Recoil Reality

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I don't mind a little recoil now and then. In handguns, admittedly the biggest I've shot is a 44 magnum revolver, and while there was some muzzle flip, I wasn't left in pain and I never felt the gun was unmanageable. In long guns, I've shot a lot of larger commercial calibers, with .300 win mag being one of the largest shoulder fired guns I've fired. The recoil was noticeable, but not unbearably so. I haven't had the opportunity to fire a lot of large bore rifles, so maybe I've just not been introduced to the levels of painful recoil some people experience, but I can shoot my 12 gauge all day, or my 54r for an afternoon and might be a bit sore the next morning.

Or maybe I'm just a super tough strapping young lad.
 
lizziedog1 said:
Does anyone else here think that the way recoil is decribed and reported in magazines and manuals is a bit exaggerated?
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xfyrfiter said:
The military snipers that are using the super long range rifles, like the 338 Lapua, 416 Cheytac 50 BMG etc. are finding that they are having problems with eye damage such as detached retinas.So yes recoil can and will cause permanant damage.
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Yes, but not quite as much as they are exaggerated on the internet. The detached retina myth is just the most recent. Recoil on a 50 BMG is less than a 30-06 thanks to the rifles weighing 25-35lbs and the muzzle breaks used.

I own and shoot quite a few heavy recoiling guns. I always offer anyone at the range to try them out, and have never had anyone get injured. On the other hand I have also never had anyone want to shoot a second round out of the 460 Weatherby. :)


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I'm a short woman with small hands and I have to agree that the severity of recoil is often, not always, but often exaggerated.

I have shot a .44magum. What bothered me wasn't the shock of the recoil but, rather, the feeling that the force was going to tear the gun out of my hands. I fired 6 rounds and declined another go because I didn't want to drop the gun when my hands tired.

It really wasn't as bad as my MPA Protector .380 because after firing several magazines from that one I have to ice my hand. Less movement, but more shock with that one.

I think that a lot of the perception of recoil has to do with people, especially women, being unaccustomed to taking a shock through their hands. Some people still split wood, but few people use a sledgehammer to break rock or even a manual hammer to drive a nail. The feeling is so unfamiliar to many people that the mind magnifies it. It reminds me of a trick I used to use in Jr. High gym class when we played field hockey.

I was a lousy player but I did have one move I could use on defense. I would ignore the ball -- because I knew I wouldn't hit the thing anyway -- and swing with all the strength of a girl who split firewood with a 12lb maul at the other girl's stick. Being unprepared for the shock she'd often drop her stick out of sheer surprise.

I think that recoil often affects people's minds that way.

And then there is the cumulative effect of all those people who get their ego involved in one-upping others about gun kick and intimidating newbies to show how tough they are.

*shrug*

I'm not saying that some guns aren't truly unpleasant to fire. Just that their metaphorical bark is often considerably greater than the actual bite.
 
Left uncontrolled, it will seriously affect, or seriously limit your shooting.
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True enough, but most people will never shoot enough to experience the results...
 
The most painful recoil I have experienced is from a .25 acp micro pistol and a .380 bersa (due to some sharp corners or something). I also found that after not having shot one for a while, the .40 made me unintentionally flinch quite a bit, so it is a factor, maybe not to describe who can and cannot shoot it, but how much you might need to train with it before using it defensively.
 
A lot of it is the gun and its weight or build. A little 38 snub can start stinging quite a bit after a few cylinders if it has thin wood grips. This is true even shooting target loads. However, if you put a Pachmayr on it, the "recoil" drops by a great margin. I've shot 12 gauge that didn't feel any more to me than a 22LR just due to their weight. On the other hand, I've shot little NAA Mini revolvers in 22 Mag and it felt like a .357 with a 6" barrel.
 
56hawk said:
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Recoil on a 50 BMG is less than a 30-06 thanks to the rifles weighing 25-35lbs and the muzzle breaks used.

...
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The 50 BMG (BOHICA) that I have shot several times has a lot more recoil than any 30-06 that I've ever shot, or any 300 Win Mag for that matter. Sample of one, I know, but still. Never shot a 460 Weatherby though - I'm jealous.
 
Flopsweat said:
The 50 BMG (BOHICA) that I have shot several times has a lot more recoil than any 30-06 that I've ever shot, or any 300 Win Mag for that matter. Sample of one, I know, but still. Never shot a 460 Weatherby though - I'm jealous.
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Yes, but I was referring to actual military sniper rifles as previously posted. I'm sure a 17 lbs. BOHICA kicks a bit more than a 35 lbs. Barrett. :) Sounds like fun to me. Anyway I was just making a point about how ridiculous the idea was that you would get detached retinas from shooting one. Or did you get a detached retina, broken collar bone, fractured shoulder, etc. from shooting it?

