I own 3 4x4's of the older style (pre-muzzle brake and fluting) and am planning on ordering more 4x4's in the near future. I was wondering if any of you have done any accuracy testing of your 4x4s w/muzzle brake vs. 4x4 w/muzzle brake removed to see if there was any difference in performance.
I have owned or own rifles that I had ported or had muzzle brakes installed (usually big boomers) in the past. The rifles that I had ported had little, if any, variance in accuracy post porting but on the rifles that I had brakes installed on sometimes experienced variances in accuracy post braking. One particular rifle lost an extreme amount of accuracy post brake but on close inspection I realized that the smith who had done the work had accidentally burgered up the crown on this rifle causing the problem. I did a quick redress of the crown with my rotary tool and solved the problem. However, this rifle had a change in bullet impact w/brake on vs. brake off of around 1 inch high right. I attribute this to barrel rise on firing w/brake off. This rifle was chambered in 264 Winchester Magnum. I have had other rifles accuracy improve by adding a muzzle brake (again, big boomers). I attribute this to a reduction in felt recoil thus boosting the shooter comfort and confidence.
On three rifles that I had braked, accuracy was maintained but the bullet impact shifted dramatically, high, low, left or right. These rifle were mid caliber pieces, 6.5mm to 8mm.
One rifle that I installed a brake on lost all usable accuracy with the brake on. The groups opened up to around 4 inches w/brake vs. .5 inch w/brake off. This was a custom job I built myself chambered in a wild cat round (243.06 improved) that I used for long range prairie dog work. My group of experts (my rowdy shooting buddies) all had a wide assortment of whys and hows this happened. I tried two more styles of brakes on the rifle with one style tightening up the group a bit but not enough to use the rifle for it's intended purpose. I ended up screwing on the thread protector for good and still use the rifle when I go doggin' and the wind comes up enough to give my 17 & 22 Center Fires' a rough time. It's still a great shooter after 7,000 rounds.
My question is: Have any of you tested the accuracy of your 4x4's w/brake on vs. brake off? If you have would you please post the results. I would really appreciate knowing the results of your trials.
Thanks,
I have owned or own rifles that I had ported or had muzzle brakes installed (usually big boomers) in the past. The rifles that I had ported had little, if any, variance in accuracy post porting but on the rifles that I had brakes installed on sometimes experienced variances in accuracy post braking. One particular rifle lost an extreme amount of accuracy post brake but on close inspection I realized that the smith who had done the work had accidentally burgered up the crown on this rifle causing the problem. I did a quick redress of the crown with my rotary tool and solved the problem. However, this rifle had a change in bullet impact w/brake on vs. brake off of around 1 inch high right. I attribute this to barrel rise on firing w/brake off. This rifle was chambered in 264 Winchester Magnum. I have had other rifles accuracy improve by adding a muzzle brake (again, big boomers). I attribute this to a reduction in felt recoil thus boosting the shooter comfort and confidence.
On three rifles that I had braked, accuracy was maintained but the bullet impact shifted dramatically, high, low, left or right. These rifle were mid caliber pieces, 6.5mm to 8mm.
One rifle that I installed a brake on lost all usable accuracy with the brake on. The groups opened up to around 4 inches w/brake vs. .5 inch w/brake off. This was a custom job I built myself chambered in a wild cat round (243.06 improved) that I used for long range prairie dog work. My group of experts (my rowdy shooting buddies) all had a wide assortment of whys and hows this happened. I tried two more styles of brakes on the rifle with one style tightening up the group a bit but not enough to use the rifle for it's intended purpose. I ended up screwing on the thread protector for good and still use the rifle when I go doggin' and the wind comes up enough to give my 17 & 22 Center Fires' a rough time. It's still a great shooter after 7,000 rounds.
My question is: Have any of you tested the accuracy of your 4x4's w/brake on vs. brake off? If you have would you please post the results. I would really appreciate knowing the results of your trials.
Thanks,