muzzle jump Brake advice

[1ba40]

I have a cz550 in 458 Lott and am having a lot of jump on the muzzle. I have had some advice to put a muzzle break on the rifle and this will at least minimize it. I am not a fan of muzzle breaks but I am considering it. I don't have an issue with the recoil but follow up shots are hampered by the extreme muzzle issue. Just looking for some advice. I have a trip booked for September to Africa so working loads and shooting off of sticks.

[rugerfan]

Perhaps a mag-na-port type solution would be more appealing to you? Although I'm not sure who offers anything similar on this side of the border

[1ba40]

i'll have a look at them, going to try holding it with a sling but probably going to go with a removable brake

[NinjaHunter]

I recommend a mercury recoil reducer instead of a muzzle brake

[Off in the Bushes]

https://www.africahunting.com/thread...ey-work.37816/

Third comment down seems to be what you are looking for, and likely the easy and cheapest of all your options

[marky_mark]

A brake will definitely help
So will more weight in the stock
That recoil has to go somewhere
If your not moving 2 feet backwards
Then that muzzle energy has to go somewhere

[6.5 shooter]

Do a search on line about brakes...Most are not worth the steel they were made from..there are a few which are quite good but do your researcher first. More weight is always a good thing especially when your heart is pumping.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

Do a search on line about brakes...Most are not worth the steel they were made from..there are a few which are quite good but do your researcher first. More weight is always a good thing especially when your heart is pumping.

I seen a comparison for a bunch of them
If they reduce recoil really well, they are loud as hell

[Full Curl Earl]

Its not difficult to reduce a hard hitter like the OP posted with a well designed brake. Ports can be 5 degrees forward facing, sound and blast gets encouraged forward ever so slightly. A 15% reduction in a big rifle like that is quite a relief. And i suspect youd see above 25%. You should already be wearing ear plugs and a mouth guard when shoot that rifle, so your hearing is taken care of. Lol

[Dean2]

I had Magnum Machine in Calgary put a custom Brake on my 460 Weatherby. It made a tremendous difference. It cured the wicked muzzle lift and also tamed the recoil down to manageable levels. I have a Mercury suppressor and a good recoil pad on a 7 RUM, it helps but not near as much as screwing on the brake. I hunt it with no brake, use the brake for target work but the issue with the 7 Rum is the really sharp recoil pulse, severe enough to give you a good headache after 5 or 6 rounds, not so much muzzle lift.

All brakes are loud as hell, you absolutely MUST WEAR Hearing protection, one shot with no muffs and you risk permanent hearing loss.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Dean2

I had Magnum Machine in Calgary put a custom Brake on my 460 Weatherby. It made a tremendous difference. It cured the wicked muzzle lift and also tamed the recoil down to manageable levels. I have a Mercury suppressor and a good recoil pad on a 7 RUM, it helps but not near as much as screwing on the brake. I hunt it with no brake, use the brake for target work but the issue with the 7 Rum is the really sharp recoil pulse, severe enough to give you a good headache after 5 or 6 rounds, not so much muzzle lift.

All brakes are loud as hell, you absolutely MUST WEAR Hearing protection, one shot with no muffs and you risk permanent hearing loss.

Went through that crap....snot sickles in winter time....cleared sinuses after each shot....got scoped once too
Settled on a custom build 6-284
Yup I am a whimp....

[sillyak]

What does your PH think of a braked rifle?? My bet is he will not approved given the danger to everyone's hearing.

I would just get used to it as is, start working the bolt immediately while the rifle is recoiling and be back on target by the time the new round is chambered. A .458 Lott in a 10 lb rifle isn't too obnoxious, it takes longer to work the bolt than to get the rifle back down on target.

[Don_Parsons]

I have a gel recoil pad,,, that helped alot.

I've add a thin stiff blue foam pad behind that,,, I've been lucky enough to find the thin stuff...

The plan this year is to trim the rear of the rifle stocks to fit this pad since all of my shooting requires this...

I wear my thick hinting jacket in the winter time,,, that will make up excess pull gap with out the shoulder pad...

PS: I thought about the MB idea a few times, I'm kinda glad I haven't gone that route yet. Ha.

Good luck on your planning going forward.

👍

[1ba40]

Thanks for all of the advice I really appreciate it. The PH is fine with me using a brake. I always wear my hearing protection, to be honest I have the noise cancelling type and I can hear better with them lol. I really don't notice the recoil once I understood how the rifle reacted. I also get the trigger guard into my middle finger quite hard. One on my problems is training my self to grip the rifle and hold the muzzle down I believe. this is my first big bore and my years of shooting rifles is totally different than how I should approach this one. I think the brake is my last resort, I have probably 50 rounds down the pipe right now and if I can figure out how to manage the muzzle jump it should be fine. I have a buddy that has the same rifle and he has had problems with damage to his swivels on recoil using the sling to help. maybe its just practise and cycle.

[Dean2]

I have a 45-70 that I had Magna-Ported many years ago. A lot of them came from the factory with that already done, especially the Short Barreled versions. It does reduce muzzle jump by a large amount, the issue is you need to send the barreled action to the States as there is no one I know of in Canada doing it any more.

