Muzzle Brakes
02-17-2003, 03:56 PM
#12
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: arlington texas USA
Posts: 810
RE: Muzzle Brakes
who said anything about ear plugs while hunting?i never have used them.i do use them at the range due ti firing multiple times. i use them at the rande no matter what i am shooting.i never notice the noise or recoil while shooting. a larger shell will make you realize this.that is the reason for the muzzle break.i am not a city boy either. i was born and raised in east texas on a farm.your points are more personal than common sense.
02-17-2003, 05:40 PM
#14
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Raleigh NC USA
Posts: 352
RE: Muzzle Brakes
Beaverjack, when you stated that you were in the blast zone, what does that mean? Muzzle breaks are a fact of life. Some people are going to have them, and sooner or later you' ll be at the range when they' re shooting. I am a city boy, and even I know to always wear hearing protection at the range. Not like I' m going to be engaging in casual conversation. You never fully recover hearing damage. It' s not worth it. There' s no prize for toughing it out without the protection. A removable break for the range, with a threaded cap for the field seems a reasonable compromise for heavier calibers (or whoever wants it, not like its my place to judge what people should and shouldn' t shoot).
02-17-2003, 06:13 PM
#15
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rocky (by God!) Mountings
Posts: 572
RE: Muzzle Brakes
Wearin' muffs when huntin' ain' t an' option when yer callin' bull elk. Also, blast will bounce off anythin' around you an' hit you in the haid. When callin' a bull, a guide tries to git ahind his hunter away from the noise. But if the bull comes in wrong, or the hunter waits too long an' has to shift his position, yer at the mercy of the blast lessn' you wanna drop yer calls an' slap yer hands over her ears. Not an' option when the bull is checkin' you out, now is it? Even with the covered ears, it ain' t pleasant. I carried one of them Marlin Guide Guns for years. Mosly for bear protection. Shot it at the range a lot. Then I got a wild hair an' took it elk huntin' . Shot a cow. The blast bounced off the trees an' rocks ' round me an' I sold thet rifle an' got a proper saddle carbine (M71). Notice thet Marlin ain' t porting these barrels no more. Muzzle brakes an' ported barrels ain' t necessary, an' they wear on yer precious hearin' . I don' t know ' bout you, but I got plans fer my ears in my old age, an' none of it includes a plastic dohicky stuck in ' em.
02-17-2003, 07:01 PM
#16
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: arlington texas USA
Posts: 810
RE: Muzzle Brakes
maybe i am just a dumb old country boy but i do not and i have not seen anyone wear muffs while hunting. any big caliber round will bounce off things around you. that is not rocket science. it is also not rocket science for the guide to be behind the hunter.if it does not bother the guide then why do they put their fingers in their ear when the shot is made?different styles of muzzle breakes do different things.also it is common sense that tells you that big calibers are louder. so what is your point beaver?.quit trying to be so cute with your language and make sense about the subjest talked about.
02-17-2003, 10:38 PM
#17
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rocky Mountains, Colorado
Posts: 1,964
RE: Muzzle Brakes
Cal,
Even a unbraked rifle has a blast zone. Rifle ranges lay things out to prevent you from getting into it. But once you get into a more " free form" environment away from the range it is easy to have a mishap. Someone " torching off" a round without figuring the angles can hurt those around them, brake or no brake, although it' s easier to violate someone close by WITH a muzzle break.
Towards evening during elk season, three of us were walking single file down the trail. I topped a small knoll and there they were - 20 or so elk spread out in front of us at 100 yards. I waved the two behind me on up and we were (I thought) strung out in a " straight" line abreast of each other. Since I saw them first I was sitting down getting ready and had a big dry cow in my cross hairs. Never got to pull the trigger, found myself laying on the ground writhing in pain, wasn' t sure what had happened. The hunter to my right had taken an offhand shot five feet to my right and about 2 feet BEHIND me -- I was in the " blast zone" -- that was with a regular rifle.
Now with a muzzlebreak, the blast is ported out the sides of the gun barrell and you can be devastated standing two feet behind (and five feet to the side) the barrel' s end. If you' ve been at the range and had someone with a rough muzzlebreak sit down at the station next to you then you know its not pleasant -- sure you have your hearing protection on but you still know there is something " evil" going on right next door.
Lots of folks are used to deer hunting solitary or shooting out the back of the pickup -- so they don' t have to worry about where they point that Sendero (muzzle blast). If you are hunting with a guide it' s not solitary -- and too many folks don' t mind their manners! So lots of guides (and frequently your fellow hunting partners) hate muzzlebreaks, sure MOST the time the guide is behind the shooter and the hunter is going to be shooting straight ahead -- fine. But take the one time the game suddenly appears at 10 o' clock or 2 o' clock, hunter turns, aims, and fires. Oh, gee/ I' m sorry/I had to get him quick/I forgot what you said/Guess it was buck fever/I just followed my insticts----As a guide you just got screwed, all the logic and argument and discussion (like right here) just went out the window, client gets his elk and the guide is hosed!
Now before I start getting hate mail just let me say that though I don' t have a muzzle break on any of my rifles, I am toying with the idea if I get a 416 and find it a little too frisky -- however, I would use the muzzlebreak for sight in and practice (ear protection ON--Stay Away From Others) and would absolutely take it off and replace it with the " end cap" for hunting (hearing protection OFF--sometimes in close quarters and in a fluid situation).
Robert, we seem to experience recoil and muzzle blast similarly. When I am taking a killing shot I feel NO recoil and hear NO muzzleblast, not in the normal sense, I am aware something has happened alright, but I am focused on the kill. No need for a muzzle break under those circumstances.
