Muzzle brake

[David]

Anyone had one installed on your rifle? Cost and who did you use to do it?

 

[hunter0925]

I have a vias on my 300wsm that I had the gunsmith install during a rebarrel, a radial that is made into my barrel on my 325wsm and a little Rosie O'Donnell on my 16.5 inch 308. The little b is coming off my 308. If the gun was longer it may not be so bad but the concussion coming off that is enough to make you flinch even though the recoil feels like a 223. If your muzzle is threaded just buy the one that matches the threads, if not there are clamp on breaks. Gunsmiths will be particular on threading at times if the barrel is to thin for a sufficient shoulder. They are very nice for spotting shots but if I didn't need it for that I would bear the recoil.

 

[JimFromTN]

I had a vias installed on a 300 wm by Jeff at Guns and Leather. It was somewhere around $200. That was a while back. It may be up around $250. Basically, the cost of the break plus labor.

 

[DaveB]

I have a BOSS on my Browning A-Bolt 300 WinMag. The purpose of the BOSS is to improve accuracy and at the same time, reduce recoil. Both are achieved.

However, the muzzle brake functionality has some very real and quite serious downsides:
1. The noise will deafen you. You cannot shoot the rifle without hearing protection at the range and in the field.
2. At the range you will effect those around you in a negative way. People cannot sit to your left or right for many positions. I have been asked to hold off more than once.
3. In brush you can easily start a fire. I thought this was just BS, it is absolutely true. If I could shoot my BOSS in low light conditions and get it on film you would see what I mean.

OTOH I can shoot the 300 with 180 gr Noslers and max loads of IMR7828 all day and come away with no misery. The recoil is reduced to sub 243 level.

I have a "new" BOSS that does not have the muzzle brake engineering that I need to install and develop the perfect load.

 

[jlanecr500]

I have brakes on all of my larger smokeless muzzleloader s and a few rifles due to heavy bullets and charges. (Up to a 350gr bullet over 152.5gr of imr4350 at around 3200 fps). While I have never paid for installation, I would assume the cost would be around $100 to $150 plus the brake. I thread, install, bore, profile, and finish all of my installations as I use Harrell's brakes. Most of mine are radials as I do little prone shooting. Tactical brakes are more effective but only by a slight margin and your neighbor at the range will hate you when you start blowing items off their bench.
One of the main reasons that I use brakes that must be finished is because prefinished brakes are overbored which reduces effectiveness. Also, you could end up with the bullet closer to one side than the other which will effect accuracy. Or, even worse, the bullet makes contact with the brake. This is why I would never use a clamp on brake.
Don't forget hearing protection when hunting with a brake. If you do, you will never forget again.

 

[Jon54]

I have a very old Ruger 270 with one. I added it so, hopefully, my then 10 year old son would shoot it and would begin deer hunting. He never did so I wasted roughly $100 way back then (1990?). It's still on the rifle and does indeed reduce recoil but the blast is terrible if you are standing near it when it is shot. I keep it on and use Walker Game muffs when hunting so the sound isn't an issue to me. I also have a Browning A-Bolt with a boss in 7 mag and it helps as well. Again, if you are next to me at the range, you'll probably move further away as the blast from this is wild.

If you have a large caliber gun with lots of recoil, I'd add one in a second.

 

[David]

Thanks guys. Sounds like the added noise may outweigh the benefits.

 

[Talome13]

I'd rather have the recoil.

 

[David]

I was looking at some options for a new rifle and a few of them came with them, so thought it maybe worth it, but im not one to carry hearing protection with me to the stand, so if its that bad, ill pass.

 

[David]

Besides... you don't feel the recoil when you have 2-3 layers of clothes on anyway

 

[fairchaser]

I have a BOSS on my Browning A-Bolt 300 WinMag. The purpose of the BOSS is to improve accuracy and at the same time, reduce recoil. Both are achieved.

However, the muzzle brake functionality has some very real and quite serious downsides:
1. The noise will deafen you. You cannot shoot the rifle without hearing protection at the range and in the field.
2. At the range you will effect those around you in a negative way. People cannot sit to your left or right for many positions. I have been asked to hold off more than once.
3. In brush you can easily start a fire. I thought this was just BS, it is absolutely true. If I could shoot my BOSS in low light conditions and get it on film you would see what I mean.

OTOH I can shoot the 300 with 180 gr Noslers and max loads of IMR7828 all day and come away with no misery. The recoil is reduced to sub 243 level.

I have a "new" BOSS that does not have the muzzle brake engineering that I need to install and develop the perfect load.

I have the Boss system on two of my browning A bolts. But, I only use the muzzle brakes at the range with ear protection. While hunting, I use the CR conventional recoil end. You won't notice the recoil in the field on live game, but your ears will notice the sound if you don't use the CR. The difference in POI is negligible between the two ends. If you didn't get the CR, call Browning as they are happy to send you one for free.

 

[tnhunter69]

I have Vias muzzle brakes on all of my 30 caliber mags. You need to make sure and get the Vias brake it is designed totally different than any other brake and throws all of the sound away from you. You can shoot with a Vias brake and not have ringing ears. The other big plus is the increase in accuracy from not flinching anymore, reduced muzzle jump and reduced recoil. My 300 Weatherby Mag with max 180 gr loads kicks about like a 243. All of my guns had older style brakes before I swapped to the Vias brake and yes they would make your ears ring for days without ear protection. They are a little more expensive but well worth the money. The last one I had put on a couple of years ago cost around $300 for everything.