Without Warning TMB F.A.Q.s

What is the TMB (Tuner Muzzle Brake)?

The TMB is the original four-port 45-degree self-timing, directional muzzle brake with an integrated 24-position, adjustable and locking harmonic barrel tuner, that simply threads onto your muzzle like every other self-timing muzzle brake on the market currently (barrel tuner fits over the barrel.

What is a barrel tuner?

A harmonic barrel tuner is a device that manipulates the harmonic frequency that your rifle barrel vibrates at when firing ammunition.
A compact and correctly sized weight (usually around 4oz) is located at the muzzle and when moved in increments of 0.001 of an inch (forward or backwards), manipulates the harmonics of your rifle barrel to correctly line up the upward swing of your rifle barrel’s vibrations with the exact moment your bullet leaves the end of your barrel, resulting in more consistent and precise group sizes despite the speed the bullets are travelling at. Usually resulting in around 50% smaller group sizes.

This can be done by shooting groups and making adjustments on the tuner to find the correct setting for your load and barrel combination. Trial and error.

A harmonic barrel tuner is the only device that can externally change a rifles performance and the barrel to ammunition relationship, without making changes to your ammunition.

How do I use the TMB?

Check out the Without Warning video series on the TMB on their YouTube channel. They go into how to tune factory ammo, handholds not meant for your rifle, and how to approach/cover load development using a tuner. They cover many methods, show all results, and are happy to complete new videos or answer any questions you might have.
They also have a detailed guide on how to use a tuner, it details different methods and approaches to using a tuner with load development.

Does the TMB come with the tool to install it or do I need to buy that also?

The generation two TMB comes with the new generation two spline drive tool for installation. It is torque wrench compatible, small and compact and designed to take with you everywhere in your range bag/luggage. The stand-alone wrench they will be offering soon is a very large and robust torque wrench compatible spline tool for the TMB made to stay at home on your work bench for the most comfortable installation and removal experience.

Will the TMB fit my rifle and how do I install it?

The TMB simply threads onto any 5/8×24 2A/3A threaded muzzle like any other self-timing directional muzzle brake. The tuner portion of the muzzle brake fits over the barrel and provided your barrel isn’t thicker than a benchmark barrels VCC contour barrel at the muzzle IE: 1.05 inches or thinner than 0.725 inches then it will fit without modifications.

The TMB comes with a torque wrench compatible spline-drive tool for installation and hex tool for 8-32 set screws. (Torque muzzle brake to 25 ft-lbs and tuner set screws to 10-20 in-lbs if you never want it to come loose during a match or hunt.) If your tmb becomes carbon locked onto the barrel the easiest way to remove it without damaging your tool by applying larger amounts of force than it was designed for, is to get a rubber mallet and tap the tool in a clockwise direction to break the carbon and loosen the device.

Why does the TMB use 5/8×24 3A threads instead of the industry standard 2A?

The current industry standard for suppressors/silencers is 5/8×24 3A/3B because class 3 threads basically have a tighter and more precise fit. They use this same class of thread because 2A/2B and 3A/3B mating parts are designed to be interchangeable and fit together to allow free-running assembly with no interference. Thread fits are developed using allowances and tolerances. Class 2 threads have allowance and tolerance, where as class 3 threads only have tolerance.

Provided your threads are cut correctly and not specifically matched to a specific muzzle brake by an ignorant gunsmith, there is no downside to using a class 3 threaded device on a class 2 threaded barrel. It’s a more precise fit and since we are running custom barrels on precision rifles, it makes sense to use more precise threads. Next time you get a barrel spun up, ask your smith for class 3 threads, your muzzle brake will install more concentric to the bore.

How long should my muzzle threads be?

The TMB was made to work with muzzle threads as short as .625 inches in length and as long as .75 inches in length. Remember your muzzle threads are what’s responsible for your muzzle device’s concentricity with the bore. For the best alignment possible, the longer the better.

Always be careful using spacers and devices that share threads especially with suppressors, that is not specifically recommended for the TMBs.

Because the TMB fits over the barrel, how thick of a barrel can I go?

The TMB fit up to and including benchmark barrels VCC contour which equals a diameter of 1.05 inches at 1 inch behind the shoulder. This is the heaviest contour we are aware of at the moment used in PRS that isn’t a straight un-contoured barrel. All lighter barrel contours will fit IE proof research competition contour, MTU barrel contour, M24 contour etc.

Straight barrels ie: straight un-contoured barrels, barrel blanks, truck axles (whatever you happen to call them) etc. will need to be turned down to the following dimensions.

How do I clean the TMB?

