Recoil Limit

[FlSwampRat]

To explain to customers the concept of recoil, or kick as they usually cost it, I tell them weight is on their side. They'll pick up a 9 mm pistol and say "Oh, this is too heavy, have anything lighter in 9mm?"

I use the hypothetical "You're kicking two balls, one is a soccer ball and the other a bowling ball. Broken toes notwithstanding, you kick each just as hard. Which is going farther?"
Unanimous answer is the soccer ball.
I tell them that in the shooting analogous part of that, the cartridge is doing the kicking, the ball is the gun and you're the one it's kicking it toward.
Sometimes the light comes on. Sometimes it doesn't. Guess the bulb is burned out.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Not anything quite that big. But I would donate my left nut to science to fire one.

It gets boring after a while but but you do get a nice permanent ringing in your ears to remember it by

 

[FL-NC]

I don't like recoil, and avoid it whenever possible. Outside of turkeys (3" 12 gauge), there's nothing I hunt that requires a gun that beats me up. My most powerful handgun is a 357, but I fire hundreds of 9mm and 45 ACP to every 357 round. I have a few milsurp rifles in 30-06 that are rarely fired. I do my long range target shooting with 308 (AR10/ M24). My "hunting calibers"? 243 and 6.5 CM. I also use a lot of 223.

 

[Elkins45]

I have a 460 Rowland conversion barrel for my 1911. It’s a really good example of how much the gun matters in terms of felt recoil even when the two guns are similar weight. It’s much more comfortable to shoot than my 4” S&W 629 with similar bullet weights. Dramatically more.

On the other hand, weight makes a difference too. I have a S&W 340 which is a scandium 357 magnum. I think it weighs around 11 ounces. I will NEVER shoot 357 ammo in it ever again. Five rounds was five too many. Same sort of deal with my fantastically accurate Tikka T3 lightweight in 308. I never really thought of 308 as having any appreciable recoil but when load testing one summer I discovered that evening my shoulder was blue. It’s a great rifle for hunting and a real tack driver, but it’s light as a feather and feels as punishing as my 45-70 from the bench. Fortunately a winter jacket makes that irrelevant.

So I guess what I’m saying is that FELT recoil it subjective and really depends on a bunch of factors. Bullet weight, cartridge, gun weight, and stock/grip design all combine to determine what the shooter experiences.

The biggest rifle I’ve ever fired is either a full-power 45-70 in a Marlin or a 375 Ruger in a M77. Neither was miserable, but I think the Marlin probably felt worse. I wouldn’t want to shoot more than a handful of full-power loads at one session.

 

[bikerdoc]

At 71 it is lower every year.
I stick to 357, 9 mm, and 45 for EDC.
9mm, and 223 for carbines.

 

[SlowFuse]

Ive never shot any type of "dangerous game" rifles, lightweight 50 BMG's etc. Both of those seem like something i'm fine with never trying. I have shot ultra mags like 7mm rum and 300 rum, no issue there. Stout lever loads out of the marlin 1895 get painful after a while.

For pistols, about the same. Never shot anything more than a stout 45 colt out of a hefty single action. The xds 45 with +p and airweight model 360 with fullbore 357's both get uncomfortable after a while.

The one that stands out is a #4 turkey load out of a single shot 12 ga H&R. No fun .

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

It gets boring after a while but but you do get a nice permanent ringing in your ears to remember it by

Yeah, I already got that. Earlier in-life I fired some stuff not that much smaller.

 

[stillquietvoice]

When I was young, recoil didn't bother me that much. I used to shoot 3006 and 7mm rem mag regularly with no issues. The heaviest recoil came from a mossberg 500 pump and 3in mag slugs that was about my comfort level.

The biggest handgun was a dan Wesson 41 mag recoil was heavy but tolerable.

Now after injury some 20 ga field loads but I limit them my 7mm08 is the biggest I shoot regularly. I shot a braked 308 t/c compass, but that had less felt recoil than my 7mm. I did shoot a 41 mag at the range this fall but preferred 9mm and 40 Smith.

