when i bought my 300 wsm i asked the gunsmith about it (this gun smith having 60 yrs experience) he said if its a target rifle i recommend it but if its gonna be a hunting rifle he said not to cause its extremly loud!! now i know theres prob gonna be guys that disagree but from what i hear at the ranges it is quite abit louder. i said to myself why would someone want it at the range if its louder...but with proper ear protection your ok and it does make for better groups... hope this helps

Is there that much difference in the recoil. Some have said maybe 25%, but all have said that it will be a lot louder. I currently have the 7mm Ultra Mag with a muzzle break and was looking at the 2008 RMEF and was wanting to know if I should invest up front for the muzzle break or not. It definitely is LOUD.

personally i think if its just gonna be a hunting rifle its gonna be more then enough accurate without the MB. hard to explain exactly how much recoil it takes away. i've heard magnums shoot like 270's but i have not tried it myself.

I have my competition skeet and trap shotguns ported. With ear protection, I don't notice any difference in noise in other shooter's guns wether they are ported or not. What I do notice is less muzzle jump for a quick second shot in doubles, and considerably less fatigue when I shoot 500 or more 12 ga in a day. The reduction in felt recoil is also noticable between my competetion guns and my hunting shotguns when shooting the same loads.

As for rifles, several years ago, I bought a .375 Rem Ultra Mag for a Cape Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe. On my first trip to the range, it only took 8 shots to convince me that I had to do something about the recoil. I had a KDF muzzle brake installed, and later I installed a mechanical recoil reducer in the stock. The muzzle blast is loud, but 97+ grains of powder is loud with or without a brake. The difference in recoil is definately noticable. There is still recoil, but the rifle is not unplesant to shoot. On my last trip to South Africa, I shot two animals from a low prone position, and the recoil wasn't any more noticable than if the rifle had been a .30-06.

I am currently putting together a .300 Weatherby Mag and this rifle will have a muzzle brake on it.

I enjoy shooting. I don't enjoy being punished by my rifles (or shotguns).

My 300 RUM has a brake on it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I shot a friends rifle just like mine minus the brake and the muzzle jump was horrible the it took you quite a bit to get the sights back on target.