Muzzle Brake Or Not

[1hank1]

What's the benefit of utilizing a muzzle brake in conjunction with a silencer?

[a_canadian]

The benefit will vary depending upon the calibre and the pressures involved. The primary benefit as I understand it is largely that a brake is essentially expendable, not an NFA component and therefore disposable when worn out. By using the right sort of brake as the primary blast baffle in effect, it receives the lion's share of heat and abrasion from high velocity particles. Your actual suppressor baffles thereby suffer reduced pressure and direct wear. Something like a 2 or 3 'baffle' brake will also redirect a lot of pressure sideways into the strengthened blast chamber tube walls, perhaps more effectively than an actual suppressor baffle due to the small bore, which is made possible thanks to close proximity to the muzzle. Further down the baffle stack you'll want a larger baffle bore.

[1hank1]

Makes sense to me. However, I do have a question.

When my Form 1 is approved I want to make my silencer for a .224 Valkyrie. Predator hunting almost exclusively. But if I get what you're saying, the first baffle in my silencer should be bored to something like 60-thousants over .224, then progressively increase the bore size. Should the bore ever decrease in diameter, like at the end cap?

Also, at the risk of brain-raping you, if utilizing a muzzle brake, and if that muzzle brake extends to within a bullets length of the first baffle, what would be the rule-of-thumb for the I.D. of the blast chamber to ensure enough volume, yet keeping the FRP at a minimum?