Thread: How to manage recoil?

Originally Posted by timattalon

One thing @sheep that I cannot see if anyone has mentioned is dont fight the recoil....It seems counter intuitive but I find this a lot of newer shooters (I am not saying you are new to it...but rather new to the issue at hand)

because recoil is causing pain or discomfort, the body's natural defence is to resist it; meaning trying to reduce the impact to the shoulder by trying to stop the rifle coming back at you. The trick is to actually pull thr file into your shoulder harder and 'help' pull the rifle back with recoil.

To give you a better idea of what I am trying to say....Hold your fist (or palm) about 2 inches away from a wall and shove forwards at the wall like recoil (hit the wall) The impact will be definitely felt. Now hold your hand against the wall and give it the same shove....You can apply a lot more force and it will not hurt because the contact is already made and there is no 'impact'. If you have a sturdy / co-operative person use their shoulder to push into instead of the wall.

Second point that was referred to, is that the body perceives a lot of recoil through all of its senses. A suppressor will actually not do a huge amount towards actual physical force in recoil (simple physics) BUT and it is a huge BUT....it will reduce the noise and flash and concussion from the bang and the body will think recoil has been reduced because it is not as loud / violent. I shoot with a suppressor because it is much more pleasant to shoot. It feels like it reduces recoil. And the mind is a wonderfully incredible thing.

Third, getting some pointers on your technique will be a good idea. Sometimes even the best of us start to subconsciously adjust things and it can affect how we feel recoil and accuracy.

I am not expert, but these three things have helped me with recoil issues after I started to enjoy larger calibres a bit too much....The 308 is not a heavy recoiling calibre- it is fairly mid level. One point though...the amount of energy is not what hurts with the recoil- it is the speed with which that energy is transmitted rearwards. A super light rifle will carry the same amount of energy rearwards that a heavier rifle with the same ammo will. But the speed will be higher on the lighter rifle as it accelerates into the shoulder.

And another lighter point....Most people only seem to experience recoil at the range...when shooting an animal in the field...recoil seems to vanish......The mind is focused on more important issues at the time.

Sounds true, but when out hunting who fires 20-50 full bore centrefire rounds? Each butt strike makes the next one a bit more sore, a real physical component that adrenaline can't totally cancel out.