Review of Practical Solutions

Carlson 9mm Muzzle Brake

I have tested many muzzle brakes on the market and even designed and manufactured a couple of my own. None of them reduced muzzle jump, reduced perceived recoil or affected group size as advertised .

I have been looking for a muzzle brake for my MAX-11, with the goal of reducing the group dispersion between the first and second shot. When repeated two round bursts are fired with the MAX-11, you will typically see two distinct groupings. One at the point of aim and one four to six inches above. Three round bursts will result in the third round impacting in the higher grouping also.

I recently received and tested a new 9 mm muzzle brake called the Carlson brake. It was designed by Greg Carlson, a competitive shooter and MAX-11 owner and fully developed and manufactured by Sam Schneider of Practical Solutions. The design is similar in profile to an M-16A2 flash hider, except it is about a ¼" longer. It is closed on the bottom and is bored in the front for a 9mm exit hole. There are two large exit ports at the 10 and 2 O'Clock positions. The brake is threaded ½-28, same as the standard MAX-11 barrel thread. The brake needs to be clocked so the ports are pointing up, so a peel washer or crush washer is needed. The design is deceptively simple and at first glance, you may wonder why this brake works and other, more elaborate designs don't.

Testing was performed with a MAX-11 upper receiver, using Winchester White Box 115 gr. ammunition. Test distance was twelve yards. Shooting was performed standing, as would be done in a subgun match.

A test group was fired using the standard M-16A1 flash hider provided with standard production MAX-11s. Two round bursts yielded the standard double grouping previously mentioned. The muzzle brake was then installed and two round bursts were again fired. Bullet grouping was regularly within one inch of each other and many times, the holes were touching.

An amazing characteristic of this brake, is that you can watch the bullet impacts and adjust your shooting form/muscle control to correct for any flyers. In a sense, it provides "feedback" to improve your shooting ability.

Simply stated, this muzzle brake works and I highly endorse it!

Where to buy:

You can purchase the Carlson 9mm muzzle brake from Sam at Practical Solutions.

Website: Practical Solutions

Link to product:

Muzzle Brake