I've got a Tikka T3 Lite, .300 Win Mag and the thing kicks like a mule. I've been having troubles getting it to group well and had a friend shoot it the other day. He is a gun guru and said he got 2" groups out of it at 100 yards. He only tried one type of ammo and really recommended to get a muzzle brake. He is into reloading and said if I get a brake on it, he'd help with working up a load that shoots well. What do you guys think? My main concern is how loud they are with a brake. I've shot about 5 types of ammo through it and just can't get it to group. Bought different rings for it and also put a new scope on it and neither one made a difference.
I've heard so many guys say their Tikka shoots really well and so I'm a bit frustrated with mine right now. Thanks for the help!
I absolutely hate muzzle brakes personally have one on my .204 and hate even shooting it with ear plugs and ear muffs. Plus when I'm guiding and I'm standing by a hunter who ha one it kills trying to watch the animal when they shoot then listening for a hit and seeing a hit. You can almost feel it when they shoot. But they do help with grouping and keeping the barrel down when it shoots. I won't put one on any of my guns, my dad just sent his .300 out to get his done and I'm dreading shooting it with him. Personally I would begin gettin loads set up without the brake and see if you can get the gun to group better. Other thing is getting the barrel seated and that should help take out some movement. We did that with my dads and his groups tightened up pretty well. I also worked up loads for him reloading.
I purchased the exact gun a few weeks ago. Brought it to have a muzzle brake put on before I ever shot it. Got the phone call today that it is ready so I will pick it up and mount the scope tomorrow. I won't be able to start shooting until next week but will let you know.
I am on the other hand when it comes to muzzle brakes. I have a removable one on my .340 Weatherby and while I am zeroing in or working up a reload I'll use it. But when it comes to the final sight in shots or having it on my rifle when I am hunting, I won't do it.
It has a threaded cap that goes onto the threads when you remove the brake so that you don't damage them and while hunting you never notice the recoil anyway. It is a great aid in shooting off of the bench and will keep you from developing a flinch which a lot of shooters do when shooting heavy recoiling rifles off of a bench.
I am on the other hand when it comes to muzzle brakes. I have a removable one on my .340 Weatherby and while I am zeroing in or working up a reload I'll use it. But when it comes to the final sight in shots or having it on my rifle when I am hunting, I won't do it.
It has a threaded cap that goes onto the threads when you remove the brake so that you don't damage them and while hunting you never notice the recoil anyway. It is a great aid in shooting off of the bench and will keep you from developing a flinch which a lot of shooters do when shooting heavy recoiling rifles off of a bench.
I have exactly the same thing on my .300 Wby and my son has one on his .300 RUM. I love it. Use it while working on loads and bench shooting, take it off when hunting.
I have a Rifles Inc lightweight 70 in 300 Win mag. The rifle weighs 7lbs 4 oz with Talley rings/bases and a Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 installed. I would not be able to shoot it well without the brake and good pad. Even with them it kicks enough from the bench but is comfortable when shooting from field positions other than prone. Anything bigger than a 270 in a lightweight rifle I think I'd want to brake. The 270 I have that weighs 6lbs 15oz scoped is about as much as I want to shoot with hotter 140gr handloads. It's more pleasant with 130gr Nosler factory ammo. I practice a lot with my rifles and if they beat me my practice does more harm than good.
Bottom line, yes brake it AND do the limbsaver pad. Lighter recoil makes for better shooting.
Just my 2 sense make sure your trigger is breaking correctly/lbs......I've gone down this road a few times and found triggers way too heavy, combined with the cannon and big kicks IMO its just a bad starting place to try and shoot accurately.
I am not a fan of muzzle breaks and just do not shooting rifles that have them. I do not have them on any of my rifles, with that being said I have several friends that shoot rifles with breaks and love them. None of them I have talked with says the brakes have really improved the grouping of the rifles. I would rather deal with the recoil than the noise, ( My 2 cents )
Just my 2 sense make sure your trigger is breaking correctly/lbs......I've gone down this road a few times and found triggers way too heavy, combined with the cannon and big kicks IMO its just a bad starting place to try and shoot accurately.
I hate brakes, just to loud and I'm just as effective with rifles that don't need them as I am with rifles that do. On the up side, when your significant other asks why you don't listen anymore, you can blame the rifle.
as a cheap fix. I'll second the trigger work. I'm not familiar with the one that comes on your gun but it is very hard to shoot accurately if your trigger doesn't break crisp at a reasonable weight.
I can see where a number of you haven't shot a heavy recoiling rifle off of a bench 10+ times in the same shooting session.
That is where a brake comes in handy. I can shoot my Weatherby about 10 times from the bench without the brake on before I decide that it is time to quit for the day. If I put the brake on it I'll run out of ammo before I get tired of shooting it.
But then with most 30 and below calibers here in the US you really don't need a brake even if shooting off of the bench. I can shoot my 7mm Rem mag and .30-06 all day long without it bothering me but when I jump up to that .338 225 grain bullet at 3000 fps I'll wimp out and put the brake on. But it is as I also said I'll take it off for hunting. I have never felt the recoil when shooting at a animal. But then again I don't take 10+ shots at one either.
Muzzle brakes have their place but you also have to be considerate of others around you. I won't use it at the range when other shooters are around me, and I know better than to pull out a rifle with a brake on it in a hunting situation where very few people wear hearing protection.
Ha, I actually bought one of those this summer. It helps but it still kicks pretty hard. Like others have mentioned, I'm not too worried about recoil in the field but when I'm trying to practice, I can only take about 10-15 rounds or so before it's time to quit.
Talked to the gunsmith today. He said he'd put one on that's removable and plan to take it to him next week sometime. I think I'll do what a few guys mentioned, use it to work up a load and then remove it for the final sighting in and hunting.
You probably already know, but make darn sure that the point of impact doesn't change with or without the brake. Bedding may help this too.
I've wrote about this on here before, but I shot a 300 win mag at everything for about 8 years. I shot it great for a while, the gun was fairly heavy with a laminated thumbhole stock and had a good pad. I shot it a bunch at everything from crows to coyotes, targets, rocks. I was deadly with that rifle. Then I started missing with it on targets. My groups from the bench started opening up and I couldn't figure it out. Problem was partially the barrel was starting to go, but mostly the flinch I had developed. When shooting quick it wasn't an issue but with time to set up a real deliberate shot I anticipated the recoil. I spent several years and thousands of rounds of 22 and smaller centerfire rounds losing that flinch. I re-barreled my favorite rifle to a lighter recoiling 264WM and still shoot it a lot. I have a brake only on the 300 win, the 270 and and 264WM are the next largest rifles I shoot regularly and their recoil is light enough I don't need the brake. The 300 burns a lot more powder and is throwing 40gr more bullet in a light rifle. When I want that much performance I'm ok with taking precautions to handle the noise. I never shoot at public ranges either, have a 100yd range in the yard and a place a mile away to shoot 600yds, so the noise isn't an issue with other shooters.
Bottom line is that it's way better to prevent recoil from hurting your shooting than to have to correct a flinch. Since I got over mine I have good triggers on all my rifles, put good pads on them, and use wearable recoil pads for all my bench or extended practice sessions. I have a light wearable pad I use for shooting trap, and a couple thicknesses of PAST recoil pads I can wear for shooting rifles. I use the thinnest one I can shoot comfortably with at all times. I use smaller rifles for the majority of my shooting and hunting now too. I save the big gun for when the game pursued justifies it.
