Yep, a deputy sheriff sat down on the opposite side of my shooting bench expecting to fire his .325 WSM. Told him to pack up his kit and git.


The young grandson of a close friend is permanently messed up from firing his new .243 Winchester with 20" barrel. The kid fired that gun 20 times without hearing protection-none. There is nothing that modern medicine can do for him. He can never hunt with a gun.

Now comes the question: Why in hades put a 20" inch barrel on a 243 Winchester?

I have not had one on a Muzzy and do not want one. I have had to shoot along side one on our range and the added noise is bad and I feel that the exhaust gas could be bad on a crowded range.

I don't like muzzle brakes. Just too much noise for me. Now short barrels... I have a Remington 30-06 Remington Woodsmaster Carbine with a 18-1/2 inch barrel. When I fire that off, everyone in the woods knows I shot. It is loud. But it is a great shooting rifle and an excellent brush rifle. Which is why I purchased it.

In the back of my big gun safe is a Remington model 600 carbine in .350 Remington magnum. That gun is very loud: It has not been fired in about 25 years.

LOL I know the feeling. I shot a bear a couple years ago with my ported 45-70 Guide Gun and my uncle who was down the mountain from me said the boom sounded like a cannon going off.

Our hunting club landlord has a .50 BMG. The first time he shot it on our rifle range I was standing about six feet behind him, and about six feet off to his right. When he lit that sucker off it blew the hat off my head. I now stand directly behind anyone shooting it.

As for recoil, I've shot it a number of times and recoil was no more than a .308.

Frankly i dont really want a ML that needs a muzzle brake. My 54-120 and ULA 50cal though do push the limit of my recoil tolerance with some loads.

My solution is work up another load. The load i used a couple years ago in the ULA was moving a 275gr@2400fps which is pretty much over kill for deer. The 275gr BE actually performs more reliably with less fps.

I switched back to a lower amount of faster powder and gave up about 200fps. It makes a world of difference in recoil. Drop another 50gr of bullet weight and its like night and day. The Barnes 225gr XPB at 2300fps will knock the snot out of any deer.

I'd like to video and youtube the guy that wanted to shoot my Ultimate and 180grs. without the brake a couple times

I'd prefer to shoot a .270 than 180gr of powder.

My 30-06 feels like a BB gun compared to the Ultimate. I'm happy to have the brake.