First let me say I am a wannabe mechanic. Therefore I don't know much. In fact I often tell people my strong suite is ignorance. Never the less, I have made and tested several brakes from steel and aluminum in my recoil slide. I now use aluminum exclusively to save weight. The one on the dark rifle is painted the same color as the barrel. The other is stainless so it stays natural. I use blue lock-tight on them just like I do on scope mount screws.[/QUOTE
I am No expert ether, But I do have an extensive Background in Metallurgy and welding of the exotic Materials and this is what I base
my opinions on.
To explain, Different materials have many different traits, And these traits are the reasons that there are so many different materials.
They are intended for many different uses based on many factors, Strength, temperature handling, Corrosion resistance, Erosion resistance, Chemical resistance, Machinability, Expansion ratio, ETC.
17-4-PH is probably one of the vary best materials foe muzzle brake
use, but it does not machine as well and some of the other materials
making precision and finish more difficult.
The simple and most direct answer to the chosen materials used are that they are a metallurgical match to the barrels materials in every way and thus have the same traits as the barrel as mentioned,. So there are no problems with them with heat, corrosion from solvents, Erosion from high pressure gases, No differences in the expansion of the two, Thread quality and strength, Machinability , surface Finishing and so on.
So It becomes a choice of the materials to be used, and In my opinion there are only 3 or 4 that Meet all of this criteria.
Titanium is the best of the light weight materials but it comes with its own determents when used in muzzle brakes as mentioned earlier. aluminum would be my last choice next to plastic. (I have seen this tried) because of the many problems in this application discussed.
I am glad to see others experimenting with muzzle brake designs because that is how improvements are made. The main reason we chose to build a test bed that would actually measure recoil, was to prove or disprove any change in design instead of something that would only compare one brake to another (This only tells you which brake out performs the others tested) and not what measurable effect a change had on the performance.
Material selection also has an impact on many different areas and should be considered very important. Logic tells me that Barrel materials are designed for optimum life and performance under all of the conditions encountered and the use of them for muzzle brakes does not alter that concept.
When I started designing muzzle brakes I wanted to see if I could build a better brake than I was using for my custom rifles, I am not in the business of marketing and selling brakes. My interest was/is purely in the science of how the work. All of my decisions were made based on the philosophy that If I could not improve the design through testing and proving what slight changes made I would continue to use the best brake that I had found.
I have had offers to buy my design but still prefer to build the brakes One at a time for friends that have a need for the recoil reduction, ether from a shoot ability stand point, or a disability that prevents them from enjoying the sport. Occasionally I build one for someone on this site, but rarely because I am retired and don't have the time. I don't listen to all the claims made about which is best, Because I have tested most after market brakes and have a drawer full that did not get any near there claims of performance when tested with real world conditions, Of all the brakes I have tested only 4 have met the makers
claims.
I have over 15 years of research into muzzle brake design, and I am still trying to squeeze every ounce of recoil reduction out of brake design. So it is still a work in progress.
Sorry for being long winded.
J E CUSTOM
