I am assembling a new rifle for my wife and I hope to have it together by Valentine's Day. I just ordered a Ruger M77 Compact Laminate in .260 Remington. It is a perfect platform for a rifle build for her as she is very petite and the LOP is perfect. I really wanted to get the rifle in .260 Rem. The ballistics are awesome and it is a great whitetail caliber. Anyhow, I am wanting to lengthen the barrel to 20" and add a muzzle brake to squeeze the velocity out of the round and soften the rifle a bit for her. What are my options? I am not new to the firearm world but I am dealing with a new set of problems in trying to build a rifle that my wife can shoot comfortably.
Barrel swap for wife's new rifle
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There are many different styles of muzzle brakes out there, each has it's good points and bad.
The major complaint about muzzle brakes is that they divert the escaping gases to the side and in some cases backward. This diversion makes the rifle "sound" louder. Seems that everyone noting that the brakes are louder has never commented about the muzzle report in front of a rifle, that is how loud it is.
What ever style you decide on make sure the brake is removable and comes with a dress cap to protect the threading in the barrel muzzle.
The major complaint about muzzle brakes is that they divert the escaping gases to the side and in some cases backward. This diversion makes the rifle "sound" louder. Seems that everyone noting that the brakes are louder has never commented about the muzzle report in front of a rifle, that is how loud it is.
What ever style you decide on make sure the brake is removable and comes with a dress cap to protect the threading in the barrel muzzle.
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Welcome to the forum. Rules are to join in and have fun and play nicely with the rest of us kids.
Some brake designs vent gas in particular directions to try to control muzzle deflection, but I think most rifle muzzle brakes I see work primarily by venting pressure perpendicular to the bore axis just before the bullet uncorks the muzzle. This prevents "rocket effect" from gases venting forward from the muzzle. That effect results from accelerating the mass of the powder forward to even higher velocity than the bullet has, same as an impulse rocket engine does, like the blank firing ones the astronauts used to use on space walks (can't recall if they still do or not). Rocket effect can account for over half of total recoil using some loads in some guns, so venting the pressure laterally can cut recoil energy by over half for those combinations.
In general, the heavier the powder charge relative to the bullet weight, and the more pressure there is when the bullet gets to the end of the bore, the more rocket effect there is for a brake to mitigate. This means the brake makes the least difference with light loads, and will help tame maximum loads more.
I mention this because it is not uncommon for fellows to load down ammunition for wives and juniors and to also get a muzzle brake, then be disappointed by how little difference the brake makes to those reduced loads. Indeed, the added blast noise from the radial gas venting is then often remarked to do more to encourage flinching than the small additional recoil they would have had without the brake.
If your wife will use maximum loads, you'll get a benefit from a brake. Just be sure she and anyone standing to either side of her has good hearing protection. Wearing both plugs and muffs at the same time is recommended these days, anyway.
Some brake designs vent gas in particular directions to try to control muzzle deflection, but I think most rifle muzzle brakes I see work primarily by venting pressure perpendicular to the bore axis just before the bullet uncorks the muzzle. This prevents "rocket effect" from gases venting forward from the muzzle. That effect results from accelerating the mass of the powder forward to even higher velocity than the bullet has, same as an impulse rocket engine does, like the blank firing ones the astronauts used to use on space walks (can't recall if they still do or not). Rocket effect can account for over half of total recoil using some loads in some guns, so venting the pressure laterally can cut recoil energy by over half for those combinations.
In general, the heavier the powder charge relative to the bullet weight, and the more pressure there is when the bullet gets to the end of the bore, the more rocket effect there is for a brake to mitigate. This means the brake makes the least difference with light loads, and will help tame maximum loads more.
I mention this because it is not uncommon for fellows to load down ammunition for wives and juniors and to also get a muzzle brake, then be disappointed by how little difference the brake makes to those reduced loads. Indeed, the added blast noise from the radial gas venting is then often remarked to do more to encourage flinching than the small additional recoil they would have had without the brake.
If your wife will use maximum loads, you'll get a benefit from a brake. Just be sure she and anyone standing to either side of her has good hearing protection. Wearing both plugs and muffs at the same time is recommended these days, anyway.
http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com/ This is about the cheapest hand lapped barrel you can put on it. They will do all the work and make a nice, screw on muzzle break and will make a cap when not wanting to use the brake. Still plan on spending about $800 and it will take them about two months. Krieger Barrels http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/ will give you one of the best barrels on the market but plan on spending a few hundred more and about eight to nine months.
http://www.louisianaprecisionrifles.com/ This would be a good source for a very good gun smith to just send the rifle to and have him build you a bug holer.
