The ones I have heard are much louder than unbraked. It has to be to work.

My .270 Abolt kicks pretty good but is not unbearable at all. I agree with 1dahunter...

Amen to that. I use a PAST and I can attest to its effectiveness. Helped me start shooting right handed again after a torn rotator cuff.

The Vais is a fine brake. It has longitudinal passages passing thru the ports, radially arranged around the bullet passage. These passages exit at the muzzle of the brake, in the form of neatly machined holes. Some blast and noise passes out of these holes, forward of the firearm as opposed to out the sides. The Vais is quieter than some other brakes because of this design, but it is not quite as efficient. However, it is louder than an unbraked rifle. But not as loud as the BOSS brake, which is real nasty. As to the degree of loudness, I don't own a decibel meter, so I can't really give you a quantitative answer. Another reputably quiet brake is the Gentry Brake. I am not personally familar with it, but have heard that the work is top rate. If you braked your rifle with one of these quiet brakes, you could wear those valve earplugs that shut upon firing, while out in the field. I think they only are rated for 7 or 10 db, but it is enough to break the peak on that sound wave before it reaches your ear. I'm talking while you are hunting of course, not shooting all day at the range.

And so it goes....

FYI, prior to elk season this year, at one sitting I double checked the zero on a 30-06 (back up/camp rifle), a 338WinMag, a 375 H&H, and then did a full sight in from scratch on another 338WinMag and a 416 Rigby with full house loads. No muzzlebrakes --- No shoulder pain (or any other pain for that matter), zip, zilch, nada --- the "technique thing" is real! Don't let recoil "chase" you down into or keep you down in the realm of "standard" cartridges if you have any aspirations to do otherwise.
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Totally unrelated, but....

Any thoughts why folks are increasingly choosing to "mask" the city or even just the state where they are from? I always find it interesting to associate folk's hunting/shooting/cartridge viewpoints with where they are from. Seems like more and more folks are "hiding out" anymore.... Even BeaverJack (a strong willed non-conformist if there ever was one) wasn't ashamed to at least have his posts indicate he was from Wyoming.

EKM

For a review of the importance of shooting technique check out some of these videos at Accurate Reloading/Videos These guys are shooting the .577 T-Rex and the .460 WBY. There is even one of a .700 Nitro. Most of the .577 shooters are having problems with the recoil. A little blood is drawn, now and then. Considering the recoil is running at about 150 lbs, that's forseeable. BTW, there is a shooter not shown, Mitch. He shoots sub 3/4 MOA with his .577 off the bench, no brake.


P.S. I'm in FL, ELKampMaster . I just didn't think it mattered that much. I'm thinking of moving here, one day.

i put a recoil pad on my 30.06 after shooting 5 boxes of ammo at the range one day and it reduced felt recoil so much it's actaully more pleasant to shoot then my 7mm-08 now. I personally would not go with a muzzle brake. A recoil pad will do the trick.

No offense onemile, but in your mpg, your technique doesn't look so hot out of your metal chair.

None taken, BigCountry. That was a few years back, in fact my 1rst video. Those chairs are crap, too! For my 10th anniversary my wife got me an adjustable height range chair. Best piece of range gear I own. Very stable, comfortable, and adjusts to any height of bench.

One hell of a range there in Reno. That first MPG looked like it would hurt leaning back. Your right about the range chair. Makes a real difference.