Recoil - am I just being a wimp?

Some people are more recoil sensitive than others. I've always compared it to a boxer. Some can take a punch to the jaw and walk away, others, instant lights out.
 
Shoulder the stock up close and tight and relax your upper shoulder/body so it gives a little, instead of trying to fight it. Roll with it a little. A recoil pad helps as well.
 
Well, a bruise is broken blood vessels called capillaries. Some people bruise easily. For them all it takes is a light light pinch. Others bruise hard.

I got a lot of meat on my shoulder/pec, so recoil doesn't bother me at all. Amount of muscle/fat will determine how painful recoil is. So one thing to try is getting fat :p or hitting the gym and adding some muscle to your pec/shoulder.

Also, if you were just wearing a t-shirt, try wearing a sweater/jacket. Will definitely help a bit.
 
use a step ladder as a rest for your shotgun. stand on your feet and lean into the gun with your body slightly forward keep your right elbow up at gun level. a good recoil pad and or shoulder pad would help. you want your body to be able to move with the recoil which it can not do sitting at a bench.i made the mistake of sitting on my butt and firing a slug.the recoil was brutal as my body could not move like it would if i was standing .adding weight to your gun would help also.if you have a hollow stock it can be filled with small washers or nuts to add a couple of pounds of weight . this is a farmers fix so dont criticize me too much.hope this helps .
 
Haha. Farmer47 - that's a brilliant fix. I've lived on a farm all my life, so I know where you're coming from. I think I'll try out your stepladder idea as well.
 
make sure the stock is properly seated in the "hole" between your pec and your shoulder. Being just half an inch too far out towards your shoulder can bring on lotsa pain for nothing.

I've "fixed" a couple of my buddies habits by showing them that they seating the stock too far out towards the shoulder. My cousin no joke was half an inch off from where he should have been and that's all that was causing all the pain. Once he actually started thinking about it he caught on quick that the recoil needs to go somewhere and if there's bone behind the muscle your seating the gun on its gonna squish lol ... funny thing is he always wondered why I could shoot more than him and not get bruised and beaten.

This is the advise your looking for, once you find your sweet spot slugs are nothing. Make your upper body take the recoil not your shoulder.
 
make sure the stock is properly seated in the "hole" between your pec and your shoulder. Being just half an inch too far out towards your shoulder can bring on lotsa pain for nothing.

I've "fixed" a couple of my buddies habits by showing them that they seating the stock too far out towards the shoulder. My cousin no joke was half an inch off from where he should have been and that's all that was causing all the pain. Once he actually started thinking about it he caught on quick that the recoil needs to go somewhere and if there's bone behind the muscle your seating the gun on its gonna squish lol ... funny thing is he always wondered why I could shoot more than him and not get bruised and beaten.

Defiantly do what lucky is saying, a lot of people that say they are recoil sensitive are just putting the stock in the wrong place. And to help a little more get a limb saver recoil pad. I gorilla glued one to my 870 with voltor stock, best mod I have ever done. Now recoil is almost unnoticeable, I have had shooting days where I have shot 150-200 shell of mixed type with no pain at all. Without the limb saver, not so much, those voltor stock are hard on the should when mounted on a shotgun. YMMV

Shawn

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Your shooting stance counts - I haven't shot shotguns for a long time - but we used to shoot a lot (benelli M1 and Mossberg). 3 of us went shooting - the newbie got bruise on the shoulder - we didn't even felt anything.
 
Stance and stock positioning are important to manage recoil. Physical conditioning helps, and rolling with it is important too. Light guns kick more, it's a fact. If you are hunting with it you will not feel it in the field, but you may flinch on the bench and sight it in a little to the right or left depending whether you shoot rh or lh.

Sight in with a "Lead Sled", but make sure your stock is tight before doing this as the solid rest will test you gun structurally. Loose stock screws or bolts may break you stock. Then try a few offhand to test your zero. I have had some big rifles and have not found the big ones to always have the worst recoil. Personally, I find a 300 win or wby to be worse than a 30-378 or 375H&H. This could be due to stock egronomics and design or powder burnrate. i favor the burnrate theory. A big load of medium powder kicks more than a huge charge of slow powder. The bullet accelerates faster and the result is more force going to the shooter due to inertia.

JT.
 
Aside maintaining proper stance, if you mount the firearm by pulling it tightly to your shoulder and become one with the gun, you will not feel any pain, or get bruised when shooting. You will experience the same recoil, but perceive it less. Ya don't need mushy pads, or sissy do-dads.

I bet you'll hit your target with better accuracy too.
 
Getting bruised by recoil has nothing to do with being a man. The tissue of your shoulder is getting crushed by significant forces resulting in a bruise. If you want to shoot more, htis is not a good situation. However what you could do, is place a filded handtowel over the buttstock and you will be comfortable. Also get a wider based recoil pad. In the end the best solution for longevity and quality parts is the Mesa Tactical stock adapter w/ Enidine recoil buffer. I can shoot 3" slugs all day long with no problems.
 
hutten

Go out and buy "reduced recoil" slugs by Remington. They are available at virtually all gun stores, especially big chains such as LeBarons and Bass Pro Shops and are priced about the same as regular slugs.
The difference in recoil is big, it's greatly reduced.
 
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