Muzzle Brakes

Philip · Post by **Philip** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:31 pm

I have noticed that many of the German tanks from WWII had muzzle brakes, but very few Allied tanks had them. The M26 Pershing did have a muzzle brake. The Panther, Tiger I, Tiger II, Ferdinand, Stug, Nashorn, Wespe, Jagdpanther, and a few more, all had muzzle brakes. However, the Jagdpanzer IV/70, did not, and neither did the massive JagdTiger. I do know that the muzzle brake would lesson recoil, which helped in cramped turrets. I am assuming that the presence of the muzzle brake was linked to the power of the gun. But the Jagdtiger fired 128mm shells, and didn't have a muzzle brake. I am again assuming that the absense of the muzzle brake in the Jagdtiger was because there was plenty of "recoil" room in the turret. I'm sure some of you guys have some info on this. Just wondering.

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:36 am

yes that's pretty much correct. Powerful guns needed muzzle brakes to shorten recoil in cramped interiors. You'll notice that the larger guns on soviet tanks also had muzzle brakes, of various designs.

Muzzle brakes rob a bit of power from the gun and can cause escaping gases to throw up dust clouds, impairing the firer's visibility and revealing his position., so if they're not needed they'd be left off, as in the case of the jagdtiger, where there was just enough interior room.

Muzzle brakes would also be used on smaller open top vehicles with large guns, like some SP guns, where recoil room wasn't a problem but because the constant recoil would be too hard on the chassis and require excessive maintainance in time.

As a side note: it's interesting that no ships' guns ever had muzzle brakes on them. The loss in power was not deemed to be worth the strain the muzzle brake would have taken off of the vessel. Case in point, after its engagement with the Bismarck, the HMS Rodney was so badly damaged from the recoil of its own guns, that it had to be put in port for several months of repairs.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:02 am

Thanks for the reply. It was very helpful. I was thinking mainly of American and British guns without muzzle brakes, instead of "Allies." Interesting info about the Bismarck incident.

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:37 am

i did a bit of digging and it was the muzzle blast, not the recoil that did the damage to ships...so adding a muzzle brake wouldn't help. The ship had adequate mass to absorb the recoil of even a full broadside and muzzle brakes for guns that large would be so heavy it would overtax the elevation mechanisms.

So, there was no advantage to adding a muzzle brake to ship's guns.

Also, apparently the loss in power when using a muzzle brake is negligable. It is mostly for reasons of kicking up dust and creating large revealing muzzle flash that they are left off when not needed.

Gunner · Post by **Gunner** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:04 am

One other note about ship's guns.

It's often said that the full broadside of an IOWA-class battleship's guns (nine 16" guns) moves the vessel sideways.

This is not true.

The illusion is created in some photographs by vibration effects of the aforementioned muzzle blast...

Philip · Post by **Philip** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Below is info. from an internet site:

A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device that is fitted to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon to redirect propellant gases with the effect of countering both recoil of the gun and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire.

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:04 pm

the part about the barrel rising is more for small arms...for example the famous 'tommy gun' was notorious for rising and pulling to the right during firing, causing the shooter to miss the target, even at close range. The compensator that was added corrected this problem and gave it its distinctive muzzle flash out the top and right side of the barrel.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:05 pm

This is from a site that deals mainly with rifles, but the principle is the same.

Newton's law says (to paraphrase) that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. Recoil (kick) is the rifle's reaction to the action of the bullet being accelerated down the rifle barrel. Recoil is caused by two factors. The first is the bullet itself, which cannot be interfered with. The second is the expanding powder gasses that are pushing the bullet and must also exit the barrel. Muzzle brakes reduce recoil by diverting part of these gasses to the side so that they do not add to the rearward recoil.