Muzzle Loader Muzzle Brake

[reelamin]

Anyone have a muzzle brake installed on their Muzzle Loader?   Looking very hard at this and have found a few on the internet.  I have a couple gun smiths I have used looking at it also.   Just looking for some first hand experience instead of advertised experience.  I'm looking and emailing based on internet finds currently. Not interested in a clamp on...I will send the barrel in and have it installed properly. 

[Sabotloader]

Anyone have a muzzle brake installed on their Muzzle Loader?   Looking very hard at this and have found a few on the internet.  I have a couple gun smiths I have used looking at it also.   Just looking for some first hand experience instead of advertised experience.  I'm looking and emailing based on internet finds currently. Not interested in a clamp on...I will send the barrel in and have it installed properly.

I  know very little about muzzle breaks - but I didn't think you could shoot sabots through a break? But then again my trap gun has a break and I shoot shot gun wads through it???

Good question for Jeff - he installs breaks all the time.

[reelamin]

I  know very little about muzzle breaks - but I didn't think you could shoo sabots through a break? But then again my trap gun has a break and I shoot shot gun wads through it???

Good question for Jeff - he installs breaks all the time.


[/quote]

What...we have finally stumped you?  LOL   Never even thought of it while talking to him.  I need to call him back anyway so will talk with him then.   Agreed, it appears it would require it to be relatively short and have straight walls to exit so as not to catch the Sabot.  I am also going to work really hard on the full bore bullet use for multiple reasons.   Thor's did not shoot that great out of my current rifle, but there are some other options on bullets and even knurling some myself.  Would go for a 45cal to really have full bore options, but then would need another rifle if I ever hunted Muzzle in other states (one I hunt requires 50) so I'm stuck with Sabot or full bore 50.  NOOOO....only one rifle at a time (new one will be two in 3 years)....this muzzle experiment is costing me as much as centerfire. 

[jackelope]

@Bearhunter  I think has a MZ with a brake on it.
Not sure....

[Sabotloader]

I  know very little about muzzle breaks - but I didn't think you could shoot sabots through a break? But then again my trap gun has a break and I shoot shot gun wads through it???

Good question for Jeff - he installs breaks all the time.

What...we have finally stumped you?  LOL   Never even thought of it while talking to him.  I need to call him back anyway so will talk with him then.   Agreed, it appears it would require it to be relatively short and have straight walls to exit so as not to catch the Sabot.  I am also going to work really hard on the full bore bullet use for multiple reasons.   Thor's did not shoot that great out of my current rifle, but there are some other options on bullets and even knurling some myself.  Would go for a 45cal to really have full bore options, but then would need another rifle if I ever hunted Muzzle in other states (one I hunt requires 50) so I'm stuck with Sabot or full bore 50.  NOOOO....only one rifle at a time (new one will be two in 3 years)....this muzzle experiment is costing me as much as centerfire.

But then again you are buying a lifetime tool not just a cheap tool to get you buy..

You know I was hot on the fast twist 45 at one time - they are awesome shooters and FOR SURE if I lived in the flat lands the 45 could be the better option.  I have pretty much elected to stay with the 50 cal.  And I feel confident with it out to 200+ for an elk IF all the conditions were prefect especially with the bullet sabot combinations you can use on Washington.[/quote]

A good forum buddy of mine lives in Oregon and he can shoot a full bore copper bullet there so I am working on a couple of options for him.  He has tried the Thor 247 gr. (250 with the tip) on a couple of cow elk and at this point you would be able to talk him into using a Thor again.  Remember this was without a tip installed.  I recently order a short pack of Thor .501x300gr. as a test bullet.  I removed the tips from the bullet so now they weigh in the 296/7 area.  I contacted Thor and Terry suggested to me that the Thor should work down to 1000fps.  Many people in Colorado use the Thor with good results but they do not have to remove the tip - MAYBE and possibly the tip other than providing a higher BC does accelerate expansion.  One other not the diameter of the hollow point in the Thor is not that large and it does not appear that the inside of the hollow point has cuts in to help the expansion of the bullet.

