AR-15 muzzle brake

mick

mick

Well-Known Member
R.O.C. (Radio Operator's Certificate)
how the AR-15 .223 calibre rifle standard muzzle brake found its way to a local outdoor gun range..I don't know...and same rifle in a .22LR calibre also muzzlebraked..I am not kidding.....ya it was my first experience sharing the range with 2 newer shooters with the rifles last oct. morning...I was there by invitation with the range officer & also my friend to check my zero on my muzzleloader before my deer hunt...ear protection is always a must and mandatory..after the first couple rounds with the .223..um.. wow I quickly reached in my equipment box to double up with ear plugs and my standard quality ear muffs..after all my years being a member to 2 gun clubs...I don't ever remember the intensity of loud gunfire.. especially coming from a .223..we all had a friendly discussion about the said rifles and the attraction of being loud ..and then I finished up with 5 rounds myself...
I will be going back in May to shoot my .270 wsm and my .300 rum before my spring bear hunt..they are both loud magnums with both heavy recoil and they will stay that way unbraked..I am not recoil sensitive, meaning recoil does not effect my shooting accuracy negatively..

I will also be shopping for an improvement for best ear protection money can buy..not that mine is poor quality...I have had different opinions about muzzlebrakes, mostly from fellow hunters that say no...happy to have that first hand experience and will continue without one..

I also believe the outdoor range enclosed with a roof & 3 walls increases the sound of the said gunfire
 
Last edited:
Yup winners! It’s a 223, u can skip the muzzle brake, really not a shoulder pounder. Like everything else in today’s world, people take everything to far lol. Stick with the 22’s if you’re getting beat up from the ol’ AR. For that matter unless you’re in a war zone shouldered up to a 50 cal Barrett or 338 lapua there’s no need for one. I’ve shot at ranges before beside some of these goofballs and I just end up leaving as it reverberates through the whole range and takes the enjoyment out of it.

Going forward i think you will start to see some bans at ranges for these noise makers. If you can’t handle the recoil of whatever caliber you own it’s time to downsize and find something manageable...
 
Hey Mick! Belated Happy New Year. The “standard” mil spec AR-15 muzzle brake you reference actually does nothing for recoil. It’s actually a flash hider. And yes, noisy as hell and made worse by the typical 16” barrel length of most M4/AR-15 variants. I have several of them I built for varmint hunting with 20” match barrels and without the noisemaker on the front...yes I can legally hunt with them down here. Very handy for night hunting when several targets arrive in a group. I know a lot of my fellow Canucks hate the black rifles and dismiss them as not needed or necessary. Get past Hollywood and hype and they are no different than any other semi-auto browning BAR or Rem model 7400 except....they are way way more accurate and very modular allowing a lot of custom options. Mine shoot = or better than my best bolt actions. I also can’t stand and refuse to use muzzle brakes. I will be coyote hunting up there with my Ruger #1 22-250 this winter but really wish I could run one of the AR’s. Platform gets a bad rap. Very light and handy with a 5 rd magazine and rock solid. Zero recoil. I was a non-believer until I shot one.
 
Hey harold..thanks..& for your first hand experience on the AR-15...I believe high end accuracy over a bolt action rifle..no wonder there so attractive for serious shooters..Ya I have seen the customizing offered and alot of coin invested..ya I see the .308 cal AR-15 very popular long range accurate shooter..I agree it doesn't make sense you can't hunt with them..?

i was handed down a classic ruger mini 14 with banana clips in .223...ya it was a toy..a pie plate shooter...it had value so I quickly sold it with the clips I pluged to be legal..I took that cash & found & bought my 300 rum.. I was telling ya about..you remember the story...and I will be following up with Remington soon on my rifle/receiver replacement..ya Harold I bought & mounted that leopold red dot scope on my tika last Nov..it looks great..ya its ready to bore sight & shoot at the range early May..Ya I won't have time for my custom dial I am leaving north May 13th for my big spring bear hunt & fishin..so its back to a 300 yd zero for now..and I better get there quick...lol

I am sure your getting great accuracy and performance with your ruger 22-250..very popular round.. is that ruger a LH bolt.. hawkeye model
ya the noise makers are not necessary..and for recoil sensitive...learn how to manage recoil with a suitable firearm..
 
