless barrel. It's not factory issue and is 0.65 inch or so at the muzzle. So shipping the barreled action there and back plus anything extra to cut wrench flats would get you to around 4 Bens. It's a 6.5-06 and will have a Pachmayr decel pad so it may not be worth it.
 
As mentioned by ridgeway in post #2 above, stainless on stainless is definitely a galling prone combination; always assemble stainless on stainless threaded components with a quality anti-seize.
 
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