AK muzzle break, shooting low

[cat_IT_guy]

So I recently added a muzzle break to my WASR, just for the heck of it. Now it is shooting about 16" low at 50yards (it used to be dead on, by AK standards).

My question is this: is the gas from the muzzle break affecting my point of impact, or is it just the weight of the thing out front affecting the recoil of the gun? I thought initially it must be the function of the break, but then, shouldn't the bullet be out of the barrel before the gas behind the bullet can exit the break?

Maybe someone can shed some light on this for me.

 

[W.E.G.]

You're going to have to give us more detail than that.

 

[Geronimo45]

Are you sure you didn't knock your front sight out of whack when you put on the muzzle brake?

 

[dstorm1911]

is the barrel threaded? if it is then is the brake snug to the front sight block? are the threads tight or does it feel wobbly while threadin it on?

If it is a pin on brake it can very well be dipped down, same for the threaded brake if any of the conditions above apply, the longer the brake is the more critical it is that alignment is dead on perfect otherwise the bullet only need slightly graze the top of the brake to cause your problem.....

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Its a WASR....so maybe i knocked the front sight back into whack - since it was already kindof out of whack just to get the thing to shoot straight

Seriously though I dont think I knocked the front sight around or anything. It is a screw on, AK74 style muzzle brake. It seems to fit pretty tight.

 

[birdbustr]

Not an AK, but I did get my Colt M4 barrel threaded for a Phantom suppressor. It came with some BS flash suppressor held on by 2 pins. My point of impact did change by a couple of inches. I had my sights marked, so I don't think that the sights were tampered with. 16" @ 50 yards is a huge difference. If the grouping is still good, I'd just adjust the sights.

 

[dfariswheel]

First move is to check to see if the brake is mis-aligned.

If it is, the bullet may be hitting the top or sides of the brake and being deflected.
If so, you either have mis-cut threads, or a bad brake.
One "fix" is to bore open the hole in the brake to allow the bullet to exit without making contact.

 

[DnPRK]

Look inside the flash hider. Is there evidence that the bullet is hitting it?

 

[cat_IT_guy]

It is grouping just fine for an AK. It is just shooting low. I did not notice any evidence of grazing the brake (I think it would be pretty apparent). I dont believe it to be a problem, I was just curious as to the cause.

 

[dstorm1911]

the signs of "grazing" can be invisible to the eye as the buttlet does not need to physically touch the brake, it just need pass very close to it put an in chamber laser boresighter in it, now do not look directly into the bore obviously but look to see if the beam is centered on the bore, my bet is the beam will be at the top of the bore as it exits the brake. an easy test is to simply remove the brake, shoot two 5 round groups from a rest then re-install the brake and repeat.

there is no force involved with installing or removing a brake so doubtfull that anything else effected accuracy.

"It is grouping just fine for an AK" so it is shooting 4" groups consistantly at 100 yards then?

 

[Wolfgang2000]

First take off the break and shoot. Do you return to the original point of impact? If so there is your problem. You can then decide to re-zero, or go back to the original brake.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

using the crude sights on an AK, a WASR at that, I was shooting about 4in groups offhand at 50yards, which I consider acceptable. I am not shooting off a bench, or with a scope.

 

[blackhawk2000]

When I installed my FH on my WASR it changed the point of impact. Not 16" at 50 yds, but it did change.

When you installed the brake, did you screw it on just tight enough to engage the pin, and not be able to wiggle the brake with your hand? I had to spin mine to the next notch, because it wasn't tight enough.

 

[elmerfudd]

Try shooting at 100 or 200 yards and use a very large target so you can see your groups. If the groups start to really open up disproportionately, then the bullet is probably being deflected by the brake. If your groups stay relatively tight out to 200 yards, just adjust your sights and call it good.

 

[hksw]

I had also installed an AK74-type brake on my WASR recently. My change in POI was, however, relatively small at 50 yds, ~2-3" low. As mentioned above, see what happens when you ake the brake off. I would also try notching the break 180° from the detent notch (if their isn't one already there like mine) and see what happes if the break was ½ turn off.