Rifle Recoil
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 5 months ago
Saying you dislike heavy recoil is kind of like saying you can’t drive a manual transmission. Everyone likes to say they aren’t bothered by recoil. Everyone lies. I know shooters who boast of their recoil tolerance but when I see them at the range they have 50 lbs. of lead stacked behind the rifle.
Fool me all you want, but don’t fool yourself. If you really want to find out, have a friend at the range load the rifle for you, leaving the chamber empty on occasion so you never know if the rifle is going to fire or not. When the firing pin clicks on an empty chamber after a string of live rounds, you’ll know. If you really can handle it the sight picture will remain steady. If not … I’ve seen people with both eyes closed, face pulled away from the stock and contorted in a grimace. If shooting offhand sometimes they’ll actually stumble forward a step or two.
I always look for the gun which can supply the minimum recoil and still get the job done I am asking it to. There is no virtue in unneeded recoil.
On July 21, 2021 at 10:44 am, Jack said:
I’m with you 100% on reducing recoil.
Shooters should also understand how their technique affects their ability to handle recoil.
Here’s Paul Castle demonstrating how to minimize shotgun recoil while shooting with one hand and standing on one foot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnCb0NdeBcY
On July 21, 2021 at 5:50 pm, xtphreak said:
pain hurts me
On July 21, 2021 at 7:24 pm, blake said:
I shoot military rifles, M1 Garand and K-31, both have steel butt plates. As long as I keep the rifle tucked into the shoulder, I’m good, though, after 30 or so rounds through the K-31, I will have a mark to show for my efforts. (I shoot wearing just a thin shirt a lot, because it’s relatively warm where I live)
But, any gap between shoulder and butt plate when I pull the trigger, I’ll be shooting in pain the rest of the match.