By the way if you ever get the chance be sure to try a 460 Weatherby. Even it's not as bad as people make it out to be.
 
I've shot all the way from airguns to .300 Remington Ultra Mag, soon I'll be working my way up to 338 Lapua. Recoil is present to me but it's never been a factor. Sure I may get a few bruises here and there but I've yet to fire anything that made me sit and think "wow, I never want to do that again".

I look at it as a lesson. I've got a Yugo M48a, 8mm mauser and what seems like a 2 foot thick steel buttplate. That rifle is the only one the recoil concerns me with. Not because the recoil isn't manageable, but because of that butt plate, one wrong move with holding it properly and it will let you know you screwed up.

Few weeks ago I didn't have it tight enough, soon as I pulled the trigger I realized it, took me a good minute or two of sitting there before I opened the bolt and mentally kicked my own ass. Nice big black and blue as a constant lesson.

2 days ago went into the gun store looking for an HK G3 clone. Didn't have any but they had a pretty Savage 110BA in .338 Lapua on the wall. So she came home with me instead. Not worried about the kick as long as I know to respect that rifle and hold her the right way lol
 
56hawk said:
Yes, but I was referring to actual military sniper rifles as previously posted. I'm sure a 17 lbs. BOHICA kicks a bit more than a 35 lbs. Barrett. :) Sounds like fun to me. Anyway I was just making a point about how ridiculous the idea was that you would get detached retinas from shooting one. Or did you get a detached retina, broken collar bone, fractured shoulder, etc. from shooting it?

By the way if you ever get the chance be sure to try a 460 Weatherby. Even it's not as bad as people make it out to be.
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So much for my sample of one. :) And hey, I didn't say it wasn't fun - as long as I kept it to 20 rounds or less. The concussion alone will ring your bell if you keep at it long enough. Rest assured I will not turn down an opportunity to shoot a 460 Weatherby. I did get to shoot an old Sharps 45-110 a few months ago. Not bad recoil, big deep boom, remarkably accurate rifle. Biggest falling block I've ever shot, and by far the most fun.
 
My experience with Recoil

The nastiest was a 12 gauge pump shotgun firing slugs. Second worst was my Mosin Nagant because the stock is too short for me. I have a recoil pad on it so the LOP is better and want to shoot it at an outdoor range.
 
Recoil with Papa's Long Tom

And then there was this michevious Uncle who told me that shooting Papa's 40" barrel 12 bore Long Tom was as easy as pie.

I just needed to lean up up against this pecan tree to straighten up the droop just a bit.

salty
 
Don"t know if I'm considered big or medium (5' 10" 230ish lbs) but I had no real issues with a .454. It was a ported Taurus Raging bull though, and seemed rather tame compared to the NOISE! The only guns that ever kicked me around were a Rem 760 carbine in .30-06 (an 06 carbine? Really? Yes, unfortunately true) Didn't hurt, had a recoil pad on, but pushed me around like a middle linebacker. The only time a gun hurt me was my son's NEF single 12 that I decided to put a 3" mag turkey load in to shoot a clay bird. After getting knocked back about 3 steps and having to shake my hand out for a minute or so due to the fact that the trigger guard got my index and middle fingers, I decided that MIGHT not be the best gun to shoot 3" mags out of. A good healthy push like that .454 or my CZ VZ-24 or a 12 ga feels good to me. When the gun comes back as fast as the bullet goes forward, I'll pass. (I"ll try a few shots, of course, just to say I did, but no desire to make a day of it)
 
The only gun I've found to be unpleasent in the recoil area was a .450 Marlin Guide Gun. Very light weight rifle with a very powerful round.
 
As has been previously mentioned in the thread, I'm a firm believer that the fit of a rifle contributes to 99% of the perceived recoil.
I mostly shoot either an 1885 High Wall in .45-70 that feels like it was designed around my frame, or a .58 custom muzzleloader that actually was & I can shoot either of these 2 guns all day long, benched, seated or offhand without any discomfort whatsoever.
The worst rifle I have ever shot, as far as my perception of recoil goes, was an old Ruger model 77 in .243, believe it or not. That thing felt like it was kicking like 3 legged ninja every time I pulled the trigger. I developed a VERY bad flich after 2 rounds with that thing. The only thing I can think that caused this was it had a shorter LOP than I'm generally used to & I couldn't ever get a good cheek-weld with it.
 
Sometimes the magazines underestimate the recoil as far as I'm concerned. I remember the article about the .45-70 Contender (believe it was Dave Arnold) that stated something like recoil is stiff, but in no way objectionable, while showing the gun in full recoil reaching for the sky. Don't know if Arnold's specimen was bull barreled or if maybe he was shooting those pansy 405s, but my tapered barrel with 300 gr Remingtons is absolutely objectionable, even Magnaported.
 
