What is your rifle recoil limit?

[Old Scratch]

The bit about CCI Minimags is a hoot, indeed. My screen got sprayed with Nouveau Beaujolais on that one.

A friend once insisted he was going to get a pistol grip shotgun (against my advice). I was there for the shopping spectacle. Couldn't get him to settle for 2 3/4" shells, either. Had to have 3" MAGNUMS. Okay, dude, whatever.

Went to the range. First round was 3" OO Buck, +P, on steroids, with Ukrainian Uranium cores added for good measure. Split the skin on the palm side of the web of his thumb/trigger finger. I've got some napkins left over from Taco Bell, just stop bleeding all over my car.

Did I mention that was the only round he fired that day? On the way home he spotted Jethro's All-Nite Ammo Boutique. He bought several boxes of "the wimpiest 12 ga you've got." Like Mr. Clint said in the movie: "a man's got to know his limitations."

Recoil limit? Nosebleed, concussion and dislocated limbs are all valid warning signs. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Jason_W]

I'm sure we've all done the macho thing where we prove to our buddies that an insane amount of recoil doesn't bother us, but since this is the internet and there is still a certain amount on anonymity with it, I'll admit that things that hurt aren't fun.

My favorite gun is my Marlin 1894 in .357 mag. It's powerful enough to turn water jugs into mist, but the recoil is barely noticeable.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Found my limit yesterday with my new 450 Nitro Express. Damn thing turned me into a sniveling little girl after about 8 rounds on the bench! Still will be fun to crack hogs with, but I don't think Ill need more bench time with it. I know where it hits now and frankly that is all I care to know about the mule kicker.

 

[swampsavage]

guess it's my No 1 in 405 WCF...

...so far it's got 5 rounds through it...that was limit at my 1st bench session...didn't have my PAST recoil shield at the time but won't forget it again

 

[2ndAmFan]

I don't guess I've reached my recoil limit. The strongest recoiling guns I generally shoot are 30.06 and 12 gauge, and neither of them bother me in moderation: 20 or 25 to 30 cartridges per session. 12 gauge with low brass birdshot loads I can shoot a lot more than that. I'd love to try some of the more powerful rifles out there but I've never really fired many, and it's been so long ago I don't remember for sure what I have fired. I know I haven't fired a rifle yet that I didn't want to fire again, but some of these were 30 or more years ago and I was a whole lot younger and more limber then. If I ever fire a gun once that I never want to even pick up again I'll know I passed my limit up altogether.

 

[kaferhaus]

30-06 is plenty enough gun for anything on this continent so I find it to be my "limit" because shooting anything larger/more powerful is a waste of gun powder, and I don't have any macho issues....

 

[H&Hhunter]

I find anything in big .500 mags to be about the limit of my ability control and comfortably shoot.

The two most obnoxious rifles I've ever played with were a .460 Weatherby loaded hot with 500 gr bullets and a .450 Rigby loaded up in a light rifle. A buddy of mine in Africa carries and shoots a .500 Jeffery in a 8 LB rifle when loaded up to max it is a brutal SOB to shoot. Firing a 535 Gr bullet at 2450 FPS. I got three good ones out of it shooting an old tin coffee cup on a dirt bank at 50 yards. After three I was getting a case of the flinchies. We had also been playing with his .450 Rigby earlier in the day. I noticed driving home that I had a slight case of double vision. Probably a mild concussion, probably not all that healthy for you either!

Now a .470 NE I find to be a quite a gentleman from a standing position. From the bench it turns into a wicked old bastard. I just don't shoot it from the bench anymore I use a standing rest for sighting in and that isn't bad at all. BUT you need to know how to hold a heavy recoiling rifle to mitigate it's effects on your body. The secret is a FIRM grip on the forearm.

When getting ready for a hunt I'll go out and fire 50 to 100 rounds in a day from my .470 at rocks, rabbits, hogs whatever. It doesn't mess me up at all in fact I have gotten to where it's about like shooting an 06 to me. I don't even think about it I just shoot it like any other rifle of course keeping a good grip on the front of the rifle. Form is important when shooting a heavy. I feel that when I can consistently smack a soft ball sized target at 100 yards off hand I'm in the zone for hunting with my heavies.

Off the bench my comfort limit is a .404 or a .416 Rigby or a Rem Mag. A .458 Lott loaded up is starting to get in the pretty obnoxious range off the bench. Loaded @ reasonable levels say a 500 gr pill @ 2150 FPS it isn't too bad.

.50 BMGs with those huge parachute breaks on the end of them are pussycats to shoot. Loud as all get out but the recoil is very minimal as compared to regular shoulder fired heavy rifles.

 

[Geno]

kaferhous:

There was once a man who purchased a Weatherby Mark V Deluxe in .378 Wea Mag and a Weatherby Mark V Deluxe in .460 Wea mag. Why, you may ponder? Machismo. He fired 1 round of the .460 Wea Mag, and walking in with his one blackened eye, did promptly put it up for sale.

About two weeks later, he was at the range where I shot on a regular bass. He fired 3 rounds of the .378 and asked if I would sight-in his rifle. He actually was knocked backwards off of the bench, onto his "posterior". Swear to God, I actually witnessed it.

Seems he couldn't hit the 16 inch target at 100 yards. Must have been the scope. He told me he had won two rifles (a .378 Wea Mag and a 460 Wea Mag) in a raffle. I actually believed him. I fired off the remaining 17 rounds, and had had my fill and then some. About two weeks later, I saw that same .378 at the gun store in Ann Arbor. It looked familiar per the wood grain. As I talked with the salesman, he and I put 2 and 2 together. <<shakes head in disbelief>>

Oh yes, what machismo does for the weak-spirited.

Geno

 

[Girodin]

I don't find guns in the 30'06 range objectionable and they will do all I need.

The shotgun I shoot most often is a soft recoiling gas gun that combined with shooting technique makes even 3" slugs just fine.

I've seen people mention the 50 BMG, the blast is impressive but the recoil really isn't the guns weigh 30 lbs and have massive brakes.

My friends .460 Weatherby was certainly an attention getter and not something I personally would want to put that many rounds through in a sitting.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

shoot what u can handle and shoot accurately. the mags and ultra mags leave to the macho guys, we can shoot more accurate than the guy shooting the "big guns"