Rifle recoil

frenchman

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i am doing some research to find a good (the best?) muzzle brake, and I came across this:
Rifle Recoil Table
I found it interesting. A 600 NE recoils more than twice as hard as a a 50 BMG with no brake. There's got to be some broken bones involved. I mean come on, the recoil impulse of a 308 is 17ft/lbs. the 600 is 150+.
As to the muzzle brake research: the Alamo four star cowl injection is the front runner yet.
 
I have been pleased with the APA little bastard brake on my Rem 700 in 308 Win. Very comfortable for the shooter and easy to install and remove if you want to clean it. I have received feedback that it is not so comfortable for adjacent shooters on the firing line. Something to consider in larger calibers or crowded ranges.
 
Years ago I fired a friend's Barrett .50 (single shot, bolt gun). That monster arrowhead muzzle break is amazing in 2 ways. The recoil was more tolerable than my light 30-06 hunting rifle. On the other hand, after the first shot I was sure the scope hit me in the face, but it hadn't. It felt strangely familiar, but not like a punch. It felt like when you jump into the pool wrong and get a blast of water up your sinuses and everything behind your nose and eyes stings. It took 2 more shots to figure it out. The back-blast from that muzzle break is a supersonic shockwave and slaps your sinuses hard enough to hurt. 3 shots was all I wanted. A friend jammed ear plugs up his nose and said that helped. If you watched Mythbusters, there's a scene where Adam has ear plugs up his nose for the same reason.
 
Years ago I fired a friend's Barrett .50 (single shot, bolt gun). That monster arrowhead muzzle break is amazing in 2 ways. The recoil was more tolerable than my light 30-06 hunting rifle. On the other hand, after the first shot I was sure the scope hit me in the face, but it hadn't. It felt strangely familiar, but not like a punch. It felt like when you jump into the pool wrong and get a blast of water up your sinuses and everything behind your nose and eyes stings. It took 2 more shots to figure it out. The back-blast from that muzzle break is a supersonic shockwave and slaps your sinuses hard enough to hurt. 3 shots was all I wanted. A friend jammed ear plugs up his nose and said that helped. If you watched Mythbusters, there's a scene where Adam has ear plugs up his nose for the same reason.

Why do they vent back toward the shooter? As long as the gas is dissipated sideways relative to the bore, couldn’t it just as easily be directed away from the shooter?

I know nothing about REALLY large-bore shooting. I’m just curious.
 
Years ago I fired a friend's Barrett .50 (single shot, bolt gun). That monster arrowhead muzzle break is amazing in 2 ways. The recoil was more tolerable than my light 30-06 hunting rifle. On the other hand, after the first shot I was sure the scope hit me in the face, but it hadn't. It felt strangely familiar, but not like a punch. It felt like when you jump into the pool wrong and get a blast of water up your sinuses and everything behind your nose and eyes stings. It took 2 more shots to figure it out. The back-blast from that muzzle break is a supersonic shockwave and slaps your sinuses hard enough to hurt. 3 shots was all I wanted. A friend jammed ear plugs up his nose and said that helped. If you watched Mythbusters, there's a scene where Adam has ear plugs up his nose for the same reason.

Yep! My State Arms 50 gives a huge push, but the recoil against the shoulder is more tolerable than my light 7mm Mag or a Mosin with hot milsurp ammo. The shock wave sucks, however. Knocked a foot of snow loose from our shooting pavilion and showered me with old mud dauber nests this winter. Half a large cup of Dunkin coffee went flying off the next bench. Will have to try the ear plugs in the nostrils.

A few years ago my kid's friend shot one and did not have it firmly shouldered, plus had his eye close to the scope. You can guess the rest.

Regarding brakes, best one I have shot is the Gamma VG6. The reason I like it is because it tames recoil but mostly because it nearly eliminates muzzle jump and you never lose sight of the target through a scope. I'm putting one on my 6.5 Creedmoor.
 
The shock wave sucks, however. Knocked a foot of snow loose from our shooting pavilion and showered me with old mud dauber nests this winter. Half a large cup of Dunkin coffee went flying off the next bench.
I..can't..even..imagine..how..bad..this..would..be.
Rifle%20Rest_zps7h3otff9.jpg


I wish I could find the one of the guy shooting from his trucks tailgate. The look on his face when the break's blast shatters the tail lights is priceless.
 
What muzzle brake is everybody using on their AR15s?

I want to replace the giant, hideous, gun store massification special on my AR, keep the recoil comparable to an A2 style compensator, and hopefully tone down the massive noise my current crappy brake makes.
 
I use the Lantac Dragon on pretty much everything now and it hasn't let me down one bit. Best bang for your buck IMO is the Surefire Procomp though.
 
What muzzle brake is everybody using on their AR15s?

I want to replace the giant, hideous, gun store massification special on my AR, keep the recoil comparable to an A2 style compensator, and hopefully tone down the massive noise my current crappy brake makes.

All of my ARs either have target crown, or are pre 94 ban - but I've often wondered how something like this performs. I like the look of the classic a2 FH.

A2 Compliant Birdcage Compensator for AR15 / M16
 
I wish I could find the one of the guy shooting from his trucks tailgate. The look on his face when the break's blast shatters the tail lights is priceless.

Eons ago we had a guy (jamz) here do that with his Serbu 50.... He just kinda laughed it off though. Blew the whole taillight assembly apart on his F150.

-Mike
 
What muzzle brake is everybody using on their AR15s?

I want to replace the giant, hideous, gun store massification special on my AR, keep the recoil comparable to an A2 style compensator, and hopefully tone down the massive noise my current crappy brake makes.

I use a BCM Gunfighter mod 1. It’s pretty loud.
 
If your are going to shoot mainly online at a range, please be considerate and avoid using a muzzle brake. 5.56 is a very mild round for starters. Thanks in advance!

Nah, f*** those people. You can eat the gas from my .458 SOCOM or move down a bench or two. It's never so busy that you need to be right beside me.
 
If your are going to shoot mainly online at a range, please be considerate and avoid using a muzzle brake. 5.56 is a very mild round for starters. Thanks in advance!

Yeah, lets intentionally remove a valuable enhancement to the rifle because it may bother someone else. Rifles are loud and concussive, if that bothered me, I would take up golf.
 
Yeah, lets intentionally remove a valuable enhancement to the rifle because it may bother someone else. Rifles are loud and concussive, if that bothered me, I would take up golf.
The flip side of that is: rifles are already loud, but you want to make it intentionally LOUDER because you can't handle the recoil?
 
There are no guns I own that I really give two shits about the recoil. I do want the comp on a few of them to manage muzzle climb and speed of target reacquisition. That said my hardest kicking guns are mosins (not bad at all), light 30-06 bolt guns and turkey loads from a 12ga pump. I love the YHM brake on my Tavor for muzzle management but it’s loud AF!!! Planning to try a new comp on that one.
 
The flip side of that is: rifles are already loud, but you want to make it intentionally LOUDER because you can't handle the recoil?

I know you know this but, anyone can handle an AR15s recoil, comps change to recoil impulse allowing to fire the rifle faster because the gun settles back on target faster. Anyone who has ever watched an IPSC/USPSA/LMNOP rifle game has seen this.

Personally I run comps on most of my rifles, but those comps are also suppressor mounts, so they rarely ever bother anyone.
 
At an NES shoot at Shirley R&G many eons ago someone was shooting a gun with a nasty side brake on it. I was asked to RO so I was standing probably 12-15' away to the side and the concussion of said brake bounced my earmuffs off my ear and back on it. I laughed but I could understand someone shooting beside that gun (don't recall what it was) being more than annoyed.
 
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