Last edited:
Good luck with the 300 RUM Mick. Thats a thumper for sure! I know you have had quite a saga with it. You should have no issues getting a custom dial from Leupold in time. They got me one in 2 weeks last time I tried. But I think I can help you out - Im going to be at the SCI show in Reno in early Feb and Leupold has a booth there and frequently bring their laser engraver and will do dials for you on the spot. If you email me your load data I will get you one cut and drop in the mail when Im in Hamilton next. You will have tons of time to play with it. Need scope model, bullet weight and type, velocity, BC, temp you expect to use it in and altitude above sea level. They absolutely work. Zero for 100 yds and then dial in what your rangefinder is telling you for yardage. I was ringing steel with my 300 Browning A bolt at 575yds with mine and I rarely get to practice shooting much past 200yds.

The Ruger 22-250 is a Number One single shot. Its a falling block action, very pretty rifle. And it is an absolute tack driver which they were never really known for but this one shoots lights out. Inherited from a close hunting friend I lost two years ago.

Ive never seen a mini-14 that shot very accurately. Good enough as a truck gun around the farm but nothing like you and I would demand in a hunting rifle. Are they even legal up there anymore? Basically same idea as an AR-15 with a different operating system but still a semi that can be set up to be high capacity. Just dont look quite as nasty.

Tricking out the AR platform isnt too bad cost wise if you do the work yourself. They only look intimidating, everything comes apart very easily and logically. Only thing I ever owned that will strip as easily is a Rem 870 pump! Like every other rifle its all in the barrel quality and then the trigger group. The key is using a free floating fore end and adjustable gas block to tune the action operation. Ive stayed with the .223 on the AR-15 size platform. The 308s etc use the AR-10 platform (just bigger components) and just get so darn heavy that it defeats the whole point. I have no interest in carrying a ten pound + rifle at 308 power level around.

The Browning and Remington semis that look "normal" with wood stocks and blued metal would be way more accurate if you could make those adjustments. Im re-working an old Rem 740 in 308 for a guy in my camp down here. Its not working reliably and the accuracy is terrible. Other than cleaning the fouling out of it and polishing out some of the burrs in the trigger/action, there just isnt a lot you can do to it to make it shoot better. Im playing with load combinations to see what it likes best. Hopefully I will find something magic for it as the owner is really attached to it. I bought him a nice model 700 in .270 years ago and he still clings to this old 740. Stubborn old fart!

If I were to move back up there in retirement Im going to have to sell off those ARs as well as hand guns. I shoot on my own range here and at my camp. When I want and with who I want. No interest in shooting at a public range with too many idiots and going thru all the restricted weapons headaches and paperwork. Yes Im spoiled. I know. Guess I can get back into skeet shooting and sporting clays up there.

Cheers!
 
Thanks very much for the offer Harold on the custom dial..honestly I don't want to commit to my load until ...well for one thing my time is super limited when i get back home end of april.. my trigger time is limited to one day at the range as a guest with a buddy.. so I want to shoot my 270 wsm rifle with the new scope to make sure the scope is good......the gun shop I bought the leopold from looked up the size talley one piece rings they sent me.. I think they could go down one size?...I didn't have time to measure the difference to the top of the barrel to the scope objective looks to high..so thats on the to do list.....ya I have been shooting nosler 140 grain accubond CT for years. Most important I want to physically get 80 to 100 rounds...4 to 5 boxes same ammo before I get my dial too..

ya I need to contact remington and get my 300 rum shipped back in a timely manner getting home..then reinstall my new leopold thats the VX3I 4.5 X 14-50 mm..ya I get a new custom dial for that one too....I already bought/got 5 boxes minus 7 rounds of the scirocco power III..Ya its got a good thump to it..lol..the ammo is rated at 3250 MV 180 grain...so I would be more then happy with confidence to be packed up heading north with my 2 rifles hey zeroed in at just under 3 inches high at a 100 yds...giving me a 300 yd zero..ya I also check elevation shooting the steel plinking at 300 yd range..

