Hey all, thinking about putting a muzzle brake on my mini after reading how it increases accuracy on these forums. A couple of questions, has any one had any experiences with the smith brake?, and how hard is it to install? Also, not to open another can of beans, is this brake legal in kalifornia? the folks at john masen wouldn't ship thier "black warrior" brake to our wonderfull state, but would send another brake that would replace the front sight { I would prefer to not remove front blade} thanks all for your thoughts, dave
smith muzzle brakes
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I checked out Smiths site. They didn't have one for the mini. Here is a pin on AK-47 brake, you can leave your front sight on. It pins on over the sight. http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/10-22/mmt-0018.asp
They work well. They are more of an actual brake than the BW, which is almost a flashhider. If the Smith isn't legal, then no brake is. They have some rule about the exit hole being however wide, and the Smith is minimum, while the Bw is not. The exit hole in the brake is barely larger than the bullet, which forces more of the gasses thru the vents in the top.
Installation requires drilling dimples in the barrel to anchor the setscrews into. These will be about 4 mm wide and 2mm deep or more. Smith will do this work for $50. I got the brakes and THEN was informed by the enclosed instructions of this. Without these dimples (whick must be deep and wide enuf to hold bottom of screw) the brake will fly off. I know cause it happened to me when I drilled holes that were not quite deep and wide enuf.
Installation requires drilling dimples in the barrel to anchor the setscrews into. These will be about 4 mm wide and 2mm deep or more. Smith will do this work for $50. I got the brakes and THEN was informed by the enclosed instructions of this. Without these dimples (whick must be deep and wide enuf to hold bottom of screw) the brake will fly off. I know cause it happened to me when I drilled holes that were not quite deep and wide enuf.
i just bought one of those AK style muzzle brakes from bushmaster and it was pretty easy to install. haven't figured out if it was more accurate than before but one thing is for sure it makes it alot LOUDER. i was shooting my M1A the same day and there wasn't much difference in noise level between the two rifles. oh yeah....it looks pretty cool too!
Dogmeat,
The Smith is a pain to install but is a great brake. I have one on my Mini (see the gallery) and it was hard to put on (drill chatter and such). However, I went to my local gunsmith in Fresno, CA and they had one sitting under the glass. They don't drill it at all, just silver solder it on.
If my CA gunsmith sells a Smith brake (the guys the local news stations quote everytime a new damned law shows up) for Minis, then I'd think it's okay.
Hope this helps - it works great though, just get it soldered...
Mughi-14
The Smith is a pain to install but is a great brake. I have one on my Mini (see the gallery) and it was hard to put on (drill chatter and such). However, I went to my local gunsmith in Fresno, CA and they had one sitting under the glass. They don't drill it at all, just silver solder it on.
If my CA gunsmith sells a Smith brake (the guys the local news stations quote everytime a new damned law shows up) for Minis, then I'd think it's okay.
Hope this helps - it works great though, just get it soldered...
Mughi-14
Drilling the dimples is the only work involved (make sure brake is aligned to vertical and mark holes) . After dimples are drilled, slide brake on and tighten screws.
Make sure you can drill the barrel or have it done by Smith or other. I used a dental highspeed handpiece with diamond bur, maybe a dremel with proper bur would work. Drill press is how Smith does it, I believe.
The gun is not louder with the brake, at least that I notice. Some brakes are ear killers. The AK brake has a rep for extreme noise, however the AK brake that Bushmaster sells is not a real AK brake, as it has no expansion chamber like the actual one. Slows the gasses down before they exit.
Make sure you can drill the barrel or have it done by Smith or other. I used a dental highspeed handpiece with diamond bur, maybe a dremel with proper bur would work. Drill press is how Smith does it, I believe.
The gun is not louder with the brake, at least that I notice. Some brakes are ear killers. The AK brake has a rep for extreme noise, however the AK brake that Bushmaster sells is not a real AK brake, as it has no expansion chamber like the actual one. Slows the gasses down before they exit.
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