Rifles that kick like a mule, what you got and what's your work arounds

[Mosin Bubba]

I'm not a magnum guy, so I don't have a lot of brutal kickers. A 7mm Mag is about the biggest that my rifles go; I have a 45-70 but have never put any nuclear loads through it.

I'd say my two most unpleasant experiences with rifles are

- A Win 94 in 444 Marlin. A friend won one at an auction, and took it out shooting to try it out. He offered to let me shoot a tube through it, I fired one round and handed it back. Just an evil little thing.

-My Gewehr 98 with Ecaudorian machine gun loads. Lots of people know how unpleasant those skinny steel military buttplates can be when they punch you - I've never had a milsurp punch me harder than that. It makes my M44 Mosin with 203gr heavy ball feel like a picnic.

I've never managed to finish off a 5 round stripper clip in one go, and I've tried several times, because I foolishly bought about 20 clips of ammo at a gun show without trying any first. Think I still have several boxes of them laying around out there.

 

[Riomouse911]

The Guide Gun .45/70 has stout recoil when stiffly loaded... I don’t shoot a ton of these loads, so I just power through it.
My A-bolt .338 Win Mag was a real kicker. That was sold to pay the rent years ago.
My Lefever 16 Ga SxS has a habit of punching me in the face with heavy or magnum loads. I just quit shooting the heavy kicking loads in that gun and keep it to dove/quail loads.
My Dad gave me a .300 Whby Mark V that I havent even shot yet... I honestly don’t think I’m looking forward to shooting it.
Stay safe.

 

[mcb]

Mosin. Limbsaver.

I put a recoil pad on my Mosin more for Length of Pull issued than recoil. Man was that gun short through the stock.

 

[Gordon]

I still have it, it is in a less secure lock up , I'll take a picture when I do so for a holster I promised a guy on forums here, Ill post it on this thread. It isn't much to look at, but I can just imagine some Eastern European it being their home defense weapon. It came in with other comblock weapons I bought 25 years ago, after the wall fell from a rather senior intell officer I was in the service with but stayed on full time as he rose in staff grade positions. He retired 10 years after I retired out of reserves in 1986 as a WO2 . He got out of Regular Army a full bird. I bought about 10 of his guns in early 90s . They included CZ52, Tokegypt, this Stutzen , Mak, 8mm carbine, .45 H&A under hammer he competed with , Lugers ect.

Mosin. Limbsaver.

 

[Gordon]

 

[LoonWulf]

View attachment 908074

It's so cute!

Kinda like an old co-workers American bull dog, so homely he was cute......that one bit too.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I have a Spanish FR8 carbine in 308.

As it came out of the box it was a kicker to be sure. Made me appreciate my 03A3 in 30-06.

Still, they're neat little guns and I like them so my work around was to remove the steel buttplate and have a nice red rubber buttpad fitted. Had the bolt bent at the same time.

It's still the last gun I shoot at the end of the day, but much better than what it had been. I imagine those Spanish Guardia Civil troopers were not well taken with their issue long arms.

Ah yes.... The FReigh8 Train!

For a couple-few years it was a preferred mountain gun for me.

I had first to re-learn to heave that beast the holy-hell into my shoulder before lighting it off and later started always using a particular pack with wide, fat shoulder straps. BIG difference there.

Wonderful little guns once you respect them as the 7.5 pound Mausers that they are. A little less if you leave the cleaning kit home.

One of the best $100 bills I ever spent.

Todd.

 

[Dr T]

Here are the top 5 in descending order of discomfort:
T/C Encore in 460 S&W with a peep sight with 240 gr bullets
Winchester Model 70 with pre'64 action in 375 H&H with 1-4x20 Leopold with 275 gr Silvertips
Remington Model 700 Classic in 35 Whelen with 2-7x Leopold Var-X with 250 gr bullets
Ruger #1 RSI in 30-06 with Burris Signature 4x40 with 180 gr handloads clocked at 2650 fps
Sako TRG-S in 300 Weatherby with Nikon 3-9x40 with Remington 180 gr factory loads

The work around for the top three is a Past strapon pad with a dishtowel folded up underneath it and a neoprene scuba belt with about 6 lbs of leadshot wrapped around the stock if I am on the bench. For the other two I don't need the scuba belt. I think that the perceived recoil of the Sako is less that the Ruger because: 1. Sako is relatively heavy (but extremely well balanced); 2. The Sako composite stock does a very good job of absorbing recoil; and 3. The Remington factory rounds are relatively mild.

 

[PapaG]

I own two. My dad's 94 44mag from a sixties batch with Birch stock and steel buttplate. With the old Norma steel jacket softpoints and wearing a t-shirt it hurt. Weighed five point something pounds. Added a recoil pad and a lead filled magazine follower and it is a pussycat. Rossi Rio Grande 45-70 is nasty. Wear a PAST shoulder pad. After 75 years of shooting any and everything, hundreds of thousands of shells at trap, advanced arthritis, fused spine, and whatever, recoil now is starting to bother me.

 

[tark]

My worst experience was a Thomas Bland & Sons 4 bore. My work around was to not shoot the thing ever again.

