Muzzlebrake a good idea?

[M.T. Pockets]

I had a .300 Win with a brake. With hearing protection it was quite pleasant from the bench - I'd say almost down to a .270.

One trouble I had was when practicing from field positions. The brake would throw back dust & debris all over and sometimes it would sting my face. I went on an outfitted hunt with it once and the guide noticed it - bystanders take the brunt of the extra noise and he had his ears rung by the jet blast before.

Also, once at the range I forgot to put on the hearing protection and it actually hurt, not just a little, it was painful. I actually developed a flinch from that rifle because of the noise. After that it bothered me when hunting too. It's the only gun I've ever fired that I noticed the noise when I shot it at game.

I had to get rid of it.

I got another .300 Win. Mag - a Remington 700. It comes with a piece of hard rubber for a recoil pad, like a piece of truck tire. I replaced it with a Decelerator. I shoot it while wearing a vest with a little extra padding in the shoulder and it's quite managable. I've never considered another brake.

That's just one guy's take on muzzle brakes. I've got a buddy that does a lot of varmint hunting and he has brakes on his varmint rifles - .223 & .243 but not on his big game rifles. Go figure.