Originally Posted by doubleA

On the topic of cutting the barrel back to install a brake, IMHO it depends on what caliber and what is it's intended use. Magnum cartridges for the most part will do better with longer tubes rather than shorter ones, this is to have a complete burn of the added powder involved.

If you have a magnum I would add the brake to the existing barrel. If using a standard cartridge you could remove some barrel length and the velocity loss will me minimal if you wanted to keep the OAL the same.

I would disagree with the idea of being "over gunned" if you want a brake on the end of the barrel.

I have recently cut two 26" barreled 308 win's back to 20 inches. It reduces some length and improves the balance a little too. With both of them I lost on average 70FPS which isnt much.

I just got done installing a Badger Thruster on this Savage after bobbing and recrowning. After shooting the rifle today I find that it barely moves and now I can see impacts without the use of a spotter if need be.