Making A Muzzle Brake

cdhknives

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I'm trying to wrap my brain around the steps required to make a muzzle brake and eventually build a suppressor mount. Yes I have read up and understand ATF form 1 laws for building a suppressor parts...I'll get there eventually but first I want to practice and a muzzle brake is a natural project.

First concern is order of operations.

Should I start by boring and threading a slug, install on a mandrel (which I would have to make), and turn the exterior?

Should I turn the outside profile on the end of a bar and then part off, bore, and thread last?

My particular concern is keeping alignment...particularly once I progress to building a mount for a suppressor where I'll need to keep alignment 6-8" in front of the rifle muzzle. Which method is better to keep everything aligned???
 
I usually do all my OD turning on the end of a bar before I part it off. In the 2nd op I put the cut off part in the chuck and do the ID work and threads so everything stays in line. 3rd op I flip it around and finish the far end face. Lastly, I use a threaded mandrel screwed into the rear of the brake body to hold it while I do whatever milling/drilling ops need done. I use the threaded mandrel even if I'm going to be clamping on the brake body to keep from distorting the threads.
 
If possible, I'd turn the brake while on the barrel for best alignment.

Suppressors can take a little misalignment, every single barrel you will ever see has misalignment, because the bore doesn't turn true with the OD.
 
I agree with Andre. I make a brake by boring the thread hole, drill through for the bore, thread and drill the port holes all in one setup. I then cut it off, the OD is rough and the bore is smaller than the rifle bore. With the barrel through the headstock, dial in the bore as close as humanly possible. Turn the barrel down for the threads and thread, use the brake for a good fit. The barrel OD may well not be concentric with the bore, but the bore is the important thing. Turn the brake OD the way you want it then double check your bore for zero. Once verified, bore the brake hole .020" bigger than bullet diameter. The operable word here is bore. The brake hole needs to be totally concentric with the barrel, or accuracy will suffer. You can make a mandrel now to turn the brake for final finish.
 
Somewhere on the web I found an article that detailed a rather scientific approach to determining the optimum length of the chamber in a muzzle brake and the optimum angle of the vents. I was sure I had copied it but just can't find it. The basic design of the chamber was based upon the length and diameter of the projectile as well as the muzzle velocity. I made several back in the day and they worked very well. You might track it down if I can't find it in my files.
 
That was the long one. The one I had was an article written for some gun magazine and was distilled down to a very straight forward, plug in the numbers approach. I am still looking.
 
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