Anyone Installed a Muzzle Brake on a Handi?

[nicholst55]

Just curious, with the cartridges some of y'all are shooting through these light rifles, has anyone installed a brake on their .454 Casull, .460 S&W, .500 S&W, etc.?

It seems like a good recoil pad and a muzzle brake might be a good idea for some of these combinations!

[Mac11700]

Just curious, with the cartridges some of y'all are shooting through these light rifles, has anyone installed a brake on their .454 Casull, .460 S&W, .500 S&W, etc.?

It seems like a good recoil pad and a muzzle brake might be a good idea for some of these combinations!

To some I am sure you are correct..but to most..brakes just are way too loud to shot regularly..

Mac

[Swampman]

And not worth the expense unless you could do the work yourself.

[PHATINJUN]

I had one on a short 45/70 once had to wear plugs and muffs just to shoot it. My Ultra Comp 30/06 is not quite as bad though. Kurt

[D Humbarger]

I have been making & installing muzzle brakes for over 25 years.  Yes they definately work but as the other folks have told you they are loud!  You just can't get around the physics of how they function. They do have their place though.  Folks with heart problems, pacemakers, shoulder problems etc that can no longer take any recoil but still want to hunt can benefit from brakes.  I supply my brakes with a thread protector & a little tool to remove the brake.  That way you can practice at the bench with the brake on then take it off & put the thread protector on when hunting. When you are shooting at game you don't notice recoil.  All that said a TOP quality recoil pad is a less expensive way to go.

[briannmilewis]

If you do it, you will be an unwelcome shooter at the range.

I was wearing ear plugs at the range and they worked just fine till some inconsiderate shooter set up on the 100 yard line about 50 ft to my right. His first shot I felt the shockwave go thru my head right to left and I had permanent hearing damage in my right ear...it was instantaneous.

Add some weight and add an extra slip-on recoil pad...you will do fine. Also, if the 15.5" LOP is too long for you with the slip-on, trim the stock by 1", and put the recoil pads back on, you will have the same 14.5" LOP as factory.

[quickdtoo]

Brakes aren't allowed at the range I used to shoot at unless you use one of the baffled shooting stations at the very end of the line, they're even more obnoxious and harmful to others near you than yourself.

Tim

[Ranger J]

Handies are rather noisy to those on either sides of you anyway.  You don't notice it it much if you are behind the gun but will on the side.  When I still had my .308 barrel I was shooting some 150 gr loads and the fellow at the next station wanted to know, "What kind of cannon are you shooting?"  Another time I was at the side of a 243 Handi and was really surprised how loud it was.  I believe this is because the end of the barrel is closer to the firing line than similar caliber weapons with other actions.  I can only imagine how loud a handi with a muzzle brake might be.

RJ

[gcrank1]

I have been wondering: if you put an empty pop can to either side of the ports on a muzzle brake, say a foot away, will they shread? It would be quite the 'demonstration'.

[nicholst55]

I have been wondering: if you put an empty pop can to either side of the ports on a muzzle brake, say a foot away, will they shread? It would be quite the 'demonstration'.

Maybe, if you anchored them in place and fired multiple rounds.  I also expect that they'd have to be just a couple of inches away, rather than a foot.  A lot might depend on what cartridge you were firing, also.

[silver surfer]

I do not reply to this forum often, but I'll throw in on this one.  I inquired about this with a local gunsmith 6 months ago, in his most polite and professional way he simply said "NO!" .  "The value of the gun plus the damage that they do to hearing do not add up to worthwhile.  Lead the stock, get a scope with longer eye relief and enjoy the ride, if you are still having trouble with the recoil get a smaller gun."  Darned good advice in my book.
 
  What I have seen and experienced after more than two decades of military service is that muzzle brakes/flash suppressors have a place, but not hunting animals and paper.  The muzzle blast generated multiplies the concussive forces applied to the tempanic membrane, then down the chain to the otiliths, simple tinnitus is a blessing.  A weapon that only partially burns the propellant charge inside the barrel seems to magnify the existing problem of muzzle blast.  An inefficient short barreled rifle will only exacerbate a serious situation.  I just doesn't look prudent at all.

[Dweezil]

I've mounted a suppressor on a Handi...and it reduces recoil...and noise considerably.  Does that count? 

[tykempster]

The higher the pressure the better a brake works, but that could stretch the Handi frame, so I'm not sure you'd see max effectiveness.

[D Humbarger]

The higher the pressure the better a brake works, but that could stretch the Handi frame, so I'm not sure you'd see max effectiveness.

Exactly.  A brake has much more effect on say a 7mm mag  (light bullet/ high velocity) than a 45/70 ( heavy bullet/low velocity).

   Think of it in terms of rockets at take off.  The blast is deflected 90 degrees by the ground or the holes in the brake thereby reducing the recoil caused by gass pressure but you can't reduce backward thrust generated by the WEIGHT of the projectile.

[vabowhntr]

There was one on the .308 I bought until I shot it while hunting!    

I couldn't hear for a few seconds, just sounded like I was in a wind tunnel.  That was the only time I can remember having my hearing being affected after shooting at game.  I promptly cut and recrowned the barrel...

It shoots rather nice now, although I have not shot it without muffs yet.

[briannmilewis]

vabowhntr...you are one lucky person to have shot it in the more or less open.

[NFG]

I have a MB on my 45-120 BC...and most of my other large bore cannons, including my latest 510 Makatak, a Rigby case blown out and shortened 0.050".  What has been said over and over again about noise is true, more or less...all the brake does is redirect the sound to the sides and redirect the gas velocity energy the same way, which is roughly 30-50% of the recoil energy, again depending on the SIZE of the case and the amount of powder that is burned...it doesn't matter what size the caliber as much as the AMOUNT of powder burned...

I don't have ANY problems with noise as long as I wear ear protection, it doesn't matter WHAT I shoot...with or without a brake...and you SHOULD be wearing both ear plugs AND ear muffs when shooting at a range.

Anyone shooting a rifle with a MB should go to the farthest end and take along their own set of easily made baffles, it doesn't take much to redirect the sound away from other shooters.

MB's are like any other problem...there are simple solutions if you want to bother with solving the problem.

A MB DOES make a difference when shooting the 720gr T-Rex slugs over a full case of powder in my 45-120 BC,  and the same with ANY of my big boomers, 375 H&H, 416 Taylor, 458 WM all with slugs on the heavy end and full cases of powder.

Anyone seeing a brake on a rifle and the placebo effect goes into full speed and whatever amount of noise  produced is multiplied at least 100 times.... the same with ANY noisy object like loud motorrcycles, trucks, ATV's or lawn mowers early on Sunday morning.

Going over the pressure level of the NEF just because you have a MB to reach some specific level of efficiency is totally bogus...you NEVER overload beyond the capability of the receiver MB or not...where did that come from???  Having a MB on any rifle DOES NOT, in and of itself, cause ANY KIND of pressure problem.  The MB is basically only a device to redirect the powder gas jet.



Not to change the subject... but has anyone doen any wildcatting with the 500 S&W...like rechambering to the 499 HE or use one of the rimmed 50 cal cases???  I still have it in the back of my mind to do one, but I want at least a 30" bbl...that stubby 22" jobby would really reduce the velocity, at least that's what the number crunching indicates...reality is always another matter.

Luck

[xhare]

Years ago I had my Handi 45-70 magnaported.  Basically I could tell no difference in recoil.  It was just not worth it in a low pressure high expansion ratio cartridge. 

[NFG]

MB's are a ver contentious subject...lots of strong feelings, mis and dis information, out right lies and total BS, along with many not quite understanding all the don't know about the physics of brakes...plus the overriding fact of subjective VS objective reasoning.

Here is a link for those who want a little more information.  There is a little more to MB's than just drilling holes in a hunk of metal and hanging it off the end of a barrel.

http://www.rvbprecision.com/shooting/adventures-with-muzzle-brakes.html

FWIW...I have/had or tested brakes on 17 cal through 50 cal.  They all worked well for the intended purpose...not always perceived recoil on the shoulder but also to keep the barrel from rising.  Seeing hits through the scope on varmints way out there with a brake on some of my large case 22 and 6mm is really amazing.

A standard 45-70 loaded with the regular Rem 405 cal cartridges isn't much of a recoiler...just a good shove...if you want to check it out for sure...load up some 400-500 gr slugs to the upper end of the pressure range for the NEF, somewhere in the 40KPSI area...if you don't see a difference then Magnaport didn't put enough slot area in relation to the bore size to do any good.

I tried out many load combinations with several different MB designs and I guarantee I found lots of difference.   I started with the standard 45-70 BC and factory ammo, went to 45-90, 45-100, 45-110 and lastly 45-120, with bullet weight from 300 gr to 720 gr, and various "quiet" through "quick dump" designs I turned out on my lathe/mill, with ratios from roughtly .500 to around 4.

It also points up the fact that after a certain lever of recoil is reached...it just doesn't matter WHAT or IF something is hanging off the barrel end...you will get the stuffing slapped out of you...PERIOD.

I posted some of the information I developed on this forum and others on the MB's and loads I developed...you know...baffle'um with BS or blind them with brilliance...didn't do much but cause an uproar.

We shooters are a hard headed lot.

It isn't as simple as one size fits all.

I found it very interesting intellectually, but my body thought I just turned into a masochist.  LOL  Mention MB's on ANY forum and you can expect a ton of "stuff".  The horse and water story always fits.

Using one is always a matter of personal choice...not different than how you like you eggs prepared.


No experimentation with the 500 S&W??? 

Luck