Felt Recoil

[Regig]

How do you determine felt recoil? I understand recoil cannot be reduced with the same cartridge, just using things to reduce the felt recoil. What percentage of recoil does the bolt carrier group hitting the rear receiver wall cause? I would think a lot because the bullet is very fast but weighs only several grams, while the bolt carrier is much slower but is very very heavy compared to the bullet. The rifle in question is an AK type, does anyone have one, perhaps you could weigh the bolt and tell? Thanks, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[mio]

by how my shoulder feels

 

[moooose102]

Actually, you can reduce actual recoil, simply by increasing the weight of the gun. If there is more mass to push, some of that energy is used up trying to accelerate the extra mass.

 

[makarovnik]

A lot of people talk about felt recoil vs. actual recoil. I say if you can't feel it, who cares?

 

[gvnwst]

I believe that muzzle brakes actually reduce overall recoil, not just felt. They use the pressure and gas from the cartridge to "pull" the gun forward...

 

[Regig]

But what about

the bolt carrier hitting the back of the receiver? wouldn't this cause "double recoil".
1). Bullet leaves barrel
2). BCG hits rear of receiver

 

[PLRinmypocket]

regig,
yes...but only in a semi auto, of course. bolt hitting the back of the receiver is a large part of felt recoil, especially if it is a heavy bolt and it hits hard.

Recoil is energy, and you can feel that energy in one impulse, or spread out over a lot of time. The difference between these is often called felt recoil.

You feel it a lot more if someone punches you in the shoulder versus someone pushing you in the shoulder for a second or 2. both can be the same amount of energy ( basically force x time), but you feel the punch more than the push.


A muzzle brake is like cheating, because you are using the muzzle blast to push on the around the gun to counteract the recoil forces.

 

[Regig]

True, muzzle brakes are cheating, but theres nothing wrong with it though, I believe.

 

[heron]

If the rifle is working properly, the bolt carrier will not hit the back of the receiver; its rearward travel will be slowed to a stop by the return spring before it can strike anything.

I think that to test how much and what effect this has, you could take a bolt action and an AK of the same caliber and fire each to compare the recoil. I don't know, but you may find that the recoil from the AK actually seems less, since some of the rifle's energy is used to cycle the action instead of all of it going into the shoulder of the shooter.