First off, this isn't my method or anything since its mostly a collection of the obvious. If you like, you can call it the "Holy cow why didn't I think of that" (or HCWDITOT for you military guys 
) recoil control method. Steve brings up a good point about how difficult it is convey recoil control in mere words, but hopefully I can help out a little bit. I described this before and one TFLer PMed me stating that just one detail I mentioned helped them out immensely. So I hope you can pick something up here:
Holding the Rifle - The best way to put this is to think of how you would shake a person's hand: firmly. Your grip on the rifle should be as firm as you would use to shake another's hand. Also, your muscular tension should be similar. That is to say, when the other person's hand goes up and down, your hand follows suit automatically (while still retaining firmness). So when the rifle travels with recoil, move very naturally with it, not against it, and not amplifying it (while still retaining a firm grip). Also, be sure to keep your thumb on the right side of the stock. As for your cheek weld, try to keep it firm yet fluid. If you resist the rifle it's gonna hurt, if you amplify the recoil, it's gonna hurt.
Position of the Rifle - The most important thing here is the position of the butt since that is the contact point of the recoil. One of the better techniques I've seen is as follows: Take a standing position and face forward. Hold the rifle pointing directly up to the sky with just your strong hand. Take the top of the butt and place it just a hair under your collarbone. Let the weight of the rifle set it firmly into that tiny pocket there (rifle is still pointing straight up). Then rotate the rifle downward and left into a standing-type position, rotate your head left and place your cheek on the stock, make sure you keep your strong hand elbow up. Allow the rifle to settle into your off hand. Grasp accordingly. The most important part is top of the butt under the collarbone. A little disclaimer though: You have to be careful to not allow the butt to be so low in your shoulder such that it will go under your armpit during recoil, then you'll have to start trading your bolt actions to get leftys Once you find your "sweet spot" this way, you can just shoulder your rifle normally. After a few thousand times it will come naturally with no problem.
Body Positioning - Some positions hurt you more than others, for the obvious reason that some are more stable. For example: shooting a heavy recoiling gun in rollover prone...ouch! But just remember to be fluid and to allow your body to move with the rifle naturally. If you want to know how your body should be, take a stance with your feet about 2' apart. Then have some one push your upper body around. Be as firm as it takes so that you don't fall over, but not so firm that you are leaning into their push in the slightest bit. Don't forget to only contact hard surface to soft surface if at all possible.
Mentality - The gun won't hurt you if you position correctly. Believe in that. I always hear that people have to ignore recoil. I would disagree and say that you have to learn a proper position (which cuts down recoil dramatically), then you can forget about it...since its not there with most weapons. Only the calibers greater than .40 will give you any sort of thump after you learn to position correctly.
Try all this and see if it doesn't help you out with shooting. If it helps out, report it on this thread. If it doesn't and there is something that didn't quite work out, still report it on this thread. Thanks all and good luck!
) recoil control method. Steve brings up a good point about how difficult it is convey recoil control in mere words, but hopefully I can help out a little bit. I described this before and one TFLer PMed me stating that just one detail I mentioned helped them out immensely. So I hope you can pick something up here:Holding the Rifle - The best way to put this is to think of how you would shake a person's hand: firmly. Your grip on the rifle should be as firm as you would use to shake another's hand. Also, your muscular tension should be similar. That is to say, when the other person's hand goes up and down, your hand follows suit automatically (while still retaining firmness). So when the rifle travels with recoil, move very naturally with it, not against it, and not amplifying it (while still retaining a firm grip). Also, be sure to keep your thumb on the right side of the stock. As for your cheek weld, try to keep it firm yet fluid. If you resist the rifle it's gonna hurt, if you amplify the recoil, it's gonna hurt.
Position of the Rifle - The most important thing here is the position of the butt since that is the contact point of the recoil. One of the better techniques I've seen is as follows: Take a standing position and face forward. Hold the rifle pointing directly up to the sky with just your strong hand. Take the top of the butt and place it just a hair under your collarbone. Let the weight of the rifle set it firmly into that tiny pocket there (rifle is still pointing straight up). Then rotate the rifle downward and left into a standing-type position, rotate your head left and place your cheek on the stock, make sure you keep your strong hand elbow up. Allow the rifle to settle into your off hand. Grasp accordingly. The most important part is top of the butt under the collarbone. A little disclaimer though: You have to be careful to not allow the butt to be so low in your shoulder such that it will go under your armpit during recoil, then you'll have to start trading your bolt actions to get leftys
Once you find your "sweet spot" this way, you can just shoulder your rifle normally. After a few thousand times it will come naturally with no problem. Body Positioning - Some positions hurt you more than others, for the obvious reason that some are more stable. For example: shooting a heavy recoiling gun in rollover prone...ouch! But just remember to be fluid and to allow your body to move with the rifle naturally. If you want to know how your body should be, take a stance with your feet about 2' apart. Then have some one push your upper body around. Be as firm as it takes so that you don't fall over, but not so firm that you are leaning into their push in the slightest bit. Don't forget to only contact hard surface to soft surface if at all possible.
Mentality - The gun won't hurt you if you position correctly. Believe in that. I always hear that people have to ignore recoil. I would disagree and say that you have to learn a proper position (which cuts down recoil dramatically), then you can forget about it...since its not there with most weapons. Only the calibers greater than .40 will give you any sort of thump after you learn to position correctly.
Try all this and see if it doesn't help you out with shooting. If it helps out, report it on this thread. If it doesn't and there is something that didn't quite work out, still report it on this thread. Thanks all and good luck!
