Best .308 Muzzle Brake: Reviews and Guide

Before getting to the list of the best 308 muzzle brake, let's take a brief look at its formation.

Muzzle brakes are an underrated part of your gun. While some people may not quite understand them, they are extremely important, and can vastly improve your shooting performance and experience. A quality muzzle brake can be the difference between an hour of unenjoyable shooting and a fun full day at the range.

The way a muzzle brake functions is by redirecting the gas of the gun. When you fire the gun, gas is generated as the powder of the cartridge undergoes chemical reactions. When the gas exits the gun through the barrel, it creates recoil.

Let's see how muzzle brake works:

A high quality muzzle brake will channel this gas in a specific way that can greatly reduce recoil.

The secondary effects of this recoil reduction can be huge. It becomes much easier to reacquire your target, which allows you to fire a much more accurate second shot, if necessary. The reduced recoil also just makes you a more accurate shooter in general. With the amount of recoil felt reduced, you will find that it is more enjoyable to shoot.

For these reasons, muzzle brakes are important in all types of shooting. For target and competitive shooting, you will be more accurate. For home defense and hunting, your second shot will be on target faster. For plinking, you will feel less recoil and enjoy yourself more.

However, picking a muzzle brake can be pretty difficult, as there are many options to choose from. This guide is here to help.

We have chosen the best .308 muzzle brakes and reviewed them in terms of quality, price, and features. In doing so, we will help to identify the most important features to keep in mind while shopping for a muzzle brake.

We hope this guide is helpful! Let’s take a look at the best .308 muzzle brakes.

Top 5 Best .308 Muzzle Brakes

Muzzle Brakes

Top Feature

Bang For Your Buck

Easy to Install

Recoil Reduction

Suppressor-Ready

Price

If you are short on time or don’t feel like reading the full reviews, we have provided a quick recap of everything you will read below:

  • Best overall .308 muzzle brake: The Precision Armament M4-72 is by far the best available .308 muzzle brake. It is reasonably priced and outperforms the rest of the competition. It is suitable for any uses.
  • Best .308 muzzle brake for hunting: the Surefire Procomp 762 and Dead Air Armament Keymount are both viable options.
  • Best .308 muzzle brake for target shooting, check out the American Precision Arms Fat Bastard or the JP Enterprises Recoil Eliminator. Both of these are on the heavy side, but do a good job reducing recoil. It is worth mentioning that the Fat Bastard is the easiest to install on the list.
  • Best for plinking, we recommend the Surefire Procomp 762. It is very inexpensive, but performs decently well.
  • If you are using a Dead Air Armament suppressor, the Keymount muzzle brake will make your life easy.
  • If you are trying to turn your 14.5 inch barrel into a legal length, the Surefire Procomp is your best bet. You are able to easily pin and weld the brake to the barrel to meet the SBR requirements.

Precision Armament M4-72

Precision Armament M4-72

First up on our list of best 308 muzzle brakes is the extremely popular Precision Armament M4-72. This .308 muzzle brake has been written about before, but it won’t stop impressing us. Precision Armament has achieved an impressive amount of recoil reduction in a small package that is more affordable than a good bit of the competition. As you can imagine, that is extremely impressive.

The .308 muzzle brake measures 2.275 inches long, .985 inches in diameter, and weighs 3.1 ounces. This is the smallest and lightest muzzle brake, but still has the best performance. In terms of recoil reduction, this muzzle brake is the best of the lot. It will reduce the recoil by around 65%. When considering how heavy .308 recoil can be, that is very impressive.

The pros of this .308 muzzle brake, other than the recoil reduction, are the durability and upward venting. The brake is made from high quality stainless steel, and is given a durable finish. The upward venting eliminates recoil while also eliminating any dust signature.

The .308 muzzle brake truly doesn’t have any cons, but it is worth mentioning that we recommend having it professionally installed due to the Accu-Washer Muzzle Alignment System.

Due to the extreme recoil reduction and durability, this muzzle brake is excellent for any uses. It is the best .308 muzzle brake available.

Top Features:

  • Bang for your buck. Excellent performance at a reasonable cost.
  • Recoil reduction. Best in its class.
  • Size/weight. One of the smallest you’ll find.
  • Durability. Stainless steel with a strong finish.
  • Upward vents. No dust signature, which could be great for any tactical uses.

American Precision Arms Fat Bastard

Ameri​can Precision Arms Fat Bastard

Other than having a great name, the American Precision Arms Fat Bastard is also an excellent muzzle brake. While it doesn’t perform quite as well as the Precision Armament, it still does extremely well.

The brake measures 3.285 inches long and weighs 7 ounces. As you can see, this is a good bit heavier than the previous brake. In terms of recoil reduction, expect this muzzle brake to reduce the recoil by around 60%.

The pros of this .308 muzzle brake are how easy it is to install, the customization options, and the overall quality. This muzzle brake doesn’t require professional installation as there are no crush washers. All it will take is a wrench.