With the trigger guard issue, get a soft plastic finger protector that covers the back of the trigger guard from New England Custom Gun. You can accomplish the same thing with Electricians tape and high density pipe insulation if you are careful. A thumbhole stock is another option that also helps with this but it does slow down your ability to cycle the bolt. If you run a Brake this trigger guard issue will probably go away with the reduction in recoil and muzzle lift.



As far as holding the muzzle down, if you are going to use the sling to do this, epoxy bed a pillar or make a pillar from Devcon where the stud goes into the forearm. The stress on a wood stock is more than wood can take when shooting a boomer.

[1ba40]

I will check into the magna porting thanks, my finger is starting to toughen up lol but I'll try the tape. I put a Bell and Carlson stock on it but I will take your advice about strengthening that up.

[260 Rem]

I think magnaporting would require that you have a “dealer” with the proper import/export authorizations send the barrel to the US and then bring it back. A relative wanted one done a couple of years ago and found it simplest to purchase the rifle in the US...have them send it for the porting...and then have the CDN dealer “import”the finished product. The ports are going to require about 1.5” of barrel.

[Quest206]

A few years ago I purchased a Swedish built Lakelander with what looked to be a brake installed on the end of the barrel. After doing some research I discovered that the Swedes' call this an audio director which is supposed to direct 60% of the noise away from the shooter. I always wear hearing protection so I'm not sure about the noise but what is definitely noticeable is the huge reduction in muzzle jump. The ports are only cut on the top and facing forward. I've shot off bags at the range with and without the "audio director" and with the device attached I'm sure there is at least a 50% reduction in muzzle jump.

[Dean2]

One more option. Review I wrote a couple of years ago.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...light=Kahntrol



Kahntrol Clamp on Muzzle Brake Review
After looking at a number of Clamp on brakes I decided to order the Kahntrol brake. Even with exchange and postage it was cheaper than buying the Canadian equivalent. It was however quite a bit more money than the Witt Machine brake.

Kantrol KSMB645 for muzzle diameter of .640-.675 $149.95 U.S.
Witt Machine Exact fit to the barrel measurement $89.00 U.S.
Grizzly Exact fit to barrel measurement $235.00 Canadain

One of the big reasons I chose the Kahntrol was it was the only one that was able to fit on a fairly wide range of barrel sizes, in this case from .640 - .675. It means I can use it on more than one gun. All of the other brakes were cut for the exact muzzle diameter of the specific gun barrel, accurate to .003. This makes fitting them to any other guns unlikely.

Kahntrol accommodates the wider range of barrel sizes by having 6 vertical tightening screws along a horizontal split. Very similar to a set of scope rings but over a much longer opening.

The brake was very easy to mount on my Left Hand 26” all Stainless Remington 700 in 7 RUM. I followed the on-line instructions and had the brake mounted, levelled and timed in about 20 minutes. I could have done it faster but I was quadruple checking everything and being very careful to ensure everything lined up perfectly so there would be no chance of baffle strikes when fired. The one thing I did different than the instructions was torque it down to 50 inch pounds rather than the 30 recommended.

This 7 RUM is my all time least favorite rifle to shoot out of the box. It didn't really recoil in the traditional sense, it was more appropriately described as a REALLY SHARP punch that even with lots of padding would give you a headache after 10 or 15 rounds. Not really surprising when you figure you are burning 95 grains of powder behind a 162 grain bullet in a gun the weighs 8.5 lbs with scope. It was far more unpleasant to shoot than my 375 or even my 460. (To be fair both of those are quite are bit heavier and the 460 has a brake on it). In fact I have never shot any other gun that was as nasty to shoot or kicked as sharply as this 7 RUM out of the box.

After installing a Mercury suppressor in the stock and a Pachmeyer decelerator pad it was comfortable to shoot but still had a very brisk recoil and quite a bit of muzzle jump. I figured this made it the perfect candidate to try the Kahntrol Brake on.

In addition to the brake, I had also mounted a new Leupold 4.5x14 B&C reticle scope for an upcoming antelope trip so the gun needed to be sighted in as well. With everything mounted and two loads that I know shot well in the RUM, 162 BTSP with 84 grains of 7828 SSC in Rem brass with Winchester mag primers at 3.60 LOA, and the same with 94.5 Grains of Retumbo, I headed to the range. (Both of these loads are pushing the 162 grain Hornady bullet north of 3300 fps) It took two shots to get the gun hitting 3” high, dead on the line at 100 yards.

With the bake on there was no difference in group size or shape at 100 or 300 yards. Both loads shot just as good as before, making 3 shot clover leafs at 100 and under 1” at 300. There was however a VERY noticeable reduction in recoil and muzzle jump. The gun felt like something between a 223 and a 243. I checked the brake after the first shot and every two or three thereafter and there was no indication of baffle strikes, as it should be. There was however carbon buildup on the barrel and brake as the number of shots increased. I checked the bolts after 20 rounds and found no decrease in torque.