Another bullet I have been looking at since Lehigh or the Lehigh Bloodline does not offer a full bore 50 cal bullet with a HP that will work well with ML speeds are two different Barnes bullets. The XPB and the MZ-Expander. Both of these bullets, in most cases, will require some knurling to get a good fit in a ML bore.  I was not happy with the 50x275 XPB - it shot great! but, it did not expand they way I expected it to at the longer ranges.  I really thought a pistol bullet would expand - but then again they are not expecting you to shoot 50 cal. S&W Mag pistol to 200 yards.  I did some checking and I am thinking the XPB is maybe good down to 1500fps.

The next bullet I looked at is the Barnes 50x300 MZ-Expander... I have not shot it yet to test expansion - I did a very brief shoot with it the other day at the farm from Wolverine - At 100 yards it tagged the clay pigeon each shot - the accuracy appears to be there.

When I got home I decided to compare the nose of the XPB and the Expander.  From what I found - I am sure the Expander will open at less velocity than does the XPB.

These pics show what I am seeing of you look closely at the inside of the hollow point. I think you can see the petal cuts of the Expander on the left to be far more noticeable than the XPB on the right.  The Expander is even deeper and wider right to the base of the petals





With cut knurling, which is really easy with the Barnes bullets as an Allen wrench will fit in the nose very well, you can knurl to the height need for your rifles bore.


In this case the bullets were knurled to .502 to fit the Wolverine

[hunterofelk]

I've only shot my TC 50 Cal. Hawken and it doesnt kick so why a break?

[reelamin]

I've only shot my TC 50 Cal. Hawken and it doesnt kick so why a break?

Recoil and how heavy/hard it is can be very subjective, and I do not consider myself recoil sensitive.  I had heard how hard muzzle loaders kick, but that has not been my experience with my Bighorn. I have exceeded well past "maximum" loads and it is still acceptable for me.  My buddies super light Traditions has much more recoil...it is noticeable.   I would not want to shoot it at or past maximum loads.

What I have learned is that I can shoot much more accurately with a muzzle brake on any rifle or pistol.  If I was only going to be shooting at close range (-150yds) hunting and range sessions of a few shots I could easily go without.  I want to have a 300yd or farther gun, (Species dependent) so I want every possible advantage I can get.  For me a brake helps achieve the long rang accuracy.  To each their own...I like guns...tweaking them for their best....and all the stuff that goes along with that. 

I have found a brake (LR Customs) that I can shoot Sabot's out of.  I want to see if I can find a quality full bore bullet my gun will shoot as accurate as it's sabot rounds.  If I can it makes the brake situation easier.  If not then I will have the LR Customs one installed if it allows for open sights.  I will put it all together in a thread when I get going on it in the next couple of weeks.  One thing for sure is I am talking to a lot of very helpful and experienced people and that is awesome in itself. 

[Bearhunter]

I had Benchmark Barrels in Arlington, WA put a Break on my Knight Ultralite.  Honestly cannot tell you if the recoil is significantly less or not with the break as it still kicks a decent amount.  Next trip out I will bring the other Ultralite without the break out and shoot them side by side.  I have to use a piece of Clear tubing to load so I don't loose powder out the sides of the break, so that is the pitfall...  I am shooting sabots through it without any accuracy changes or cheese gratering the plastic jacket, I was definetly worried about this when going this route, but there seems to be know problems...

[reelamin]

I had Benchmark Barrels in Arlington, WA put a Break on my Knight Ultralite.  Honestly cannot tell you if the recoil is significantly less or not with the break as it still kicks a decent amount.  Next trip out I will bring the other Ultralite without the break out and shoot them side by side.  I have to use a piece of Clear tubing to load so I don't loose powder out the sides of the break, so that is the pitfall...  I am shooting sabots through it without any accuracy changes or cheese gratering the plastic jacket, I was definetly worried about this when going this route, but there seems to be know problems...

Thanks a lot....I appreciate the information.  I'm finding that most make and have a "funnel" built for the brake not only for powder but bullets.  How do you insert the bullet/sabot and keep it straight.   Would you be willing to post up a pic of your set up.  I know on my center fire brakes its all about brake size/ports and powder volume burned.  My big RUM actually recoils less than one of the 06's I have for that reason.