Oooops, wasn't thinking about yours being a Ruger, not sure any of these will do one. I only use 700 actions and everybody does those, so I forget not everybody uses them.
http://www.louisianaprecisionrifles.com/ This would be a good source for a very good gun smith to just send the rifle to and have him build you a bug holer.
Oooops, wasn't thinking about yours being a Ruger, not sure any of these will do one. I only use 700 actions and everybody does those, so I forget not everybody uses them.
i'd shoot the thing first... with a 260 i really doubt that she will need a brake and truth be told going from 16 to 20 inches... well for the money it would cost to do it compared to what you'll get in return i don't think i'd bother.
i'd definately avoid the brake unless she thinks she needs it and even then before i put one on i'd try a limbsaver pad, i consider muzzle brakes a lousy investment...
i'd definately avoid the brake unless she thinks she needs it and even then before i put one on i'd try a limbsaver pad, i consider muzzle brakes a lousy investment...
barrel swap
Yeah, I agree that I'll have her shoot it first. She is small but she is not fragile. I am just wanting to build a rifle that she will be as comfortable as possible shooting - thus improving her accuracy. I bought the ruger because the LOP is perfect for her and it is chambered in .260 Rem. A longer barrel would improve the velocity a bit and flatten the trajectory. It would be nice but it is not essential, nor is the brake. I suppose that a longer and heavier barrel would have much the same effect. I have found many barrels for 700 actions but the only company that I came across that has M77 barrels is E.R. Shaw. I have heard mixed reviews on their barrels but they certainly look nice on their website
Any experience with Shaw?
Yeah, I agree that I'll have her shoot it first. She is small but she is not fragile. I am just wanting to build a rifle that she will be as comfortable as possible shooting - thus improving her accuracy. I bought the ruger because the LOP is perfect for her and it is chambered in .260 Rem. A longer barrel would improve the velocity a bit and flatten the trajectory. It would be nice but it is not essential, nor is the brake. I suppose that a longer and heavier barrel would have much the same effect. I have found many barrels for 700 actions but the only company that I came across that has M77 barrels is E.R. Shaw. I have heard mixed reviews on their barrels but they certainly look nice on their website
Any experience with Shaw?Yes, the 260 is a great caliber for her. My 14 year old granddaughter luvs hers, but her's is heavy, has a LimbSaver recoil pad and a muzzle break and doesn't kick any more than a 222. Actually probably not as much. You can have a screw on muzzle break, most any good smith that has the equipment can thread the end of the barrel and make you a screw on cap to protect the threads when not using it. It will reduce the recoil about 30%, most will be very loud and it will cost you a few hundreds bucks by the time you get done.
Another route you can take is by adding removable weight into the stock. These http://www.mercuryrecoil.com/suppressors/index.htm do a great job at doing that and help tame recoil and are a lot cheaper than adding a muzzle break. When hunting and carrying the rifle, they can be removed. You will find that when she is concentrating on something like shooting a deer, she probably will not notice the recoil of a 300 magnum. Recoil usually only bothers people when they are thinking about it, like when doing target practice.
Another route you can take is by adding removable weight into the stock. These http://www.mercuryrecoil.com/suppressors/index.htm do a great job at doing that and help tame recoil and are a lot cheaper than adding a muzzle break. When hunting and carrying the rifle, they can be removed. You will find that when she is concentrating on something like shooting a deer, she probably will not notice the recoil of a 300 magnum. Recoil usually only bothers people when they are thinking about it, like when doing target practice.
E.R. Shaw barrel's are good quality about equal to a very good factory barrel. The other manufactures blanks can all be fitted to a Ruger by a gunsmith. Any barrel you buy will have to be finish chambered by a gunsmith, I would have a hard time justifying the cost of barrel replacement to get a few extra inches of length. You gain very little velocity per inch, you may not gain anything if the factory barrel is a little tight in the bore. In any case the difference in velocity would make a minute difference in point of impact to well out past 300 yards. Muzzel brakes work but the extra noise makes them uncomfortable and impractical in my book. A good recoil pad does wonders, without any negitive impact. Remington also makes the managed recoil ammunition which would be great for practice or hunting at moderate ranges. You could switch to standard loads for hunting. My wife is very petite, I let her practice at the bench with light recoiling rifles, her hunting rifle is very light weight with a sharp kick. The first time she used it I told her it had no recoil, when she shot it hunting she never noticed the kick and to this day has no idea it has any recoil. For a smaller person I would keep it as lightweight and compact as possible.
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Baloo, let her shoot it and see what she thinks. Ear plugs and muffs for her and I doubt she'll notice the recoil. That laminate stock has some weight to it already. One of my friends bought that same rifle for his wife but in .308 10 years ago. Great little rifle and she's a tiny little Okinawan girl but shoots it just fine.
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