Shotgun recoil reduction ideas
- Thread starter Mike1979
- Start date
I am very light for fieldsports: 80kg at 6’1” with barely a scrap of fat. Because of athletics I look like a shaved gibbon, consequently I found that a longer LoP was necessary to get a good gun fit. Circa 16” for all my guns for the last 15 years. I have never suffered from felt recoil issues despite shooting some heavy days, circa 500 x 32gram, and back to back days. It is boring but I would suggest that gun fit is the first place to look.
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
A heavier gun is not a good option if you don't have good upper body strength, a body worn recoil pad can be useful, I've got a cheap Jack Pyke one. As others have said though do check your LOP, a stock that's too short for you will make the problem worse.
Cheers
Cheers for the response mate. Im an inch taller then you and about 15kg lighter so look like a poster boy for weight loss drugs I think the only sensible option is a gun that actually fits me....not what I wanted to here but alas a shopping expedition is on the horizon.
Appreciate all the other comments as well guys
I use one of these and it's excellent: Past Recoil Pad For Men
I think the only sensible option is a gun that actually fits me....not what I wanted to here but alas a shopping expedition is on the horizon.
Appreciate all the other comments as well guys
Or you could always get something like a Beretta A400 Xtreme semi. They have a kick-off system that absorbs the recoil. It also has a 3.5" chamber, so you could have probably shot cannister shot through it if you'd had one at Waterloo!
To be honest, I got one for some goose shooting forays although it works fine with pigeon type loads. But there's much, much cheaper semi autos and they're all not bad at soaking up a bit of recoil.
To be honest, I got one for some goose shooting forays although it works fine with pigeon type loads. But there's much, much cheaper semi autos and they're all not bad at soaking up a bit of recoil.
Gunfit or rather poor gunfit causes most problems with recoil. The best example is the Enfield SMLE or No4. Put a butt on it that is too short for the firer's body size and the thing is a cause of pain and bruises. Put a correct length butt for the firer on it and it's a pussycat.
The too short but inevitably means that the weapon recoils and the in the "gap" between it and the firer's body then strikes the firer. The correct length butt means that the weapon recoils but AS IT IS IN PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE FIRER they both move as one.
Also shape of the comb can cause pain to the cheek. I have shot, as I've said before, a .470 NE Holland & Holland double rifle that had a well designed comb and so had less felt recoil than an awful, awful, awful FAC .22 Webley Patriot air rifle. God! That was like being punched in the face!
Other causes are loose chamber rims so that, like the short butt, the cartridge comes back when fired and hits the breech rather than recoiling all as one. Similarly abrupt forcing cones into the barrel can cause this. As can an overtight bore.
But best quick fix is use a 24 gram or 28 gram load assuming all else above...butt length...shape of comb...properly cut chamber rims and forcing cones is correct. At decoying ranges of twenty to thirty yards a decent quality 24 gram cartridge in a 12 bore gun with #7 lead shot will kill a pigeon.
The too short but inevitably means that the weapon recoils and the in the "gap" between it and the firer's body then strikes the firer. The correct length butt means that the weapon recoils but AS IT IS IN PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE FIRER they both move as one.
Also shape of the comb can cause pain to the cheek. I have shot, as I've said before, a .470 NE Holland & Holland double rifle that had a well designed comb and so had less felt recoil than an awful, awful, awful FAC .22 Webley Patriot air rifle. God! That was like being punched in the face!
Other causes are loose chamber rims so that, like the short butt, the cartridge comes back when fired and hits the breech rather than recoiling all as one. Similarly abrupt forcing cones into the barrel can cause this. As can an overtight bore.
But best quick fix is use a 24 gram or 28 gram load assuming all else above...butt length...shape of comb...properly cut chamber rims and forcing cones is correct. At decoying ranges of twenty to thirty yards a decent quality 24 gram cartridge in a 12 bore gun with #7 lead shot will kill a pigeon.
Cheers for the comments.
I have refitted a tactical stock to the SXP...whilst it looks awful and ugly it gives me a better LOP and I think that is a big chunk of the issue as well as the slightly heavier load. I wouldnt come below 30 gram 6s as crows are a bit tougher
Cheers. The SXP was ugly to start off with but it looks very tactical with the ATI stock and not a look I like...but its more comfortable. I ll see which LOP suits me best and look at some new options perhaps a Beretta with the kick off as suggested earlier.
Try a 28 gram load of English #7 1/2 or a 30 gram load of true English #7. They will kill, I guarantee, most crows at thirty yards dead in the air. Remember pattern fails before penetration. And 30 gram of English #7 1/2 is lethal to any corvids.
Else you get into that vicious circle where you think your shot size and payload is too small and start chasing larger and larger shot sizes in larger and larger payloads. Not realising that as you go up in shot size any going up in payload is never enough to fill the holes in the pattern.
So 30 gram of #6 isn't enough. OK lets up the shot size and the payload and try 32 gram #5. That still doesn't seem to kill but only wound and wing? The the next step is the madness of 36 gram English #4 for crows! A relatively smallish bird that has a large head. Through which (this is why pattern "kills") an English #7 1/2 will be fatal.
A shot in the head of #7 1/2 is worth any peripheral hit to a non-vital area of the body with any #4, #5 or #6. So try the clayshooters "premium shot" 28 gram trap loads avoiding though those ones doing more than a sensible and recoil manageable 1400 fps.
Else you get into that vicious circle where you think your shot size and payload is too small and start chasing larger and larger shot sizes in larger and larger payloads. Not realising that as you go up in shot size any going up in payload is never enough to fill the holes in the pattern.
So 30 gram of #6 isn't enough. OK lets up the shot size and the payload and try 32 gram #5. That still doesn't seem to kill but only wound and wing? The the next step is the madness of 36 gram English #4 for crows! A relatively smallish bird that has a large head. Through which (this is why pattern "kills") an English #7 1/2 will be fatal.
A shot in the head of #7 1/2 is worth any peripheral hit to a non-vital area of the body with any #4, #5 or #6. So try the clayshooters "premium shot" 28 gram trap loads avoiding though those ones doing more than a sensible and recoil manageable 1400 fps.
I see your point but 30 gram 6s have been my go to for many years and if I point the gun in the right place they drop out of the sky
I did however result to 42 gram BBs on one occasion...I was at 99 and ran out of carts but had some fox carts in the gun slip so managed 103 using the last of these...now they were massively over the top for a crow.
Appreciate your comments and the time taken
tackb
Well-Known Member
I see your point but 30 gram 6s have been my go to for many years and if I point the gun in the right place they drop out of the sky
I did however result to 42 gram BBs on one occasion...I was at 99 and ran out of carts but had some fox carts in the gun slip so managed 103 using the last of these...now they were massively over the top for a crow.
Appreciate your comments and the time taken
i think most 'cartridge' failures to kill are in truth the operator putting the shot in the wrong place.........
but nobody wants to admit that !
100% - 1 pellet in the right place is better then 40 in the wrong place.
When Im on form most of what I shoot at folds up and is dead...when im not on form theres a lot of lead flying, not many on the deck ...followed by an early finish.
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Christ, that’s an enormous LOP for someone at your height.
Think about the Gibbon comment...they have very long arms
. I havent measured LOP yet but the ATI stock I have put back on is at its fullest extension to feel comfortable.Similar threads
