What Recoil? Weatherby 340 Mag

[NeverAgain26]

O.K., so here I am a city boy down in Memphis, TN visiting a customer who I work with on shooting product. We needed to get out to the woods to test out some electronic ears. We needed some loud guns.

My customer told me a bunch of times he had a Weatherby 340 Mag which he didn't shoot much because the recoil was so brutal. This was the gun he brought to shoot. All morning long he told me how much the gun kicked. We drove out to the woods, got out of the car and there I am standing in my suit and he hands me the gun with a big grin on his face.

I was so psyched out by all the talk, I grabbed the gun with some hesitation, shouldered it and expected to be knocked on my a** in the mud in my suit.

Squeezed the trigger expecting the worst and ....














.... it never came. I felt less recoil than I ever felt with my 12 gauge H & K pump gun. I smiled and kept on shooting asking them 'What recoil?'

We headed back to the office and I walked in and was met with some grins and was asked how it felt to shoot the gun. I told them I loved shooting it and it was a honey of a gun and I was being honest.

The recoil might have been slightly more than my AR10 (.308).

What gives? Am I nuts or are they? I really loved shooting the gun and I would not hesitate to fire it and wouldn't flinch. Were they over-hyping the recoil or did they really feel like it was too much gun? 3 guys, each one of them had 50-100 pounds on me and they all felt like the recoil was something I would hate.

We also shot a 12 gauge they thought I might hate and I loved that, too.

Don't get me wrong, my H & K pump gun felt plenty brutal until I learned how to shoulder it properly and put in a recoil reducer. But this Weatherby was sweeet!

Recoil is over-rated, me-thinks

NA26

 

[mete]

Each person reacts to recoil differently ,some are very sensitive. Other variables are weight,size of shooter and how the gun fits .Apoorly fitting gun accentuates recoil.Holding the gun properly and training are also important......But since the 340 is no big deal for you get yourself a light weight 338 Lapua !

 

[Jaywalker]

It sounds as if you fired it offhand, i.e., standing. If so, with your firm hold, it pushed you back, but your body could "give" to it. Where I feel recoil is from the shooting bench, hunched over, leaning way into it. There's no way for my body to give, and heavy-kickers are uncomfortable.

That being said, I do think stock design is underappreciated. My pet peeves are a narrow butt that act as a wedge, digging into my shoulder nerves when fired, and too much drop at heel. Though the latter isn't the problem it used to be when most folks used factory-supplied open sights, it still exists on some of the rifles I shoot. The lower stock of a pre-64 Model 70 in .30-'06 encourages the rise of the muzzle, and the consequent cheek-bone-slap - really uncomfortable.

I recall an article in a past Gun Digest about Editor Ken Waters handing an Ultralight Arms .338 Win Mag to the writer and watching him as he shouldered and fired it. The writer expected a bludgeoning, but because Waters was watching, determined that he would, absolutely would, hit the target with at least the first bullet. He, too, was surprised at the reasonable level of recoil. People have been discovering that they can shoot heavier cartridges for awhile and have credited "flex" in the synthetic stocks; I suspect it has more to do with lower drop at heel, but I have no evidence about it.

Jaywalker

 

[wanderinwalker]

I suspect that the stock fit you well and you were shooting offhand. From just trying rifles at the gunshop and a couple of Weatherby's at the range (which I was not given an opportunity to shoot) I have decided if I ever get a rifle in a big .300+ Magnum, it WILL at the least have a Weatherby-style stock. Some people complain about it, but it fits me like a Lycra shirt and the butt is wide. The drop puts the butt into the meaty pocket of my shoulder where it belongs and the Monte Carlo stock puts my eye behind the scope. Perfect.

Glad to hear you enjoyed shooting the .340. Maybe bench-rest that fire-breather if given another chance. That may change the outcome!

 

[NeverAgain26]

You guys impress me. I was shooting off hand. I will accept that the stock must have fit me pretty well (I was not conscious of this or looking for it). In retrospect, this probably had a lot to do with it. I guess it must have fit me better than these other 3 guys.

I was just pretty surprised. The three guys I was with who were commenting on the brutal recoil were all biger and heavier than I was.

I know there are guns that kick like a mule (my H & K pump gun for one). I was just surprised that this Weatherby that these guys rated as brutal was in my opinion a sweet shooter.

I won't go looking for recoil as I hate it as much as anyone. I would like to try a lightweight .338 Lapua, but something tells me it won't be a fun gun. I can see why a hunter would want a lightweight rifle for toting in the woods (and in any case you fire few shots when hunting so the recoil is less of an issue).

The Weatherby I fired had a good heft, but I am not sure I would like to be trudging through a forest after elk all day long with this gun. I am sure that contributed to the lack of felt recoil.

NA26