 

[FlSwampRat]

At 71 it is lower every year.
I stick to 357, 9 mm, and 45 for EDC.
9mm, and 223 for carbines.

I was just posting new inventory from one of our other stores on Armslist and saw this gun and had to laugh. So glad they put a compensator on the muzzle to tame that wicked .22LR round.

 

[DukeConnor]

Ever shot one ?

yep. 8 inch m110 and towed 155's.

to be totally honest i was FDC but would occasionally go to the gun line and pull the lanyard.

Sort of makes shooting anything else uneventful.

 

[RavenTai]

My buddy has a 500 S&W, I was done after a cylinder full, my palm was sore for a day or two. I would take one if you gave it to me, the guns are cool to look at and cartoonishly large, but I would not shoot it much. Nor waste precious gun budget on it.

My first experience with 44mag I did not like in a single action ruger, the smooth wood plow handle slipped back and rotated muzzle up on recoil, supposedly that is intentional to set it up for the next hammer set but I found the movement in my hand disconcerting. I later shot a 44mag in a rubber gripped Smith model 29 and it was lot of fun.

But for revolver I own .357mags, enough energy to be fun but not punishing in full size revolvers.

For rifle i dont like shooting 30-06 all day, usually off a bench at some point i will get the position wrong and get a good thump once my shoulder is thumped I am switching to something easier for the remainder of the day.

I won't own anything heavier than 30-06 primarily because going further does not buy me anything useful for the noise cost and recoil.

I dont like the recoil of my Romanian ak-47 in 7.62x39, I have a big watermelon head and a wide face, getting my eye to the sights puts my cheek weld right under and against my cheekbone. The butt smarts into the orbital bone instead of the cheek meat. I have recently heard it has to do with the muzzle brake of all things, pushing down to heavily on the muzzle and causing the butt to sharply rise, I have yet to bring it to the range and test this out with and without to see if that helps, I have a Russian sks with a much more plesent recoil in the same caliber, but the sks is also heavier.

I don't like 40 cal recoil, but 45 is supposedly heavier, but to me .45 feels like riding big a wave, slide returning to battery as the sights return to the target, powerful but smooth. 40 just feels jarring, like riding a sharp explosion. I have never shot 10mm but I would imagine it is like its daughter cartrige the 40, but worse. I need to find out.

 

[rust collector]

At 68 no need for chest thumping, shoulder bruising or retina detaching. Born to be mild.

 

[94045]

I hate snappy, fast kicking light rifles in Hyper-Extra-Mag-Improved. The recoil profile is spiteful, if the stock doesn't fit properly they knock your cheekbones. And I do not need the speed and hullabaloo in the hunting I do.

Now, recoil limit...

My personal big bore is an 8.5lb .458 Lott, and I give myself an allowance of 6 rounds per session from the bench. More, and it starts hurting, which is a good way to develop a flinch.

I've shot .470, .500, .505, and they're all manageable in hunting scenario. No plinking, that's sure...

8.5 lb .458 Lott is above my threshold. Although I would take it over a .340 Wby any day.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

This is about my limit.

That gun was not properly emplaced. They're going to have to re lay it and emplace the collimator and they ain't hitting jack

 

[FlSwampRat]

That gun was not properly emplaced. They're going to have to re lay it and emplace the collimator and they ain't hitting jack

Well, that's good news for Jack.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I really don't enjoy recoil anymore. my m70 06 with a steel but plate is pretty much my max.

My 29-2 44 is about it in handguns.

You add "with steel butt-plate" to a 30-30 or bigger and it's unpleasant.

 

[lysanderxiii]

That gun was not properly emplaced. They're going to have to re lay it and emplace the collimator and they ain't hitting jack

Most likely that was just a round used to set the trails.