Same way you would clean any other muzzle brake. Soak it in a quality carbon cleaner overnight (CLR is best) and scrub the excess carbon off the outside if needed, every 300-500 rounds when you perform your barrels regular cleaning cycles. Don’t worry about scratching it, the DLC finish is harder than what you’ll be scrubbing it with. CLR or similar cleaners will not damage the TMB’s DLC finish, it is inert and unaffected by chemicals.

For example, after soaking the TMB’s brake (no need to clean the tuner and jam nut) overnight in CLR to remove all carbon from the brake, rinse it in warm soapy water and scrub clean with any typical green dish washing scrubber. (Do not soak original black-nitride TMBs in CLR overnight, it will completely remove the finish. If you want to use CLR, soak them 10 min max but be aware repeated cycles will dull the finish.)

What is Diamond-like Carbon?

Diamond-like Carbon is a type of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond and can be applied via physical vapor deposition to substrates including metals, ceramics, glass, and polymers. Physical vapor deposition is characterized by a process in which the material transitions from a condensed phase to a vapor phase and then back to a thin film condensed phase. The coating left behind by the process is 5 ten thousands of an inch thick and many times harder than any heat-treated steel with the properties or a dry lubricant. So, parts hold dimensional accuracy, while improving wear resistance, lowering the coefficient of friction, improving corrosion resistance and improving lubricity, while remaining inert to chemicals. Which is one of the main reasons why they use a DLC coating on the TMB.

The type of DLC coating used for the TMB produces a flawless and deep matte black color that is unaffected by CLR, and other extremely harsh carbon cleaning products used in firearms. DLC will not fade or wear off from repeated cleaning cycles in the same way a nitrided finish is destroyed by CLR.

What is Electropolish?

Electropolishing is an electrochemical finishing process that removes a thin layer of material from a metal part, typically stainless steel or similar alloys. The process leaves a shiny, smooth, ultra-clean surface finish.

Also known as electrochemical polishing, anodic polishing or electrolytic polishing, electropolishing is especially useful for polishing and deburring parts that are fragile or have complex geometries and has the benefit of further rounding and smoothing hard edges of objects.

Electropolishing also improves corrosion resistance through passivation. Passivation, generally associated with stainless steel, is a treatment method to protect the metal from corroding through making the material “passive” to the surrounding environment. Passivation, perhaps counterintuitively, encourages corrosion to occur on the surface, creating a thin layer of a new, non-reactive chemical. This top layer stays tightly bound to the metal, creating a natural seal that blocks the elements from corroding subsequent layers of the metal.

The electropolish finish gives a lightly brushed and then polished stainless steel look.

Are you going to offer the muzzle brake from the TMB without a tuner?

Without Warning has no plans to offer the TMB muzzle brake without the tuner.

There are no downsides to running the TMB with its tuner and just not using the tuner on a precision rifle. A benefit of barrel tuners that some don’t speak about is the inherent accuracy that comes from just having a barrel tuner on the end of your barrel. A compact and concentrated weight at the end of your barrel slows down the frequency that your barrel vibrates at when fired, increasing the time it spends at the highest and lowest vertical positions in its frequency wave, which in turn widens the barrels node and increases the time the barrel spends in said node, increasing the chance of finding it during load development and increasing the chance of staying in it, should the weather, environments change drastically, or your barrel speed up or slow down etc.

So, you benefit from it being there even if you’re not using it.

The TMB is heavy, are you going to offer a lighter version for my long-range hunting rifle/NRL Hunter build?

The TMB is heavy and robust by design. It was designed for PRS/NRL where overall weight is of no concern to the shooter and is in most cases a benefit if the weight is placed in the right place. They do however acknowledge this will have a lighter version for long range hunting/NRL Hunter builds in the future. The total weight of this version will weigh in at 7.5 oz compared to the regular TMB’s weight of 12 oz.

When will they be releasing other sizes of the TMB, the size I need isn’t listed?

Currently the TMB only comes in 5/8×24 3A with .264 and .308 bore sizes.

The .264 version can be used on both 6.5mm as well as 6mm bullets with great effectiveness.

They will be adding more variations and sizes of the product eventually. Keep following to know when these come out.

When will they be releasing metric threads?

Without Warning currently has no intention of offering metric threads direct to customers currently.

However, due to the design of the TMB and the fact it covers a portion of the barrel a thread adapter will not only be covered by the device (for aesthetics) but by using one you won’t be committing to metric threads for your next barrel and can simply have your new barrel threaded with a more common imperial thread when you replace it. Any thread adapter 1 inch in diameter or less will work and they have measured no meaningful negative effects of using one because you are not sharing your muzzle’s threads.