i just got my '06 back from having a break installed on it. I debated having it put on for some time but the price was right (free) and man what a difference. my '06 has about the same recoil of a much smaller caliber. I am not sure what to compare recoil to at this point but I know that it is less than a 30-30 now, probably close to a .243 or something similar
It is a bit loader but not much! Break or no break you should have ear protection on.
was at the range saturday and nobody there seem to find it was much loader than before. Very impressed with it

That sounds cool, what brand of brake was it?

sorry for the long delay in replying back. The break is home made so to speak. My hunting buddy is a CNC machinist and he starting making breaks as a hobby. He has done up several for multiple calibers.

I have a 5 port break (which means 5 rows with the holes staggered.)
he has a 7 port on the 300 RUM

He does great work. Can even tell its and addon. Looks like it left the factory with it on there.

I have a .416 Rigby with a VAIS muzzle brake on it - didn't put it on myself, it came that way (used gun). I have fired it on a covered range with other people set up maybe 10 yards away to my left, and they told me that it sounded "like a .30/'06" to them. They saidthey were surprised to learnit was a .416 Rigby. Of course, all of us were wearing ear protection at the time. VAIS claims their brake is "quiet", but I have not fired this rifle w/o ear protection, and have no idea what it would sound like if I did. I don't understand how a muzzle brake can be quiet, because for it to work, some of the exhaust gases from the muzzle have to be redirected toward the rear. This is bound to make a gun seem louder to the shooter and people on both sides of the gun......

Since this brake makes the rifle feel more like a .375 H&H than a .416, I'm leaving it on, even though it looks like hell sitting out there on the end of the barrel.....