Recoil Reduction

[CGRifleman]

I'm currently working on a lightweight (more or less) AR15 build. My goal is to make it light enough for quick target acquisition but with the least recoil possible to enable faster follow up shots. What muzzle brake offers the best recoil reduction and can be pinned or welded on a 14.5" barrel?

 

[Hummer70]

Well considering the ARs only have about 1.7 ft lbs of recoil in standard configuration I would say your best best would be to go with a heavy barrel and put the money in the barrel and not something to screw on the muzzle.

 

[CGRifleman]

Well considering the ARs only have about 1.7 ft lbs of recoil in standard configuration I would say your best best would be to go with a heavy barrel and put the money in the barrel and not something to screw on the muzzle.

This would work, but a heavy barrel on a lightweight build defeats the purpose. I understand 5.56 ARs are not recoil heavy weapons, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

 

[jmr40]

I don't think you need recoil reduction as much as a device to reduce muzzle rise. I'd think about any muzzle brake should work just fine.

 

[Sam Cade]

What muzzle brake offers the best recoil reduction and can be pinned or welded on a 14.5" barrel?

JP tank-break or similar.

http://www.jprifles.com/buy.php?item=JPRE-2

Wear plugs.

 

[Kachok]

Muzzle brake on a 5.56mm= FAIL
I hate those blasted things, 50 BMGs don't hurt my ears but the high pitched crack of braked 223 carbine hurts bad enough to run me off the firing line even with plugs and muffs.

 

[taliv]

a brake is exactly what you're looking for. there are so many good brakes on the market now, it's hard to make a recommendation. My last few ARs have gotten the FSC556 flash-hider/brake compromise. Definitely not the most effective brake, but a good bit more pleasant and since I shoot at night and with NV a lot, the FH is nice.

some of the newer brakes are more combat oriented and try to keep from throwing up too much dust when you are prone. also a nice feature, but not strictly speaking the most effective.

iirc a test i saw several years ago showed the JP recoil eliminator pictured above came in a close second for overall performance. it may not be legal in many competitions if that's what you're going for, so check the rules first, which may put restrictions on diameter and length.

people who say they're not effective on 223 just don't shoot enough to tell the difference.


i don't know for sure, but i'd think most of them would extend the muzzle at least an inch and a half to make the 16" minimum. I also don't know why you couldn't pin/weld any of them.

 

[Sam Cade]

iirc a test i saw several years ago showed the JP recoil eliminator pictured above came in a close second for overall performance.

Do you remember what #1 was?



I've got a 10.5" with the JP on it and it is, subjectively, more effective than the same unit on a 16". Boyle's law and such.


My wife calls it the "Obnoxitron-9000".

 

[Geronimo45]

A good compensator will indeed help. I've heard great things said about the FSC556.

 

[Kernel]

Smith Enterprise Model 1002.

http://www.smithenterprise.com/products04.01.html

 

[taliv]

Do you remember what #1 was?

no. my memory isn't what it used to be. it MIGHT have been the SJC titan or something like that.

maybe someone here can help me out. there was a thread several years ago (i can't remember which forum) where someone fixed a marker vertically to the butt of the stock of a rifle and placed the rifle on a large posterboard or something where it was free to recoil (no shoulder behind it). then he'd fire the rifle with different muzzle devices and measure the line made by the marker.

i thought it was a pretty spiffy idea

 

[Sam Cade]

there was a thread several years ago (i can't remember which forum) where someone fixed a marker vertically to the butt of the stock of a rifle and placed the rifle on a large posterboard or something where it was free to recoil (no shoulder behind it).

I remember a guy building a freely moving cradle, firing the rifle via a pneumatic actuator and measuring muzzle behavior via a laser being projected onto a surface and time-lapsing it.

Hmmm..

Gonna try and find that...

 

[Sam Cade]

there was a thread several years ago (i can't remember which forum) where someone fixed a marker vertically to the butt of the stock of a rifle and placed the rifle on a large posterboard or something where it was free to recoil (no shoulder behind it). then he'd fire the rifle with different muzzle devices and measure the line made by the marker.

Pat Kelley

http://www.multigunmedia.com/pk-compensation.pdf

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

How about putting one of those pads at the back of the bolt that provide a cushion for the bolt to hit instead of steel on steel. That might take a bit of the momentum out of the action of the bolt and reduce some of the felt recoil and thereby a bit of the muzzle rise. I put them in my SKS's and was surprised at how well they worked.

 

[taliv]

sam, you are tha man! out of curiosity what search terms did you use?


[strike]and wow, my memory is worse than i thought! i was nowhere close[/strike]

edit: actually my memory was pretty close! the SJC tied for 1st and the jp tank was second IN REARWARD MOVEMENT. but i initially misread the graphic and just looked at the downward force portion, and those results make sense considering... those two came in 5th and 6th in downward force.

