A Note RE: Rifle Recoil...

As suggested by some others, exposure to higher recoil over a period of time can cause de-sensitization. I spent one long weekend trying to get a 6 pound 58 Navy Arms Hawken carbine to shoot lee 440 reals with 125 grains of 3f off a bench. Left me with a splitting headache, bruised cheek bone, swollen flip finger, and impressive colors on my shoulder. Since then the only things that seem to kick is my 6lb franchi 48 3” 1/78 oz doing patterns and the 375hh a bolt stalker with 300 sierras at 2600 which puts my pectorals into involuntary twitching at about 20 rounds.

memtb said:

From the bench my tolerance level is about 60 ft/lbs. for about 20 to 25 rounds! For my wife, from the bench is about 38 ft/lbs for around 10 rounds. Both rifles are fitted pretty well to us, and have a good recoil pad. That said, after an extended day on the bench....my next day shooting is pretty dismal due to a “tender” shoulder. Groups then run in the 1 1/2” to 2” range. memtb

Click to expand...

Have you considered a career as a heavyweight boxer? I consider myself pretty recoil immune but I can see I’m nowhere near the top of the ladder.

sugarmaker said:

Have you considered a career as a heavyweight boxer? I consider myself pretty recoil immune but I can see I’m nowhere near the top of the ladder.

Click to expand...

I was gonna respond with, “I’m not very bright”! But, as my wife shoots a fairly high recoil rifle....my comment would not earn me any endearment!

Also, it’s my “only” hunting rifle .....I had to “man-up”! memtb

I think my limit is a Tikka T3X in .30-06 with 180gr bullets. My Ruger GSR with 150gr .308s doesn't phase me at all.

However, I've noticed with the Henry .45-70, that the recoil pad makes a big difference. Factory pad that feels like it was carved from an old tractor tire gets unpleasant very quickly. With a Limb Saver on the gun, it's not too bad at all. Although, depending on the load, I can develop a flinch after a while anyway.

The profile of a recoil pad also seems to have an effect on me. I prefer them flat and squishy. Hard plates like the Garand and M14 just don't work for me at all. Owned both, and both hurt.

I guess we've all got our limits and preferences.

Recoil: I can shoot a .338 wm. Well. Through a full ladder work up.

I can shoot a .243. Well. All Day Long.

I can shoot a .223. Well. All year long.

It's a real thing.

Stock fit and gun weight has always been a bigger factor to me than the actual round fired. I'm 6-3 and absolutely hate short stocks. I've got a mix of hard buttplates and squishy pads which don't seem to make too much difference when off a bench. More often then not the recoil to the shoulder is not at all the concern, it's the cheek slap and my thumb smacking me in the nose I truly do not enjoy.

I like collecting the Mosin Nagant rifles & have gotten used the the recoil of heavy 200gr+ loads on a steel butt plate. But I have a friend that likes to collect strange caliber rifles & brought an African knock down gun to the range to shoot(what he called it) that shot the .458 Win Mag, he loaded up some 500gr rounds then let me take the first shot. I forgot to not let my thumb hang over the stock & almost broke my thumb & nose but my shoulder could handle the recoil. The 2nd shot finally hit the target about 25yd away.
The only time I recall my shoulder giving me problems is after shooting in a problem scope on a 12ga with a rifled slug barrel when I was younger.(it took me 5 boxes of slugs) I guess that what helped strengthen up my shoulder. LOL

A few years ago I worked over a 700 Classic in 35 Whelen.I put it in an SPS tupperware stock because it was light and had a soft pad on it.Full throttle 225 grain handloads were pretty mean.It weighed 7.5 pounds with scope,sling and 5 rounds of ammunition.My 300 WM weighs right at 8 pounds the same way.It hits a sharper blow,but that Whelen feels like it hits harder.I have all I need to build the rifle that I'll hunt with this coming fall on the workbench right now and will start on it in the next few days.It'll be a 338-06 AI,and I don't want it to weigh much more than 8 pounds.The worst beating I ever took from a rifle without a doubt was from a cousin's incredibly light Win. M70.It was a 30-06 that I was handed when I was helping some guys sight in their rifles.I didn't know it was full of 220 grain ammo.The Tasco scope had a generous amount of eye relief,like maybe 3/4 of an inch,and it knocked the daylights out of me.I retired from sighting other people's rifles in right before hunting season.It took a lot of pellets and 22LR to get my groove back.

WVRJ said:

The Tasco scope had a generous amount of eye relief,like maybe 3/4 of an inch,and it knocked the daylights out of me.

Click to expand...

That is one of the things I think also plays into a recoil discussion. The vast majority of rifles today have optical sights, many of which are bulky and set up very close to the shooters eye. Getting 'scoped' is really not fun and sadly I've seen quite few people get clocked over the years. 3/4" is NOT generous in my book. Anymore all of my scopes are set up minimum 2 to 3 inches of eye relief.

illinoisburt said:

That is one of the things I think also plays into a recoil discussion. The vast majority of rifles today have optical sights, many of which are bulky and set up very close to the shooters eye. Getting 'scoped' is really not fun and sadly I've seen quite few people get clocked over the years. 3/4" is NOT generous in my book. Anymore all of my scopes are set up minimum 2 to 3 inches of eye relief.

Click to expand...

I’m more demanding than you....I prefer greater than 4” on low power, and 3 1/2” or greater on highest power. My hunting rifle recoils a bit more than the majority of “everyday” hunting rifles, and wears a scope with very “generous” eye relief. Recently, when shooting my 45-70 from the bench I got bumped pretty good. I had bought a relatively inexpensive scope for it, after getting hit I checked the eye relief.....well under 4” on high power (4x). Ya get what you pay for....cheaper scopes generally have insufficient eye relief for a heavy recoil rifle! memtb

This happened after I switched to the Leupold to get a little bit more eye relief.
The GPO I had on there before was slightly better optically, but the rifle would come back and touch me pretty much every shot.
My buddy shot the gun with the GPO on it and didn't have any issue. But hold that rifle a little too loose and even with the increase in eye relief the Leupold offered, it still left a pretty nice cut on him.

7 Mag is about where the fun stops for me. It's probably the hardest kicker I own, and I'm not interested in going heavier.

LoonWulf said:

This happened after I switched to the Leupold to get a little bit more eye relief.
The GPO I had on there before was slightly better optically, but the rifle would come back and touch me pretty much every shot.
My buddy shot the gun with the GPO on it and didn't have any issue. But hold that rifle a little too loose and even with the increase in eye relief the Leupold offered, it still left a pretty nice cut on him.

Click to expand...

Ouch!