I was wearing muffs and plugs, as I always do at the range and I did not notice any increase in perceived noise from the brake. I was alone so I did not have anyone to validate whether it was louder to the sides but I would be willing to bet that like all brakes it is. Also, with the amount of recoil reduction it must be pushing a pile of gas to the sides so anyone shooting beside you will definitely feel the blast, though from previous experience this gun makes a hell of a muzzle blast off to the sides even without a brake.

After 30 rounds of very slow fire I felt no soreness in my shoulder nor any other ill effects of shooting, and all I was wearing was a T shirt. I then removed the brake and fired a two shoot group. It hit exactly 1.5” left but on precisely the same elevation, exactly 3” high, as when the brake was on. I adjusted the scope and fired a three shoot clover leaf group that is exactly 3” high, dead on the line at 100 yards. There was a very noticeable increase in recoil without the brake and no perceivable reduction or difference in muzzle blast or noise.

The brake is very well made and fits to the gun well. I would never use a brake on a hunting rifle but this is a great tool for working up loads on guns that tend to beat you up. I could see absolutely no differences in the groups but this is only one gun. I will be interested to try it on a couple of other rifles to see if the results are the same. If they are I will probably order a couple more to cover other barrel sizes.

It is completely effective in reducing recoil and making heavy or medium hitting guns into pleasant to shoot rifles. For range shooting it is the cats pyjamas and because it is so easy to mount and remove it is perfect for use on guns that are primarily hunting rifles as well. The POI shift is easy to adjust for when you remove the brake.

A number of folks asked me to post this after I got the brake and tried it. I hope the info is useful to others thinking about putting brakes on their rifles.

[fps plus]

What type of front sight do you have ?

[1ba40]

the front sight is very close to the end of the barrel, there might be enough room to thread the end but if not the sight will have to be moved.

[32-40win]

Just saw a note from IrunGuns that they are handling the import/export for guns needing to go stateside for repairs, and I believe that was also part of the ITAR changes in the US this year, so that the gunsmiths didn't need to buy a licence from State for it, handled thru Commerce now apparently.

[Full Curl Earl]

Any shop that can make a brake can likely do what is being referred to here as MagnaPorting. Magna porting is no different from a brake, noise or reducing recoil, its just cut into the barrel itself and your committed to it forever, can’t remove it if you wish to. On a heavy hitter, with a lighter contour barrel, i would suggest you need about .700 of thread for your brake. Have it made with 5-10 degree forward facing ports. This one is 5 degrees.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

Any shop that can make a brake can likely do what is being referred to here as MagnaPorting. Magna porting is no different from a brake, noise or reducing recoil, its just cut into the barrel itself and your committed to it forever, can’t remove it if you wish to. On a heavy hitter, with a lighter contour barrel, i would suggest you need about .700 of thread for your brake. Have it made with 5-10 degree forward facing ports. This one is 5 degrees.

Look up Magna Porting and read how it is done. This IS NOT anywhere close to the same thing as making a brake and the pattern and layout of the slots is very specific and precise. It is also cut electrically into the barrel, not machined. It is very different from how a brake is made and it differs greatly in the end results.

[Full Curl Earl]

No, there is no Voodoo about it Dean.
I have done a number of times, the result is the same.
EDM results in ports, doesn’t matter how you put them in, machining, EDM or with a water jet, its just about exiting gasses. Magna Porting is less effective at reducing felt recoil, than a muzzle brake, thats the consensus.
But im not looking for any argument, just offering up info for the OP.

[fps plus]

I actually spent a few weeks with Joe Undiks whom use to own magnan-port Canada ,nice gentleman . He wanted to hire me and I told him I would come out for a few weeks and see if I could live in Winnipeg (nope)
Magna -port is done by an electronic discharge machine (EDM). The hole shapes are determine by the shape of the electrode . It basically eats the metal away.Its very precise .
Pros : very clean , helps muzzle jump and recoil , works around sights, no barrel length change
Cons : can’t remove

Not as effective in reducing recoil and muzzle jump as screw on brake

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by fps plus

I actually spent a few weeks with Joe Undiks whom use to own magnan-port Canada ,nice gentleman . He wanted to hire me and I told him I would come out for a few weeks and see if I could live in Winnipeg (nope)
Magna -port is done by an electronic discharge machine (EDM). The hole shapes are determine by the shape of the electrode . It basically eats the metal away.Its very precise .
Pros : very clean , helps muzzle jump and recoil , works around sights, no barrel length change
Cons : can’t remove

Not as effective in reducing recoil and muzzle jump as screw on brake

Agree completely, also not nearly as loud as a brake nor does it produce the same muzzle blast to nearby shooters. Like I said above, it worked well on my 45-70 to tame the muzzle rise..

[catnthehat]

I tried a few rounds out of a hot loaded 4895 once that was Magnaported .
Very accurate offhand and not nearly so obnoxious as a added on brake .

Cat

[260 Rem]

Seems there would be a healthy market for a magnaport service in Canada. Wonder why someone hasn’t started up?

[gtr]

The way things are going, we may not have any guns left, to put a brake or port on!