School me on muzzle brakes

So I just now realized that I had the spelling wrong...

Anyway, I've been thinking about putting a muzzle break on my dad's .30-06. It's plain jane, 24" sporter barrel (WBY Vanguard 1).

I have no idea how to begin this process. One option is I send it to Weatherby and they put their $224 Accubrake on, which is what I'm leaning towards. All in all I'd probably spend around $350 I think for that route.

But are their other options? I would need to save up to do this either way, but I think it would help both of us behind this rifle.

Send it to Morgan at Dallas Shooting Supplies and have him thread it for 50 then buy a brake for it....

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/users/13035/DallasShootingSupplies

You’d need to get it threaded, then buy a brake then put it on. Some brakes are “timed” and you probably want a gunsmith to put it on so that it is in the correct orientation. Some brakes are not, and you can put them on yourself. Threading can be as cheap as $50-$100 depending on where you take it, and a brake can be $30- a couple hundred depending on what you buy. No idea what a smith charges to install a brake.

thank you!

Any brake recommendations?

As for sending it to the aforementioned machinist, can I do that myself or must it be done through a FFL?

Not sure of your location but there’s probably several that do it within close driving distance.

I have a "Little Bastard" brake on my 300 Win Mag that works very well. Ask those that was at the competition last weekend.

holes all around for hunting, Vais Brake, fits flush with barrel, very effective, looks great

horizontal foe prone bastard, very effective, looks like a tumor on the end of your barrel

I have a LiL Bastard Gen 2 on my 308. I'm about to take it off. I shot it at the range it it reminded me why I don't like muzzle brakes. I think the concussive blast is more unsettling than any recoil reduction they give. JMHO.

I have a timber creek muzzle brake on my AR and I think it’s coming off for the same reason. I need to shoot it outdoors first though. It was awful at the indoor range

Scott is right the horizontal brakes are just nasty loud with the side discharge.

Chit

just sell all your rifles, take the hit. Get a 24 month interest free Credit Card and have a custom or even semi custom rifle built. You got to get in or out. No offence but quit putting bandages on all your stuff, dump them, step up, get your good cry over with and be happy shooting half inch groups.

Do as I say not as I did. I did everything you are doing when I was your age. I finally packaged about 6-7 guns I had, sold them all for $5,000, ordered an GA Precision and a Nightforce NXS.


Its an addiction and you have it!!!


only BAD thing about my sale, there was a 6" Blue Python in the mix. I screwed myself on that one. Oh well live and learn. I'm shopping for another Python, dam, I spent $600 on mine, they are $3000 now. DOH !!!

Do not get a brake with holes all around them and do not waste your money on a Vias brake. A hunting gun needs side ports so should you ever shoot prone your not eating a face full of dirt. There is a place for the radial brakes and that is on a bench rifle, one that you know will never see anywhere close to prone.

Buy a Harrells Precision brake and have a gunsmith put it on for you. They are cheap and very effective.

The concussive blast shouldn't effect the guy behind the gun, just the guys next to you, it definitely will be louder. I've got a brake on about every gun I own...because it calms the gun down and assists with seeing where your shots go.

Another option is clamp on brakes by

Kahntrol Solutions

I tried it on my 7mag and .308 .... does reduce felt recoil

About $150
No threading needed

Not bad advice except for the credit card, except that I don’t that chital can sell his guns, I believe they belong to his father. He’ll have to start from the bottom. BUT I’d at least quit buying cheap “upgrades” and save up until he has $1500-$2000 and put together a custom savage or something along those lines. He does seem to be chasing smaller groups and longer ranges. And that would get him there with a decent scope.

Good idea Judd and Mr. Caribou When the wind is in your face shooting a radial brake prone you WILL get a face full of dust.

Are you looking for a cheap solution or the solution that requires the least amount of work? Cheap - Have the barrel threaded by Morgan at Dallas Shooting Supplies and then buy a brake from www.muzzlebrakesandmore.com. I recently did this on my 6.5 creedmoor and it helped a ton with the gun staying still enough for me to consistently see hits downrange. Least work - have a gunsmith install a traditional brake for you.

I paid right at $100 for mine. Nathan emailed back and forth with me for a few days before ordering to help answer all my questions - very nice guy.

Having a gunsmith install one isn't a bad route either, but it'll definitely cost more money. A self-timing brake like the beast from the site I mentioned is easy to install and just as effective.

I will say that I would not want to be at the range next to you while you're shooting a braked 30-06. That's bound to be serious event every time you let one fly. But it will do a ton to tame recoil if that's what you're interested in.

What are you trying to achieve? What is your overall goal? How much are you planning on using these guns?

Unless you are absolutely in love with the rifle imo it’s money wasted getting upgrades put on a vanguard. The $300 you are gonna spend on a brake is $300 you can use towards a new gun. I’m not saying go spend two grand on a custom but your basically trying to trick out a howa 1500



Everyone has a budget and being young you may not have a lot of money to throw at a rifle. I get that. So selling your couple of bolt guns to fund a better rifle set up makes some sense. I recently did the same with the guns I don’t regularly shoot. Sold them off to fund another purchase.

Now I have a stable of quality guns that will serve me a lifetime of hunting and are a pleasure to carry afield instead of a bunch of lower end rifles that were doctored to make better.

