Muzzlebrake a good idea?

[srab]

The subject has come up before, and it seems that quite
a few folks here at HC are anti-muzzle brake. I understand
that, and I believe that they have valid reasons for the
way that they feel. Muzzle brakes do dramatically increase
noise levels and can do permanent damage to your
hearing.

That said, I happen to be a huge fan of muzzle brakes.
I've been using them on rifles since the early 80s on
calibers as mild as 7mm08 and 280 Rem and up to a
300 Dakota, which is the heaviest hitter that I own.
They work great! With the lighter-recoiling cartridges,
they almost eliminate muzzle jump, so you can see
the animal flinch through the scope when you've made
a hit. And, they make range work downright fun! I can
sit down and run through 50-100 rounds in a session,
if need be, and never think twice about recoil (I usually
take several different rifles each trip so that I can be
shooting one while the other's barrels cool, so 50-
100 rounds is not unusual).

With respect to the 300 WinMag, your friends claim of a
223 level of recoil is a bit of an exaggeration. My 300
Dakota, which is comparable in energy to the WinMag,
if not a touch heavier, is easier on recoil using 180 grain
bullets than just about any 270 Win rifle I've ever shot
with 130s, and pretty similar to my 7x57 with 140s
(and, yes, I've had 'em all out at the range at the same
time, alternating shots, and that's the basis of what I
think is a fair comparison).

But, I am very careful about wearing quality hearing
protection. At the range, especially those with roofs
over the shooting benches, the noise generated from
braked rifles is considerably greater than those without
brakes. On the other hand, at a busy range, it's a good
bet that somebody on line is gonna have a muzzle
brake on their rifle, at least where I shoot, so it's
imperative that everyone has good hearing protection
anyway. I also wear hearing protection in the field.

It's actually not uncommon for the brake to be removeable,
replaced with a thread-protector cap. So, if you don't
want the brake on while hunting, you don't have to keep
it on. You'd need to be sure that your rifle shoots to
the same POI and groups similarly with and without the
brake, though, and that's not a given.

IMHO, a brake is worth considering. I have no doubt that
it would tame that WinMag's recoil, but, as usual, there is
a trade-off.