 

[Speedo66]

My worst experience was a Thomas Bland & Sons 4 bore. My work around was to not shoot the thing ever again.

I assume a 4 bore is shooting a 4 oz. load, that would be 1750g. Yeah, that would probably hurt.

 

[Jessesky]

Stock design is key. I had a 30-30 I swear was more painful to shoot than my 375. My 375 is actually very comfortable

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I've shot .375 H&H, .458 Win. Mag. 500 grain, etc. But the one that really beats me up is the little Remington 660 .350 Mag. carbine. And yes, I do have one of those PAST recoil shields
View attachment 907839

I had a 600 in .350 mag. I sold it to Wild West Guns in Anchorage. It was the hardest kicking gun I ever shot.

 

[Weflyfast]

I have a 300 WinMag in a Thompson Encore with light stocks that kicks way worse than my 50 BMG....but magnum guys seem to roll with it...if its too much shoot something else....I have found that if I shoot a lot of magnum stuff it seems to not bother me much.....but if you are sensitive go lighter. Still better to put a light bullet in the X ring than a heavy one in the white!

 

[Milt1]

I had a Remington 722 in '06 caliber that would kick at you before you picked it up. My work around was that I sold or traded it and good riddance, never missed it at all.

 

[Gary W. Strange]

Years ago, when Winchester made a run of the 1895s, in 405 Winchester, I had to have one. Teddy Rosevelt had one, I needed one because he spoke so highly of them. He didn’t call it big medicine for nothing. I have never shot a rifle that kicked so hard. When you pull the trigger, it is like someone had got a good running start and drop kicked you in the chest. It would back you up a good yard or two and knock the breath out of you. The 1885, in 405 Winchester is just as hard on the man behind the gun as it is in the animal. It kills on both ends. I fixed this problem by finding some loading data for low end 45-70 loads. Those loads will handle most anything in my part of the world and really it is just a range gun. It made it much easier on the shooter. I love the rifle for what it is, the way it looks and it’s history, but loaded at full power, it is too much to handle. Maybe old Teddy was a big man or just tough as boot leather, but to stand more than a couple rounds out of it, he is more man than I am.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Several years back I purchased a Polish WZ48 .22 trainer as a range toy,,,
I liked it so much that I later purchased a polish M44 Nagant as a companion.

I fired one box of 20 rounds through that shoulder-killer,,,
I solved the recoil problem by selling that dang thing at the first opportunity.

It just wasn't fun to shoot,,,
And I have no masochistic trait at all.

Aarond

.

 

[tark]

I assume a 4 bore is shooting a 4 oz. load, that would be 1750g. Yeah, that would probably hurt.

It was a rifle. Charge was 385 gr. of FG pushing a 2000 grain conical bullet. 240 ft-lbs of recoil Can't shoot it from the bench because you will end up on the ground.

 

[Speedo66]

It was a rifle. Charge was 385 gr. of FG pushing a 2000 grain conical bullet. 240 ft-lbs of recoil Can't shoot it from the bench because you will end up on the ground.

I think I remember the bore size equates to how many round balls of that diameter would equal a pound. My calculation of 1/4 pound for a 4 bore, or 1750g, was based on that, so not too far off.

Regardless, no thanks.

 

[H&R Glock]

Like "WEFLYFAST" my pre-war Winchester M70 3006 kicks worse than my 50 bmg. Thats probably why my late father put a recoil pad on it.

 

[CptnAwesome]

My 300 Wby hands down! Not really a sharp kick , just a really hard solid kick! I just deal with it, let's me know I'm alive ...

Several years back I owned a Ruger M77 MkII all weather in 7mm WSM. Now that WAS a sharp kick. Sold the rifle and have regretted it ever since.

 

[LoonWulf]

It was a rifle. Charge was 385 gr. of FG pushing a 2000 grain conical bullet. 240 ft-lbs of recoil Can't shoot it from the bench because you will end up on the ground.

curled up and crying I assume.....

 

[4570Tom]

Was visiting a friend out west and we did some rifle shooting. An older acquaintance of his joined us, and this gentleman had an older Remington 700 with a steel buttplate. Four or five shots from the bench and I was done. I thanked him and went back to shooting a more comfortable rifle, my friend's Remington 700 300 Win Mag...which had a nice recoil pad.

The other rifle that I did not enjoy shooting was my brother-in-law's Remington 7600 pump in 35 Whelan. From the bench, with no recoil pad. Three, maybe four shots and I was done. I said nice rifle, and avoided shooting it anymore. I also said no thank you to shooting his single shot break action 10 gauge.

So my work arounds tend to be politely declining shooting guns I know will hurt.

 

[tark]

curled up and crying I assume.....

Well, the first time I fired it it broke my collarbone. I have told that story already.. It happened 35 years ago, in California. I did fire it again, months later, with a greatly reduced charge. It still hurt so I said "no more"

 

[LoonWulf]

Well, the first time I fired it it broke my collarbone. I have told that story already.. It happened 35 years ago, in California. I did fire it again, months later, with a greatly reduced charge. It still hurt so I said "no more"

you have, and Id forgotten.....
Braver man than i to go back for round 2.