Wife reminded me of this one :

We were at her uncles place far out in WA, shooting allowed !

Her uncle wanted to touch off a few while we were there, so we brought our portable trap and let the birds fly.

We cycled through a few pumps, did some stationary blasting with a few doubleguns, and then it came.......

A piece he keeps propped up in the corner of the bedroom : Single, break action 12 ga. It weighed far too little, if you ask me.

Cliff notes version, we found our way to 3.5" magnum goose loads.

I've never sworn because of recoil before. I'm not sure if it was the weapon, the load, or my hold..... but her grandmother heard the expletive inside the house.

Never, EVER again..... until 5 mins later.

I tried it with a 2.75 buckshot and got a cheek slap that left my face numb.

I didn't bother checking the markings on the gun for maker.......I just handed it back. It must have weighed all of about 5 pounds.

He laughed, and said thats why he never used it.

Thanks uncle..........

He figured I might like it because I was a "big gun guy"

I'm big, yes. Also, a "gun guy". That was friggin horrible. I've heavily used 10 ga for goose and slugs for more, and fired a wide variety of large caliber rifles and handguns. Any single one of them was better than that devil fowling piece.............. foul piece more like it.
 
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I'm big, yes. Also, a "gun guy". That was friggin horrible. I've heavily used 10 ga for goose and slugs for more, and fired a wide variety of large caliber rifles and handguns. Any single one of them was better than that devil fowling piece.............. foul piece more like it.
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Ah yes, the singles. I've got one, a CBC from K-Mart. Hey, don't laugh, it was only 28 bucks. It's never been fired. A friend of mine told me he had one as well. He said, "It's a real shoulderbreaker." I believe it. I'll stick to my SPX where even the buck loads are pleasant.
 
I recently bought a couple Mosin Nagants and my first time at the range after cleaning one of them, I'll admit I was a little nervous about shooting it. I had read so much about Mosins being real bruisers, and that I'd likely need a recoil pad just to make the rifle anything less than painful, but I wanted to try it with the metal butt plate anyways. As I fired the first round I expected a big hit in my shoulder, and got nothing more than a gentle push. It was so light that I thought maybe there was an issue. Perhaps a squib load, I thought. Second shot, same deal. No recoil at all really. Then the grin hit my face. :D I shot over 150 rounds through my first Mosin that day. And when all was said and done I had absolutely zero discomfort in my shoulder and the last round still felt as gentle as the first round. And I had a new favorite rifle to boot!
 
I have a 700BDL in .264 win mag with a nice pad. If you hold it tight to your shoulder, it's not bad. Don't hold it tight in to the shoulder it will kick you. I do prefer the .257 Roberts now that I'm a bit older. Same gun 700BDL.

I shot a friend's 44 mag in a 4" S&W N frame, Hogue grips. Did not notice it any more kick than shooting my 6" Colt 38 with stock grips.

Shot another friends 41 mag Ruger 2" stock grips. One shot and my hand was bleeding. I really did not like that gun.

Most wonderful shotgun I ever shot was a 12 ga Browning Superposed o/u custom trap gun with an air shock built into in the stock. Full trap loads felt like you were shooting a .22. The guy that owned it said he had $3k in that gun (and this was 1963) First gun I ever shot 25 of 25 with. (I was 16)

My Winchester 1897 12 ga has a really nice pad. It's easy to shoot too.
 
the one thing ive learned....shooting is 90% mental.
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Right up till you pull the trigger, then physics sort of takes over.

The occasional bruised shoulder is a sure sign that the physics stuff still works.

One major thing not addressed by the standard free recoil energy calculation is the length of the recoil impulse.

Different calibers have different impulse durations, even if they might have the same recoil energy.

A huge factor is also stock shape and fit.

For handguns, grips can make a difference.

For rifles the stock shape can make a huge difference.

My brother had a Remington pump rifle with a horrible stock.
It smacked you face every time you pulled the trigger, and could even knock shooting glasses off your face.
A little butt-stock angle adjustment on the miter saw fixed the problem.
 
Quote:
Left uncontrolled, it will seriously affect, or seriously limit your shooting.

True enough, but most people will never shoot enough to experience the results...
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I agree, but most people who have developed an uncontrollable flinch never thought it would happen to them. Most of my acquaintances who suffer from it, were only shooting target loads. Often the were shooting hundreds of rds/wk with a nice, but ill fitting trap gun.
 
yup. i put 12 quick rounds through my 300 weatherby mag one morning. was shooting 200gn hpbts at 3000fps muzzle velocity.

the next morning i couldn't move my arm. went to the doc. he said i pulled ligaments in my chest. said i could wait a few weeks for it to heal on its own, or he could give me a shot of cortisone and it would heal in a week. i took the shot (no pun intended).

murf
 
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