Muzzle brake recommendations please!! Just bought my 1st bolt action .308

[Hillbilly]

I also vote for the APA Little Bastard. I've got a gen 1 that does wonders for keeping the muzzle on target so you can spot hits or misses.

 

[padawan]

I helped a friend set up a 450BM a couple years ago. He used a custom brake from SAS Tactical Muzzle Brake for Any Gun Thread Caliber | eBay

I think it was made in KY. Anyway, he seemed to be pleased with it.

 

[sloughfoot]

I used a clamp-on from Witt Machine once. It worked about as well as a maxi-pad on my shoulder.

Maxi-pads are cheaper.

 

[24Carat]

I used a clamp-on from Witt Machine once. It worked about as well as a maxi-pad on my shoulder.

Maxi-pads are cheaper.

Witt Machine has the occasional 25% off email promotion if you are registered with them. The results when installed on a 300WM
are nothing short of amazing.

 

[Cerberus]

I like some of the options people have suggested. I a surprised to be steered away from a muzzle brake. Under what condition do the skeptics recommend I reconsider one?

I could see a break if you were wanting faster follow up shots or moving into one of the heavy chamberings. Being that you haven't shot .308 I will join the suggestion to go try it first and then go from there. Right now I'm shooting .308 almost exclusively and can easily see my shots on target even with my light deer rifle at 200 yards. If you are wanting to get into long distance shooting the money for the break would probably be best spent on a quality target type stock if you don't currently have one. Rifle weight is also a very effective method to dampen recoil.

 

[Twinsen]

I like the shoot it and see approach. I probably stick with that idea and report back. My first bolt gun... i suppose i could just hate it all together.

What if I just want the front of the gun to look cooler... haha!

 

[AboveTheBest]

What if I just want the front of the gun to look cooler... haha!

I think this is the real motivation behind most breaks on rifles...

I'm convinced the reason people put cool breaks on the front of AR-15's is to hide the dainty little .22 cal hole in the end of the barrel

 

[bulletsmith]

Here's an idea...............shoot it and see what it needs.

I know I can't spot hits with my sporter .243 win at 9X unless the shots are 200 ish or farther.

Of all the things you will want to do to that rifle, a break may not be the first money you want to spend. Get a couple hundred of rounds through it, then decide what you want to spend money on first. I bet trigger work will come before a break.

 

[OutdoorDad]

I like the shoot it and see approach. I probably stick with that idea and report back. My first bolt gun... i suppose i could just hate it all together.

What if I just want the front of the gun to look cooler... haha!

My 11 year old daughter thinks this is the way to go...





She's never actually shot a .308, but she thinks you ought to try it first.


Seriously, on a bench, with a bi-pod, or a sand bag... you should be "good to go" for 20-40 rnds assuming you're getting a good grip and planting the butt into your shoulder. Even if you're an 11 year old girl. Or an old man like me.

.308 isn't a "punishing" round. If you have enough mass in your rifle, you can shoot for hours.

Toss a few downrange. I suspect you'll be shopping for additional rifles or suppressors before you mount a brake.

 

[oldpink]

Of all the things you will want to do to that rifle, a break may not be the first money you want to spend. Get a couple hundred of rounds through it, then decide what you want to spend money on first. I bet trigger work will come before a break.

Yep
It would also be worth instead using the money spent on the break on better quality glass on top, too.

 

[Twinsen]

The Ruger Prec. arrived yesterday. It is built beautifully. stock is rock solid. Safety switch is tight. Handguard is a little canted but you get that with aftermarket handguards sometimes. I may loosen fix and tighten. It will only hold my bipod. You can tell it is because they lay the rifle down when the screw it on. Trigger seems fantastic to me. crisp, no slack. I like the savage accu trigger style trigger.

 

[bart1533]

+1 on Witt clamp on. I have 2. Work great and easy on the pocket. .

 

[Twinsen]

Shot 50 rnds. was definately feeling it. I went out and got the M4-72. It is fantastic. I dont notice any more noise. A little more wind but it is not gassy like I expected. Way easier to keep on target. I dare say 70% of the recoil is gone!

 

[M.Cain]

I am looking for something that reduces recoil as much as possible and looks really good.

I run nothing but vias on my long range match 308 rifles and 6 mm good quality brakes noise increase is more but muzzle rise is controled and kick reduction is reduced .

 

[mike4]

Post #5 or Gen III version of same was the best recommendation in my opinion, although they are not cheap, as is true of the top performing choices in most pursuits.

Different equipment options for different purposes. If you think you don't need a muzzle brake on a .308 that means you are not doing the type of shooting where you do; which is maintaining a more stable view through the scope until impact, not being overly sensitive to recoil. First link below is a good example of folks determining what works best for that purpose in competition.

At the other extreme I have a synthetic stock 700ADL .308 with Leupold fixed 4x scope that's meant to be light, handy and fast at the expense of fairly stout recoil, but it is not intended to keep the scope on target and relatively undisturbed during bullet flight. That IS the purpose where you care about an effective muzzle brake, hopefully spotting misses not just hits, and the round in flight if the conditions are right.

I first became aware of the effect in a different context ages ago, firing tracers from a scoped AR; the lit base of the tracer highlighted how much the rifle/optic was jumping around on each shot even from prone with a 20" heavy barrel (even though a small child could handle the recoil).

Some useful links. Field tests are getting dated but most of those choices are still on the market.

Best Muzzle Brakes & Suppressors – What The Pros Use

This article covers the muzzle brakes and suppressors the top 170+ precision rifle shooters in the c...

precisionrifleblog.com

Muzzle Brakes: Field Test Overview & Line-Up

This is the first post in a series that will cover the results from an epic muzzle brake field test....

precisionrifleblog.com

Muzzle Brake: Summary of Field Test Results

This post summarizes the eye-opening results for the massive muzzle brake field test I’ve worked on ...

precisionrifleblog.com

New APA Gen III Muzzle Brakes!

A few years ago, I conducted a massive amount of primary research related to muzzle brakes (view re...

precisionrifleblog.com