Muzzle brakes

[SuperstitionCoues]

Hi.

I am considering having a muzzle brake installed on my Win. M70 Featherweight 7mm WSM.  After two surgeries in 18 months, I'm feeling the need to tame the recoil on this one.

Can someone give me recommendations - pros and cons - of the Magnaport brake, vs. the WIlliams Guide Series (Trimline) brake, vs. the KDF brake?  I would really like to know your opinions.  

Also, is the increased noise from the muzzle blast as bad as some say it is?

Thanks,
Matt

[lefty o]

just be sure to wear ear plugs.

[CEJ1895]

SuperstitionCoues - I've got 2 of my rifles mag-na-ported a .300 RUM and a .35 Whelen. It control muzzle rise more than it does recoil and doesn't increase noise levels as far as I can tell comparing them from before and after porting. I wear ear protection at the range but not while hunting. The slim line and the KDF will probably do more to ease recoil. Before you do that maybe you should try installing a better recoil pad like Kick-Ease or a Decelerator. Another thing to try is a mercury insert in the buttstock which will add a little weight and help ease the kick. Brownell's carries a number of them. Lawdog, a moderator here can give you more info than I can about the mercury inserts. Good luck... CEJ..

[gunnut69]

Muzzle brakes don't actually add to the blast but do direct more of it to the shooters ear. They work by diverting gas pressure at the muzzle in a direction that will counter some of the recoil impulse of the rifle. Recoil absorbing devices are installed in the butt of the rifle usually and contain mercury(usually) that is gated to allow it to move in the tube. This delays that amount of energy a bit as the weapon moves rearward in recoil. The softer pads help some also.. and in some instances they help a lot. Just to restate my position, I detest muzzle brakes and if pads and proper fitting of the stock to the shooter can't make the recoil tolerable, get a different rifle..in a caliber you can tolerate. Stock fit/design probably has more to do with tolerating recoil than anything else..  Also if a rifle is simply madatory a device called a 'lead sled' can reduce recoil to nearly nothing. It acts as a bench rest but can be weighted to in effect add weight to a rifle until the point is reached that recoil is totally stopped. They do work.. and usually the recoil of a rifle isn't felt in the field shooting at an animal, only on the bench..

[SuperstitionCoues]

Just to restate my position, I detest muzzle brakes and if pads and proper fitting of the stock to the shooter can't make the recoil tolerable, get a different rifle..in a caliber you can tolerate. Stock fit/design probably has more to do with tolerating recoil than anything else..  Also if a rifle is simply madatory a device called a 'lead sled' can reduce recoil to nearly nothing. ..

Gunnut,  

Thank you for the advice.  It looks like I need to make my situation a little clearer though.  The reason that I want to reduce the recoil on this rifle (without adding the weight of a mercury tube) is that I have had surgery twice in 18 months.  Once to correct a herniated disc in my back at L5 - S1, and now to correct a ruptured diaphraghm that allowed all of my stomach to reside in my chest, wrapping around my heart and lungs.  

I am hoping to get back to full functionality.  It has been 4 weeks since the abdominal surgery.  So, as you can see, adding weight to the rifle, or lugging around a lead sled with the sandbags or bags of lead shot needed - is not a really great option after an abdominal and spinal hernias.  (It was, however, my first thought.)

The rifle is a 7mm WSM Featherweight that was given as a gift.  I had a Simms Limbsaver installed on it last year.  Getting rid of it isn't a real possibility.  Nor do I want to.  So that leaves me with installing a muzzle brake.  Otherwise, I have a really pretty $1000 wall hanger.

Admittedly I have never shot a gun with a brake.    On the other hand, I think I will take another look at the Williams Trimline (slimline?) after what CEJ1895 had to say.  They can't be all that bad if Browning and Weatherby are marketing them, right?  I guess if you are ever at the range with me, maybe you should just put your fingers in your ears tightly?  :-)

[PEPAW]

My KDF muzzle blast was really loud.  I took it off and screwed on the threadsaver forever.   Total waste of money for me.    The Pachmayr Decelerater  I had installed was almost as effective IMHO.   Since then, I have gone to a .260 for deer and hogs and shoot my .22 calibers for fun.