 

[film495]

I've fired 30-06 and .45 ACP and they kick some, but not too much. Could do more, but don't really have much interest in traumatizing myself ... lol

personally, I find the lighter calibers more fun to shoot - so, that's where I spend my time. 30-30 plinker loads in a lever and up to 9mm for handgun, but - I enjoy the little .32 ACP more than the 9 for plinking, it is just easier to control well at my limited skill level.

 

[Coyote44]

I gave up all the magnums in rifles....but I did have a .375 H&H...and that was my limit for rifle. My turkey gun, a Benelli M2 semi...I can handle the 3 inch turkey loads and that is about it. My handguns....my Ruger Superblackhawk 44 mag is about it. The 1911's in 45 and 38 Super are not a problem.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Most likely that was just a round used to set the trails.

That's stupid. I actually used to do this for a living(and I did it when you had to know how to plot your location and work up your data without a computer to figure it out for you) and if you just shoot a round without properly emplacing the piece you have no idea where that round is going to land or at least not with any accuracy.

I spent 2 years on a 198 as we dug the spades in with a pick.

 

[lysanderxiii]

That's stupid. I actually used to do this for a living(and I did it when you had to know how to plot your location and work up your data without a computer to figure it out for you) and if you just shoot a round without properly emplacing the piece you have no idea where that round is going to land or at least not with any accuracy.

I spent 2 years on a 198 as we dug the spades in with a pick.

In Vietnam it was standard practice to pump off a round to set the spades. That first round was not really intended to hit anything specific. After that you survey the piece and set the aiming stake.

From another Gunner:

KSGunner
It is a M777 155mm howitzer, this is probably the first shot fired from that position, they look to be setting the spades the lazy way by partially digging them in and then letting recoil do the rest of the work. The downside to this that thry will have to relay the gun because it is no longer in the same spot throwing off the azimuth of lay.

If you're shooting on a range, where you cannot risk the round going outside the impact area, yeah don't set spades that way. But, it was and still is one way to do it.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

In Vietnam it was standard practice to pump off a round to set the spades. That first round was not really intended to hit anything specific. After that you survey the piece and set the aiming stake.

From another Gunner:
If you're shooting on a range, where you cannot risk the round going outside the impact area, yeah don't set spades that way. But, it was and still is one way to do it.

I know we're waaay off topic here but regardless of what that first round is intended to hit it's going to hit something.

And range or not you can't (or at least you shouldn't ) risk a wild round anywhere. That's how friendly fire incidents happen.

With the exception of the 2 years I spent in 3/11FA I was SP my entire career but I've never seen anyone emplaced a gun like that.

 

[slickracer]

.270 in a rifle and .357 in a revolver, I got nothing to prove. I had magnumitis in my 20`s. If I could only have one caliber today it would be .22LR

 

[lysanderxiii]

I know we're waaay off topic here but regardless of what that first round is intended to hit it's going to hit something.

And range or not you can't (or at least you shouldn't ) risk a wild round anywhere. That's how friendly fire incidents happen.

With the exception of the 2 years I spent in 3/11FA I was SP my entire career but I've never seen anyone emplaced a gun like that.

Part of the reason you never saw that method of setting the spades is you were with M198s. The M114 and M198 use a front pedestal to elevate the wheels. It was prohibited that you use a round to set the spades, as you can damage the pedestal. With the old M101 setting the spades with a round just drags the wheels back a bit.

That method of setting the spades can be done with the M119. You can see it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=owwOXIUluq0

And if you use direct fire, you know where the round went.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Part of the reason you never saw that method of setting the spades is you were with M198s. The M114 and M198 use a front pedestal to elevate the wheels. It was prohibited that you use a round to set the spades, as you can damage the pedestal. With the old M101 setting the spades with a round just drags the wheels back a bit.

That method of setting the spades can be done with the M119. You can see it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=owwOXIUluq0

And if you use direct fire, you know where the round went.

I'll take your word for it man. It just seemed weird to me