for back up 270 wsm ammo I shoot the barnes TTSX 140 grain..that load is a touch lighter (3100 fps MV) where my nosler is 3200... very good accuracy with both..I have less then a box of each..so my choice is Nosler..hey I put the battery in the leopold...very nice red dot..should look great on a big black bear...lol

just to mention about old .308s ..lol Ya my friend Don from Hearst I hunt with up there is a young 76.. his eye sight is not the best...and his hearing is worse..lol..anyway he is more my hunting companion and a great guide..he has a quad and a side by side...he has been a local trapper and fisherman all his life up there...and he stays in his trapper shack way back in the bush..great spot for a snack and rest with campfire stories too..lol...anyway his rifle is an old I mean ancient bolt action rifle in .308 ..i forget the model..anyway i bought a box of new ammo for it and sighted in the rifle for him at 100 yds..wow it was way off and just hit the edge of a big steel sign i set up behind a hill of gravel..lol..anyway he took over and its shooting straight for him now for shorter range..ya the barrel was way out...I had to move the windage aggressively to the right almost to the end of the open sight adjustment..I told him the rifle needs to be throughly cleaned and taken to a gunsmith...he should hang that one on his big moose antlers and buy a new one..
 
Last edited:
Hey can't miss well for one thing they make alot of uncomfortable noise for the others standing beside the blast from the barrel with a muzzle brake installed..

heres a cut & paste meaning
A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted muzzle rise.

there intended for larger magnum calibre rifles with substantial recoil to reduce muzzle jump..by venting the gases to the side..
most shooters would agree not to install a muzzle brake.. the risk of permanent loss of hearing with out ear protection has happened countless times..
my rifle magnum calibres have substantial recoil measured in lbs of energy that is managable for me, a few others that are recoil sensitive and would not feel comfortable shooting..

Chuck Hawks has a rifle recoil table..you can google... that gives you an approx. for the various calibres for measuring recoil..
with an installed brake some have the option to screw on the end of the barrel and are removable and screw off and install a thread protector cap.

@Elmerfudd Harold could be helpful in answering something I missed on what is a muzzlebrake..
 
Last edited:
Mick has it correct, but Mick I’m gonna show you a new trick! Basically a muzzle brake is just porting that redirects gasses behind the bullet or shotgun wad to the side and rear to reduce recoil. Browning called their system the Boss and Weatherby and many others offer them on heavy recoiling or very light rifles. As Mick states there is no free ride. The noise is much louder and sharper. Like Mick I don’t like the blast and generally don’t use them with one exception I will explain shortly. The recoil reduction from a brake can be substantial. For an example a friend of mine hunts elk with. 30-378 Weatherby Magnum. It’s a real howitzer and known for brutal recoil. My friend has a Weatherby factory brake on his. He only shoots with hearing protection and makes sure anyone around him wears it too. I shot this rifle with the brake and it was amazing. Kicked like a 243. Nothing. Made for very accurate shooting. But it’s not for me. Just too much gun without the brake and I’d forget the hearing protection in the heat of the moment.

But there IS a brake that does NOT add volume and does help accuracy and to a lesser extent recoil. The device is called a Linear Compensator. Think of a small tube on end of barrel maybe twice the diameter and an inch or two long. No holes in sides to add volume. All the holes are drilled around the main barrel exit crown and face towards the target. So they actually push noise away from shooter and people on either side. And yet still provide some accuracy benefits. I use them on a couple of my AR builds because I shoot tighter groups with them. On some I don’t so I leave them off. I don’t think they look good on a typical bolt action so I don’t use them there either. No photos as I’m on the road traveling.
 
well thats a great example Harold..wow & ya the 30 378 weatherby is a cannon and in a class above the rest of 30 cal.s .. a friend of mine shot one up at moose camp..just one round with his hunting buddys rifle ..and he still talks about it..lol

just to compare my 300 rum (remington ultra mag) I am shooting 180 grain scirocco factory power level III ..it is rated at 32.8 lbs of recoil energy and the velocity 180 is at 3230 fps MV and 4420lbs of energy at the muzzle
where the 30 378 cal. is rated at 42.6 lbs of recoil energy and comparing a 180 grain accubond at 3420 fps MV and 4676 lbs of energy at the muzzle..

this data is off chuck hawks recoil table..ya there is tolerance +/- with those numbers

I agree that magnum calibre rifle with an installed muzzlebrake is necessary..and your results in recoil reduction are rewarding..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
✖
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Advertising is what keeps Channel 6-8 on the air. To this end, please take a moment to disable your AdBlocker. If you would prefer an ad-free experience, but would still like to help support site operations, please consider making a donation.

I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks