Buy with confidence.
The RB Standard.
The muzzle device industry has no recoil testing standard to accurately/repeatedly measure recoil.
Due to this, and the fact most people have been led to believe shooting rifles on a recoil sled effectively records a recoil event, the industry has gotten away with some wild claims and conjecture that isn’t based on the underlying science, for a long time. So we decided to lean on our years of testing and development to come up with a quick and easy way for customers to visualize and gauge the performance of the markets best performing products with the new RB testing standard. With this simple rating customers can buy with confidence, instead of conjecture.
The RB standard is comprised of two ratings; a recoil rating and a blast rating. The recoil rating works off of the premise, if you removed the muzzle device in question from the rifle and shot it with a bare muzzle you’d increase the recoil of the rifle by X percentage. The higher the number the better the performance. The blast rating rating works off of the premise, if you add the muzzle device in question to the rifle, you’ll increase or decrease the blast of the rifle by Y percentage. The higher the increase in blast, the more uncomfortable the rifle is to operate, the larger decrease in blast the more comfortable the rifle is to operate.
Recoil breakdown: If the rifle with the muzzle device in question has a peak force of 600 LBS and the rifle with a bare muzzle had a peak force of 1100 LBS, which is a percentage increase of 83.3%, it would be applied the following rating: R(83.3). Indicating if you removed the muzzle brake from the rifle you’d increase the recoil of the rifle by 83%. The higher the number the better performing the muzzle device.
Blast breakdown (increase in sound pressure): If the muzzle device in question has a peak DB of 170 DB and the bare barreled action has a peak DB of 155 DB, which is an increase of 15 DB, both DB readings will then be converted to pascals (170 DB = 6324 PA and 155 DB = 1124 PA) (because DB is not linear, its logarithmic), the percentage increase of 462% will then be calculated and the following rating applied: B(+462). Indicating the device increases the sound pressure of the rifle by 462% vs the bare muzzle.
Blast breakdown (decrease in sound pressure): If the muzzle device in question has a peak DB of 150 DB and the bare barreled action has a peak DB of 155 DB, which is a decrease of 5 DB, both DB readings will then be converted to pascals (150 DB = 632 PA and 155 DB = 1124 PA) (because DB is not linear, its logarithmic), the percentage decrease of 43% will then be calculated and the following rating applied: B(-43). Indicating the device decreases the sound pressure of the rifle by 43% vs the bare muzzle
Simple.
We raised the bar again.
Equipment and testing method.
The RB standard requires the following products and fixtures:
A 26 inch, 6.5 Creedmoor barreled action placed in a chassis/stock with a flat fore end that runs parallel to the barrel and a butt pad that’s square and perfectly perpendicular to the fore end, weighing 16 lbs. (Weight must be +/- 1%.)
An impact force sensor with an independently calibrated maximum load rating 1500 LBS minimum (2500 LBS recommended), and an interface capable of a minimum 50KHZ data update rate, that when mounted to an aluminum or steel frame maintains the same contact point between the rifle and sensor during all testing sessions, and with no perceivable movement (rifle cannot move or loose contact with sensor during recoil events). Sensor must be capable of +/- 0.05% accuracy and independently calibrated to ISO standards with NIST certified equipment. (Details and specs of the equipment we use and the equipment we recommend below).
Berger 6.5 mm Creedmoor 130 gr Hybrid OTM Tactical factory ammo. (Berger 130gr Hybrid OTM bullet moving at 2920 fps +/- 0.5%.)
A minimum 0.264 caliber muzzle brake.
The RB standard requires the following standardized equipment:
Equipment that conforms to MIL-STD 1474D minimum (MIL-STD 1474E recommended), measured at the shooter (40 inches behind the muzzle, 2 inches above the bore and inline with the bore) and conforms to the testing requirements of MIL-STD 1474E. (Details and specs of the MIL-STD 1474D and MIL-STD 1474E below.)
We raised the bar again.
Current results and data.
WITHOUT WARNING CHAD NEXT GEN (.264 CAL) – RB
WITHOUT WARNING CHAD (.264 CAL) – RB
WITHOUT WARNING TMB GEN 2.5 (.264 CAL) – RB
ACE PRECISION ACE (.264 CAL) – RB
ACE PRECISION ACE with ACE SHIELD (.264 CAL) – RB
APA FAT BASTARD GEN4 (.264 CAL) – RB
APA FAT BASTARD GEN3 (.264 CAL) – RB
APA LITTLE BASTARD GEN3 (.264 CAL) – RB
MPA DN3 (.264 CAL) – RB
MPA DN5 (.264 CAL) – RB
CORSON PIPER BRAKE (.264 CAL) – RB
KINETIC SECUITY SOLUTIONS ATS (.264 CAL) – RB
HAWKINS PRECISION UPDRAFT (.264 CAL) – RB
BOTNIA SOLUTIONS MAXI GEN1 (.264 CAL) – RB
MDT COMP (.264 CAL) – RB
CORTINA PRECISION NEXTGEN EC (.264 CAL) – RB
PRECISION ARMAMENT HYPERTAP (.264 CAL) – RB
PATRIOT VALLEY ARMS JETBLAST (.264 CAL) – RB
AREA 419 HELLFIRE MATCH (.264 CAL) – RB
AREA 419 MAVERICK SHORTEST without BRAKE (.264 CAL) – RB
AREA 419 MAVERICK SHORTEST with BRAKE (.264 CAL) – RB
AREA 419 MAVERICK LONGEST without BRAKE (.264 CAL) – RB
AREA 419 MAVERICK LONGEST with BRAKE (.264 CAL) – RB
THUNDER BEAST ARMS MAGNUS K with RR BRAKE (.308 CAL) – RB
THUNDER BEAST ARMS MAGNUS K with RECOIL X BRAKE (.308 CAL) – RB
THUNDER BEAST ARMS MAGNUS K with CHAD END CAP (.264 CAL) – RB
SILENCERCO SCYTHE TI with BRAVO BRAKE (.308 CAL) – RB
SILENCERCO SCYTHE TI with ANCHOR BRAKE (.308 CAL) – RB
SILENCERCO SCYTHE TI with RECOIL X COMP BRAKE (.308 CAL) – RB
SILENCERCO SCYTHE TI with CHAD END CAP (.264 CAL) – RB
All raw recoil data is available for peer review. All data is available in .xls format. Download from the following link.
If a muzzle device is listed on our testing shortlist but doesn’t yet have a rating applied, we either have one and will be conducting testing on it soon or we are trying to acquire one for testing (if you wish to help out by sending us one temporarily for testing, please contact us below). If a product isn’t on our short list, the product isn’t a priority for us but we will happily test anything you send us for the good of the community (again, if you have a product you’d like to send us temporarily for testing, please contact us below).
If you’re a manufacturer or developer of muzzle devices and are interested in us testing your product privately (we will not post any results publically), we will happily test it for recoil and blast and show you where it stacks up the competition and also give you a detailed evaluation on the products performance and why it performs the way it does for a reasonable fee of $500. Please contact us below if you’re interested. All contact about testing wont be considered unless sent to the correct email address below.
We raised the bar again.
We raised the bar again.
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