Over the past couple months, I’ve been working with a lot of scary smart engineers on my muzzle brake field test. One who has given me a lot of great input is Josh Kunz, whose professional background is in Aerospace Engineering. Josh recently told me about a new line of bullets he’s been working on, which have the potential to be one of the biggest leap in ballistics in recent history. The product is being unveiled this week at rifle competitions at Camp Perry. In fact, some of the bullets are being shot in competitions for the first time today! ...

One important aspect of a muzzle brake is helping the rifle stay on target. In fact, I was discussing this muzzle brake test with David Tubb, a very accomplished rifleman, and he is convinced the ability to stay on target was the most important aspect of a muzzle brake. He thought a few percentage points difference in recoil reduction may not make a huge difference (or help you get more hits), but a brake that can keep you on target can be a big advantage. Staying on target not only allows quick follow-up shots, but more importantly for precision shooting, ...

This post provides a comprehensive view of the muzzle brake recoil reduction data gathered on all 4 rifles. You can dive deeper into the recoil data in these posts: How The Data Was Collected 6mm & 6.5mm Recoil Results 308 & 300 Mag Recoil Results To recap, here is a look at the 4 cartridges and rifles used for the recoil tests: First, let’s look at how the recoil signature of each rifle was affected. The graphic below shows the amount of recoil force over time for each rifle, which was directly measured at the butt of the rifle. Each ...

This post summarizes the results for the recoil tests ran on 20+ muzzle brakes using two 30 caliber test rifles: the 308 Win and the monster 300 Norma Magnum. The recoil data was collected using high-speed, high-resolution force sensors. For more info on the test equipment and how the data was gathered, please see the recoil post. Here is the full line-up of muzzle brakes, and you can read more about each in this post. How to Read the Results As we discussed in the recoil post, when someone claims a product “reduces recoil by 50%” … it usually isn’t ...

This post summarizes the results for the recoil tests ran on 20+ muzzle brakes using 6mm and 6.5mm test rifles. To see the full line-up of muzzle brakes tested, check out this post. The recoil data was collected using high-speed, high-resolution force sensors. For more info on the test equipment and how the data was gathered, please see the previous post. How to Read the Results As we discussed in the last post, when someone claims a product “reduces recoil by 50%” … it usually isn’t clear what they’re talking about. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard for measuring recoil, ...

This post provides a primer on recoil, and then explains how I measured recoil, including the approach and specific equipment used. It also reviews the rifles and cartridges tested. What do we mean by recoil? I’ve read a thick stack of articles and white papers on this subject, and suffice to say we can get pretty deep in the weeds if we weren’t careful. But, I’m going to try to keep it simple and on point. For our purpose, recoil is the rearward kick we feel when we fire a rifle. I’m less interested in the esoteric mathematics-based models (although ...