 

[Sam Cade]

sam, you are tha man! out of curiosity what search terms did you use?

Yer makin' me blush.


I've got a prototype neural interface with the Googleplex so I just think juuuuust sooo and it finds it.


Seriously though, I used the google engine and "muzzle brake test"


It was early in the list. So I didn't have to dig through hardly any chaff.

Scanned a neat article from the DoD about 20mm cannon brakes along the way.

 

[Sam Cade]

but i initially misread the graphic and just looked at the downward force portion, and those results make sense considering... those two came in 5th and 6th in downward force.

If I remember the time lapse test correctly the big gilled brakes have a weird left-right-left-right-left-right shimmy too, presumably as the pressure waves are collapsing asymmetrically.


I think (and fluid dynamics isn't my cuppa joe) this is why the DNTC/FSC type brakes have those offset tines.

 

[taliv]

heh well i added a link to that pdf in the rifle reading library so i won't have to search for it again

 

[ObsceneJesster]

If you don't want to worry about the concussion directing back towards you or your line mates, I would look into something like a Battle Comp or a BCM Gunfighter.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[MistWolf]

I'm currently working on a lightweight (more or less) AR15 build. My goal is to make it light enough for quick target acquisition but with the least recoil possible to enable faster follow up shots. What muzzle brake offers the best recoil reduction and can be pinned or welded on a 14.5" barrel?

How much experience shooting an AR do you have? Because the best thing to do is start with an A2 birdcage flash suppressor and shoot it until you find out what you need your muzzle device to do. Which means you should start with a 16" barrel until you get it figured out.

Also, start with an VLTOR A5 receiver extension. It helps smooth out the recoil impulse to reduce muzzle rise.

The muzzle device is the LAST thing you should settle on. Sorting gas port size, action spring rate and buffer weight needs to be settled first.

Ok, I'll give you a free fish- Muzzle brakes, like the type showed in an earlier post, work well as recoil reducers but are loud and obnoxious. Look into compensator type muzzle devices such as the Battlecomp, the BCM comp and the like. They still have more side blast than an A2 birdcage but are much less brutal than muzzle brakes. I still strongly suggest starting with a 16 inch barrel and an A2 birdcage. A2s are cheap and you can always change it later

 

[Bushpilot]

Muzzle brakes, like the type showed in an earlier post, work well as recoil reducers but are loud and obnoxious.

I had a muzzle brake on one of my AR's and although it was effective I really hated it. The noise, weight, muzzle blast and the gas that it directed rearward was obnoxious to say the least. The few times I shot it indoors were border line intolerable. I was holding my breath for long multiple shot strings just so I didn't have to breathe (choke on) all the gasses that it directed rearward. The friend of mine that I bought the rifle from had warned me about it before hand but I thought he was exaggerating or just being a wimp. Although the muzzle brake was a pain to take off it has since been replaced by a birdcage. Problem solved...

 

[Wahoo95]

My favorite Lightweight Set Up for general purpose, classes, local matches is a 14.5" Mid Gas Barrel paired with a Battlecomp 1.5 and Vltor A5 Receiver Extension. Properly done you get a rifle that weighs in under 6.4lbs that shoots like a .22lr with no muzzle rise.

 

[greyling22]

Personally I'd go with one of those linear compensators (ex: levang linear compensator). Won't do a thing to mitigate recoil, but will help a lot with muzzle blast and noise, which causes me to flinch pretty bad, which really screws of a follow up shot.

 

[waffentomas]

I'd also start with the 'innards' before I'd go muzzle brake. Try changing to an H2 buffer from Spikes, and a new buffer spring from Wolff to mitigate recoil. Both quick, easy changes, then, if you still want to, go to the brake. I like the Spikes 5x5 brake, http://www.spikestactical.com/new/z/muzzle-device-spikes-muzzle-brake-extended-556-p-317.html

I added it to my set-up recently.

 

[CGRifleman]

Try changing to an H2 buffer from Spikes, and a new buffer spring from Wolff to mitigate recoil. Both quick, easy changes, then, if you still want to, go to the brake. I like the Spikes 5x5 brake, http://www.spikestactical.com/new/z/...556-p-317.html

I'm already running the H2 buffer, and you are right, it has a noticeable effect. A Wolff spring sounds like a good idea too. That Spikes brake looks a lot like the PRI brake I have on my 16" upper, which feels like it cuts recoil in half when used with the H2 buffer. I would just take it off and use that on the lightweight barrel, but it uses shims instead of a washer and they slide right over the muzzle. Might have to give that 5x5 a try.

I don't think you need recoil reduction as much as a device to reduce muzzle rise.

You are right, this sounds like more of what I was looking for. Apparently I was confusing the two... rookie mistake, I know.