When we say customization options, we are referring to the options that you can choose from the manufacturer. There are multiple finishes available, and you are able to select the exact thread count of your rifle. This is to make sure that you are able to install it yourself.

The cons of this .308 muzzle brake are the price. Despite the high quality and decent performance, many people will have a hard time paying more for a brake that doesn’t reduce the recoil as much. However, keep in mind that this may save you money in the long run, as you won’t have to go to the gunsmith at all.

Due to the added weight of this muzzle brake, we recommend keeping this one on the range. This is the best muzzle brake for competitive shooting.

Top Features:

  • Easy to install. Just select your threads, and use a wrench to install yourself.
  • Recoil reduction. Not the best of the group, but still performs well.
  • High quality. APA is known for their high quality products.
  • Many options available.

JP Enterprises Recoil Eliminator

JP Enterprises Recoil Eliminator

This .308 muzzle brake from JP Enterprises is extremely unique, to put in a word. It is shaped much differently than the others on the list, but the shape serves a specific purpose. Due to the specific shape of this muzzle brake, we won’t talk much about the measurements. Looking at a picture, I’m sure you’ll understand why. However, the muzzle brake does weigh around 5.5 ounces.

The pros of this .308 muzzle brake are the performance and the durability. You can expect this muzzle brake to reduce the recoil by around 56%. It accomplishes this by venting the gases to the sides, which is where the shape comes into play. While it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, it does help in the performance department.

The cons of this .308 muzzle brake are the size and shape. While it isn’t obnoxiously large, this is a larger muzzle brake that can more easily get caught on things. The added weight could also hinder your movement, in some situations.

While the size and weight isn’t an over the top hindrance, we would still recommend keeping this muzzle brake on the range. There are better options for hunting, that come at a similar cost.

Top Features:

  • Performance. This muzzle brake performs on par with the competition.
  • Quality. JP Enterprises manufactures high quality products.
  • Designed for milspec guns.
  • Exit hole can be enlarged to accommodate larger bores.

Dead Air Armament Keymount

Dead Air Armament Keymount

This .308 muzzle brake is a unique one on our list, in that it is the only one that is ready to have a suppressor mounted. Dead Air Armament is well known for their suppressors. This muzzle brake is designed to easily and quickly attach either of their .308 suppressors to your rifle.

However, the muzzle brake can also be used standalone, and will do a good bit in reducing the recoil of your gun in the process. It measures 2.6 inches long and weighs 3.7 ounces. When being used alone, it reduces recoil by around 53%.

Obviously, with a suppressor attached, the muzzle brake can’t vent the gases as well. However, when paired with the performance of the suppressor itself, the recoil reduction is likely in the same neighborhood.

The cons of this muzzle brake are that it doesn’t perform quite as well as the others. However, this muzzle brake makes the list because of the fact that it can be easily used along with Dead Air Armament suppressors.

Due to the smaller size, this would also be a decent choice for hunting.

Top Features:

  • Suppressor-ready. If you are using a Dead Air Armament suppressor, this is the best choice.
  • Multiple thread options available.
  • Quality construction.

Surefire Procomp 762

Surefire Procomp 762

Last on our list is the Surefire Procomp 762. This an inexpensive .308 muzzle brake, but it also offers some decent performance, especially considering the price.

The muzzle brake measures 2.7 inches long and weighs 3.4 ounces. This is one of the smaller muzzle brakes on the list. In terms of recoil reduction, this one performs decently well. It reduces recoil by around 53%. Given the price, this is pretty good performance. The gas is ported neutrally, so if you are firing from a bipod, it will not be negatively affected.

The pros of this .308 muzzle brake are the price, durability, and the fact that you can pin and weld it to short barreled rifles to make them legal length. Simply put, this price can’t be beat. Add in the fact that it is made from a highly durable steel with a Melonite coating, and you’ve got yourself a great little muzzle brake.

The cons of this .308 muzzle brake are that it doesn’t reduce the recoil as much as the competition. However, for the price, it performs well.

Due to the small size, inexpensive price, and high durability, this is a great choice for hunting. You will hardly notice it on your rifle (until you shoot), and it will be able to withstand the elements.

Top Features:

  • Pin and weld your SBR. This muzzle brake can be used to make sure your SBR meets legal requirements while avoiding extra paperwork.
  • Price. Can’t be beat.
  • Size/weight. Relatively small muzzle brake.
  • Durability. Steel with a Melonite coating.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are quite a few different options available for your .308 muzzle brake. While we have listed all of our favorites, there are still quite a few others out there, some of which are excellent options.

We hope that this list has provided you a start point in your search for a .308 muzzle brake. At the very least, we hope that it has helped you identify the key features you need to keep in mind while you search. Some of these features may be: recoil reduction, size, durability, weight, and price.

Identifying your specific use for the rifle will also help to pick out which features are the most important. Once you know that, picking out a best 308 muzzle brake will be easy. Happy shooting!

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