Savage muzzle brakes

[Rifleman]

As alot of you old timers know I support the Rodeheaver Boys Ranch shooting safety program in Palatka,Florida. My boys down there need another rifle in .243 and I was looking at the muzzle brake Savage now offers on some of their production rifles. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this particular brake. I allready know that brakes are super loud, but that is not much of a consideration as the boys are required to wear ear protection. We allready have several hunting rifles in 243,30-06,270,.308 some full size and some youth size. The .243's have worked out really good for the stand hunting they are involved in. This will probably be the last hunting rifle we add to the inventory and I wanted it to be something special.
I was thinking of getting either a Savage youth rifle in .243 with a brake for the smaller guys, or getting a full blown heavy barrel varmint rig with some type of ballistic reticle for the more advanced older boys. It is not really a critical choice as we have quite a few hunting rifles allready.
I was just wanting to get some feedback on the Savage rifles equipped with brakes.
Thanks. Rifleman

[mike3132]

Rman,

Ive got a .243 Striker with a factory brake on it. Mine is very loud because of the short barrel and has a lot of blow back. The nice part about it is you can turn it on and off by just twisting the brake.

Now, personally I think a brake would scare the kids more than it would help them. There is a lot of blow-by and noise involved with using a brake. Dust and stuff fly with a brake. That might be a little intimidating to a youngster.

That being said you could always turn the brake off if you wanted to. Mike

[Rifleman]

Mike, I would suppose that on a handgun it would be especially loud. And you make some valid points as usual. But I should have been more clear in my request. Is the Brake effective?
Thanks, Rman

[mike3132]

Really on a .243 it doesn't seem to make much difference. Brakes are loud on all guns and have a lot of blow by concussion but on the Savage you can turn them on and off. Mike

[rossman40]

I think Mike hit it on the nose. I got a chance to try a model 116 in 300 WM for a few shots and the brake does work. Maybe not as great as some of the aftermarket ones but you have the option of easily turning it off when shooting on the line. Brakes do seem to increase percieved recoil, mainly to people standing near. If you have a shooter that is recoil shy a brake will tame a .243 to maybe .223 levels.

[Rifleman]

Guys I have shot a ton of braked rifles. One for instance was a 300 weatherbey magnum and the brake was a great recoil reducer on this rifle. However brake design is critical and some are not very effective. That is why I was asking about the one that Savage markets, as I had not shot that particular one.
Really on a .243 it doesn't seem to make much difference. I thought that my be the case Mike, thanks that is what I was looking for.

However it is all a mute point now as I ordered a Rem 700 Varmint weight in 243 and am gonna set it up as a medium long range rifle. Even though the boys wont be shooting at game at long range, I just aim to give them one super accurate rifle in their inventory. I will probably be putting a Leupold with the Boone and Crocket reticle on it and use it as a teaching tool for the older boys when I go down and give lessons.
Thanks for the feedback.
Rman

[clambdin]

I have a savage factory brake on my 300 ultra mag and it is very effective, however on a 243 you will not see much difference, I have a stevens in 243 and load the barnes 85gr TSX with reloader 19 this load is very effective on deer and a light kicker I cant tell much diffrence in the recoil of this load verses a 22-250 with 55gr bullets.

[Rifleman]

Thanks for the load info clambdin!