If I were right handed I would have bought a browning Hells canyon speed with a brake and been happy with that. Lightweight gun at a very reasonable price.

Y'all are making great points. Buzzsaw, I wish I could do that, but I'm not financially stable enough to even be approved of such a credit card nor pay it off. I don't have many bills but my income basically only covers those, that comes first...and my GPA!

Which is why I aired the idea of muzzle-brakes. It's just been an interesting concept to me, because of the recoil stuff. Now it's not that the 9ish-LB rifle has it bad, but even my dad would like to keep muzzle rise at at minimum.

And another thing: I don't get to shoot nearly as much as I want to, so it's valid whoever said that I'd be essentially wasting money on upgrading a decent rifle that is only for hunting and not an extraordinary medium or longer ranges. As much as I want a 1/2 MOA rifle, I don't have the time (or money) to spend at the range to 1) build my proficiency to that standard and/or 2) truly utilize a 1/2 MOA rifle to its full potential.

Thanks for all the information everyone. A year from now, I'm probably going to be more stable and be able to get a nice rifle/scope combo. But I will always remember all the information on here, if not by revisiting it to refresh my memory, then because it's good stuff!

A year from now we will answer the same question from you again

When do I ask the same question twice?

Chital,

Budget permitting, another way to reduce recoil is learn to reload.

My wife shoots 175's from a 308 at 2600 all day long, which is easy to duplicate in a 30-06, very easy.

If you ever venture across the pond to hunt, and I'm predicting you will at some point, professional hunters in southern Africa detest them. It's their job to look at the animal through binoculars while you shoot. They seldom wear any ear protection.

Why do you need a brake? Is the recoil too much for you?

It is much easier to spot the gut shots on the safari style spotlight hunts without recoil

ah gotcha

Chital, for what it's worth I have seen vanguards that would shoot around a half MOA with handloads tuned to the rifle. My advice is to save the brake $ and put it toward reloading gear. I was once in your shoes and I have not forgotten. Search eBay and the message board for used gear. A simple single stage setup will allow you to make quality ammo and shoot substantially cheaper, once you get the gear. Investing in a means for more trigger time within your budget would net you a much bigger return on your capital outlay.

If your goal is to reduce recoil (assuming your just hunting) you might want to simply try shooting a lighter bullet. I don't know what your shooting now but I know a sporter rifle in 30-06 running mild to hot loads with a 165gr or larger can create significant recoil. If you know someone that hand loads you can have them test with different powders and powder charges.

Maybe try and find some reduced recoil loads

Maybe put a good pad on it and practice enough that recoil doesn't bother you anymore.

We put a KDF on a Stainless Stalker in 300 Win Mag for my wife and it recoils like a 25-06. Absolutely nothing wrong with a break. We wear the cheap Howard Leight sport ear muffs. We hunt in blinds, on the ground and in hi racks with them, no problems at all. I think a break is a great tool. All of my kids grew up hunting with breaks. If you are a parent working with young shooters they should be taught to use ear protection at all times in the field. I wish now that my Dad had done so. The break allows my wife and kids to shoot the .300's with 180, 200 and 210's. The break allows them to see the bullet impacts on animals, reduces recoil so there is no flinching, closing eyes or jerking the trigger. The muffs allow us to communicate quieter and takes all of the muzzle blast out of the equation. We use bipods and have never really had dirt kick up. Never noticed it. Also, if you feel concussion or muzzle blast while hunting then you probably are not concentrating on the correct things. I shoot 80-100 rounds of 300 Win Mag a year at game and have never felt that.

I shot my .300 win mag with a brake at an indoor range one time. After the 2nd shot, they asked me to leave.

To answer the question about recoil, I'll first counter with a question of my own: does anybody reading this enjoy hard recoil?
I do not, and I don't think that's unreasonable...but reason is seldom found when certain users are bent on unreasonableness.

It's not that I need a muzzle-brake. The same way no one needs an AR 15 or a $400,000 shotgun or anything integrally suppressed. It's that I find the concept interesting and wanted to learn more about it and how I would go about putting one on a rifle.

The Vanguard comes with a pretty good recoil pad and is decently heavy enough for absolutely manageable recoil in .30-06 150gr factory loads. Even a skinny guy like me can shoot it as long as I have rounds.

You’ve got a lot to learn

That's why I'm here!

Did you walk out of school in protest?

I personally have a very high opinion of muzzle brakes. I couldn't believe what it did on my 6.5CM. Literally about the same recoil as my 223 after the brake was added.

The bigger issue that you might run into on a sporter barrel is being able to thread it for 5/8-24, which is what most 30-cal brakes are going to be set up for, if I remember correctly. So that's something I would ask a gunsmith about before ordering anything.

The self-timing brakes really are the way to go. There's no reason to pay a gunsmith to time a brake now that those are available.

Unlike patrioto7 and others, I despise brakes and will not purchase a rifle with one on it. When I was guiding I would not guide a hunter that was toting a rifle with a brake. Brakes may be a help to the shooter but very harmful to anyone near the shooter.

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/08/21/muzzle-brake-summary-of-field-test-results/

I have a brake on one rifle. A Gen 1 Little Bastard on a 300WM.