Muzzle brake on youth rifle? Advice?

[smoky]

I have a remington model 7 that I am working with for my 7 year old daughter to start shooting next spring when she is 8.  It is chambered in 7-08 and has a 18.5" barrel.  My ideas for reduced recoil are as follows:

1.  Install aftermarket Pad.
2.  Reduced loads using a 120 grain bullet.
3.  Addition of a small brake to the 18.5 inch barrel.

My question is in regards to the 3rd idea.

Can this be done to a barrel with a slender taper without looking funny? Will it futher reduce recoil over and above that which will be accomplished by 1 & 2?  Will the noise be too much to bear when hunting and not wearing muffs (we always wear them on the range)? 

Any opinions, advice on the subject including suppliers and gunsmiths will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Smoky

[backstrap]

Yes noise is REAL bad with a brake and with that short of a barrle it would even be worse, u would have to wear ear protection every time u shot the rifle, believe me my uncle had a new A-Bolt it 270 with a brake on it and i am sure it was a 24 inch barrle and he sold it after he shot it and i shot it a few time because it was WAY to loud

[Explorer1]

I would recommend against the brake purely for the noise factor.  Yes it can be done.

My first question is, why?  You say you are going to START her shooting with a centerfire?  Why?  The norm is to start on a 22 rimfire to work on the fundamentals without the noise and recoil issues - the norm is just that, standard practice, because it works.

[smoky]

Thanks for the replies so far.  Let me clarify.  I meant start her with a centerfire next spring, for the first time.  She has been shooting the .22 and pellet rifle for a while now, and coming along nicely.  I just thought the 7-08 might be a little much unless I reduced recoil as much as possible.  I can easily add the premium pad and reduce the handloads.  I was also thinking that a small brake added to that 18.5 inch barrel would finish out around 20 inches and maybe balance a little nicer.

Smoky

[Badnews Bob]

I wouldn't brake it, I'd try reduced recoil loads. Is she going to be hunting large game with it (deer?) or just shooting?  small bullets lower powder charge makes for easy shooting. work her up thru the summer.

BTW brakes don't work as well with reduced loads.

[Graybeard]

My advice is DON'T.

The noise even more so than the recoil is what turns off new shooters. Load light and put a good pad on. If that's not enough recoil reduction it's too soon to start her with that rifle.

Make sure good hearing protection is worn at all times shooting both to avoid hearing loss and to avoid the flinches that noise brings on.

[BBF]

I am going to add my opinion to NO brake. Loking at the Nosler book I see they list RL -15 a the most accurate powder tested and with the 140 gr PT they show 37.5 gr as the best load from the best powder. The bullet will expand properly and penetrate as well so it would be my choice over the 120 gr stuff. Another option would be reduced loads usingH-4895.

Examples:
 120 gr Nosler BT with 26.3 gr
 130 gr Sierra Single Shot with 25.2 gr
   

[charles p]

I think the added noise will worsen her tendency to flinch. 

[Redtail1949]

I would not go the trouble nor the expense of putting a muzzle brake on that rifle or any other.

The main reason is the noise factor and believe me when I say "NOISE". That noise will affect anyones shooting ability with any caliber.

IMO you will be highly dissatisfied if you do it. You daughter is quite young and recoil may be a problem for her with the factory loads.

However, most people can move up to the levels of 30.06 and handle the recoil with no problems.

I would suggest mild handloads to start her off and gradualy move up in loadings as she adjust to the rifle.

Everyone that I know that tried the newest thing muzzle brakes wished they had never done it, that includes me.

If recoil bothers anyone with any caliber go down in caliber, within reason, until you are comfortable.

While her age right now is a big factor I have no doubt that she can master the caliber, in time, and even elevate up to 308 or 30.06.

I put one on a 30.06 for my son, big mistake, the noise made him as well as me flinch. Remember as the caliber goes up the noise does as well. I have a friend that did it for his 375 H&H and god almighty it was horrendous on the ears. He changed out his barrel and learned a hard costly lesson there.

just my 2 cents

[JimFromTN]

I have muzzle breaks on 2 of my rifles.  With my muffs on, I don't notice the noise.  When shooting at game, I don't notice the noise.  People next to you might not like it if they aren't wearing hearing protection but then again, why aren't they wearing hearing protection?

I think muzzle breaks are great and you should definately think about having one installed.  For deer hunting, I have a rem700 in 300 win mag with a recoil pad and muzzlebreak.  I had some reduced recoil rounds made for it.  They are 150gr bullets with a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps.  Your 7 year old daughter would not have a problem shooting this rifle.  It has about as much kick as a 22. 

Until I had done all of this, I could not get thru more than about 10rds before I had to quit because it was just too painful to shoot anymore.  A bruised sholder will scare someone off from shooting long before a noisy gun.

I bought a tikka 695 in 7 mm rem mag for my wife to shoot.  She watched me shoot it and she would not pull the trigger until I had a recoil pad and muzzle break put on it.  She shoots it all day long now.  She has never said a word to me about the noise.

My suggestion would be to do the 1st 2 options and see how they work out.  If it still kicks too much for her, have a break installed.  She can shoot it all day long with the break and if you think its too loud to shoot while hunting, you can take it off when you hunt and then put it back on for the range.

[DDelle338]

I know this thread is old, but,, Want to place another recemendation AGAINST a brake. I'd go with light loads and lots of assistance during the first part of her learning period. Yes the brakes help, but the noise is more detrimental than it's worth. Yes she will be wearing protection, but she will still "feel" the blast. We (adults) have been exposed to allot of noise, concussion, face slap, etc. etc. and have been conditioned to ignore most of it by now. Young children can be more sensitive to it that we think.
  As for the theory of not noticing the blast while hunting,,,,,we never notice the hearing damage we do when we're doing it, but we do notice what the damage has done to our hearing later. At 8 her hearing is very sensitive. Keep it that way.