I would trade the gun if the recoil was offensive unless I was hunting something bigger than a small elk.


pepaw

[SuperstitionCoues]

The one thing that Arizona does seem to grow big out here are Elk - the reason that I got the weapon in the first place.  A 7mm Mag is about the perfect Elk gun for out here, and some of them are HUGE!

[muzzleblast525]

Hey, I posted the same sort of question about a month ago, and everybody was telling me, "No Way!"  Well, I went ahead and got one installed at the gunshop, on my 270 WSM, and love it.  I also put the LS pad on the gun and its pleasant to shoot now....Just my opinion....

[gunnut69]

Well you asked for opinions and you got them. I suppose there are reasons medical and otherwise to justify a brake but I sincerely advise ear protection at all times, even when hunting.. Any brake that will increase the noise level to a dangerous level. Best of luck with your health.

[Nobade]

One thing that helps, if you're properly plugged and muffed, is to keep your mouth closed. That way the overpressure wave won't be hitting your ears from the inside either. If you have to, for some reason, fire a braked rifle without protection, keep your mouth open to equalize the pressure like artillarymen do. Try to avoid this though!

[roper]

Alot of good muzzle brake designs now adays  all the way from a Holland to KDF and most gunsmiths make there own we have 3 in our area.  I use a pretty good set of electronic ear muffs so if someone is next to me at the range or I'm shooting a rifle with a brake it doesn't bother me.  I'm seeing more older shooter with brakes which I am one of.  The KDF and Vais brakes are pretty nice.  Best  talk to your gunsmith you plan on having install one and see what he thinks.  Well best of luck.

[cntryboy1289]

I haven't found a muzzle brake yet that did anything but help control muzzle rise and that goes for magnaporting as well.   A good stock that fits you and a recoil pad like what has been mentioned as well as a mercury tube is about the only thing to help make the gun not seem to kick you as hard.  Nothing but downloaded ammo is going to reduce the recoil of the gun.

I shoot a 300WSM and I have had 4 surgeries in the last five years, two right shoulder surgeries, and two fusion surgeries of the neck.  I put a Simms Vibration Lab recoil pad on it and it helped the stock not only fit me better, but it helps tame some of the felt recoil and it is more tolerable now.  

The only other bit of advise for me to offer is to make sure you use good body positioning when you fire the rifle.  By that I mean don't hunch over at a table on a set of bags or in a stand.  Sit up right as best you can and allow the body to recoil like it should and it will help you out a lot.  The one thing about shooting is that no matter who shoots a gun, it kicks the same.  I can teach a kid to shoot even the worst kicking guns and he will tell you they don't hurt and an adult can hunch over the bags at a table or in a deer stand and then say it hurts too bad to shoot the gun.

I might add that a 7mm 140 gr round doesn't kick as much as a 160 gr round and if you use a good bullet, the elk won't know the difference with good shot placement.  I just think if you are as bad off as you sound right now, an elk hunt and a harvest and removal just may not be the best thing for you to be doing right now.  If you hurt so bad you need to tame recoil, maybe you need to lay up a while and let yourself heal.

[SuperstitionCoues]

What I am really after is not a reduction in the "percieved recoil", but a reduction in the amount of foot-pounds directed into my (the shooters) body.  You can calculate how much is being delivered using the formulas in the Lyman 47th and 48th Reloading manuals (watch the formulas though - there is an error in the denominator of the 48th edition that you have to be careful of).

What I am feeling in terms of recoil is one thing - which is why my .30-30 will give me more trouble than my 50 cal round ball muzzleloader.  How much force is directed into me is a different issue, and that is what I want to reduce.  The only way to reduce the amount of energy is to drop the charge down in the cartridge.  Or, you can re-direct the vector of the force being applied - which is what the brake will do.

Which  is why I am having the muzzle brake installed.   I sent the 7mm WSM back to Williams Gunsight Friday (best brake and service for the money) and I also sent the barrel from my Browning BPS 12 ga. to
Magna - port for Pro and Pigeon porting.  These two are the worst offenders in my collection for "thumping" and calculate out to delivering the most force.  

This ain't rocket science, but a simple application of physics.  Hopefully I'll get the shotgun barrel back in time to catch a little bit of the end of quail season out here.   I'll let you know how it all comes out.

Matt