I heard one fella on this forum joke, " Yeah, I usually get the first shot on all game if we' re all together, when they see me raise the barrel they all either run or cover their ears." That' s if they are lucky enough to see it coming -- bad form.
P.S. Dep, a tiger without its stripes isn' t a tiger. BJ with out that " cute language" wouldn' t be BJ. Read for the content not the delivery.
Never Go Undergunned,
EKM
Even a unbraked rifle has a blast zone. Rifle ranges lay things out to prevent you from getting into it. But once you get into a more " free form" environment away from the range it is easy to have a mishap. Someone " torching off" a round without figuring the angles can hurt those around them, brake or no brake, although it' s easier to violate someone close by WITH a muzzle break.
Towards evening during elk season, three of us were walking single file down the trail. I topped a small knoll and there they were - 20 or so elk spread out in front of us at 100 yards. I waved the two behind me on up and we were (I thought) strung out in a " straight" line abreast of each other. Since I saw them first I was sitting down getting ready and had a big dry cow in my cross hairs. Never got to pull the trigger, found myself laying on the ground writhing in pain, wasn' t sure what had happened. The hunter to my right had taken an offhand shot five feet to my right and about 2 feet BEHIND me -- I was in the " blast zone" -- that was with a regular rifle.
Now with a muzzlebreak, the blast is ported out the sides of the gun barrell and you can be devastated standing two feet behind (and five feet to the side) the barrel' s end. If you' ve been at the range and had someone with a rough muzzlebreak sit down at the station next to you then you know its not pleasant -- sure you have your hearing protection on but you still know there is something " evil" going on right next door.
Lots of folks are used to deer hunting solitary or shooting out the back of the pickup -- so they don' t have to worry about where they point that Sendero (muzzle blast). If you are hunting with a guide it' s not solitary -- and too many folks don' t mind their manners! So lots of guides (and frequently your fellow hunting partners) hate muzzlebreaks, sure MOST the time the guide is behind the shooter and the hunter is going to be shooting straight ahead -- fine. But take the one time the game suddenly appears at 10 o' clock or 2 o' clock, hunter turns, aims, and fires. Oh, gee/ I' m sorry/I had to get him quick/I forgot what you said/Guess it was buck fever/I just followed my insticts----As a guide you just got screwed, all the logic and argument and discussion (like right here) just went out the window, client gets his elk and the guide is hosed!
Now before I start getting hate mail just let me say that though I don' t have a muzzle break on any of my rifles, I am toying with the idea if I get a 416 and find it a little too frisky -- however, I would use the muzzlebreak for sight in and practice (ear protection ON--Stay Away From Others) and would absolutely take it off and replace it with the " end cap" for hunting (hearing protection OFF--sometimes in close quarters and in a fluid situation).
Robert, we seem to experience recoil and muzzle blast similarly. When I am taking a killing shot I feel NO recoil and hear NO muzzleblast, not in the normal sense, I am aware something has happened alright, but I am focused on the kill. No need for a muzzle break under those circumstances.
I heard one fella on this forum joke, " Yeah, I usually get the first shot on all game if we' re all together, when they see me raise the barrel they all either run or cover their ears." That' s if they are lucky enough to see it coming -- bad form.
P.S. Dep, a tiger without its stripes isn' t a tiger. BJ with out that " cute language" wouldn' t be BJ. Read for the content not the delivery.
Never Go Undergunned,
EKM
02-17-2003, 11:56 PM
#18
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Raleigh NC USA
Posts: 352
RE: Muzzle Brakes
EKM - This is kinda funny. After seeing your post I went back and re-read BeaverJack' s post and had an entirely different take on it. When I first read it I thought that he' d been at the range not using hearing protection, and someone in a different lane was shooting a rifle equiped with a muzzle break. I thought that the " critter" he was refering to was the other shooter. Now I realize he was likely out in the field, and the critter was a real life critter. I incorrectly interpreted the beaver-speak and went off on a tangent about always wearing hearing protection, at the range of course. Now I can see that we weren' t even having the same conversation.
I agree with your mention of the using an end-cap for actual hunting. I mentioned something similar. You may recall from a few other posts that I' m a ways away from the big game hunt, but when I graduate to it I' ll likely look into something like that. Also agree with your comments on using hearing protection at the range. I' ve kinda found additional uses for my ear muffs. I use them when running the shop-vac! That things creates such a racket that I decide what the heck, why not use ' em for that as well.
BeaverJack - sorry, my fault, and probably partially the fault of the handfuls of cold medications I' ve been downing these last few days.
I agree with your mention of the using an end-cap for actual hunting. I mentioned something similar. You may recall from a few other posts that I' m a ways away from the big game hunt, but when I graduate to it I' ll likely look into something like that. Also agree with your comments on using hearing protection at the range. I' ve kinda found additional uses for my ear muffs. I use them when running the shop-vac! That things creates such a racket that I decide what the heck, why not use ' em for that as well.
BeaverJack - sorry, my fault, and probably partially the fault of the handfuls of cold medications I' ve been downing these last few days.
02-18-2003, 05:55 AM
#20
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rocky (by God!) Mountings
Posts: 572
RE: Muzzle Brakes
No, I ain' t the cutest thing ' round, hard leathery skin, gray hair an' beard. I gotta cute foot though. Genrly, my cute size 11 fits real good in smart allecks arses. Thet' s the down side of this innernet stuff. I don' t git many ' cute' remarks at the local bar. I don' t think you wanna hear the real version of my " beaver speak" . Thet requires puttin' yer arse where my cute size 11 starts talkin' fer me.