Taming rifle recoil

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pacobillie

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Lately, I have been shooting this new (to me) Ruger M77 Hawkeye African chambered in 375 Ruger. The stock recoil pad is quite thin and hard, and it does very little to tame the recoil. Last Sunday, after merely 4 shots, my shoulder was crying "Uncle" and the following day, I was sporting a large and quite dark hematoma on my upper biceps. How the hematoma showed up on my arm, when the rifle was cradled in my shoulder is a mystery, but it did.

So, how do I keep this from happening again? I am tempted to try and install a Limbsaver pad that I have on hand, but it would add about 1/2 in. to the LOP. It is considerably softer than the stock pad. Will it make a significant difference?
 
You should try pulling that rifle harder into your shoulder, its not a 22lr

And yes by all means install a real recoil pad, that orange pad doesn't even look good and yes it made a difference on my African 416 ruger...:)
 
Recoil pad will help a good bit, one of the various shoulder pads; PAST is the most common brand make a difference, as the previously stated advice of making sure you have firm contact between your shoulder and the butt.

Only shoot off the bench to sight in or load test.
 
Shooting from a bench? Don't. Try standing with a rest.
As suggested, get a good pad properly fitted to the correct length of pull. A strap on shoulder pad would help when practicing.
A brake would tame things considerably.
 
In addition to advice above - hopefully you are not shooting prone. Any position that does not let you 'roll' with the recoil will increase 'felt' recoil. Standing generally results in the least felt recoil and of course you will seldom see a shotgun fired from the prone position.

When you have your new recoil pad installed .... my 2 cents is to ensure that the base of the recoil pad is left as large as possible while still being able to properly mount and fire the rifle. The larger surface area that results will spread the recoil better ... the face of the pad should obviously be trimmed to follow the contour of the rifle butt but sometimes the tendency is to follow this contour to the rear of the pad ... while this looks nice/proper it often results in needlessly reducing the surface area bearing against your shoulder. However as I mentioned you still must be able to mount the rifle to your shoulder effectively. Dont forget the dimensions of your hunting clothes and effect on recoil in the overall equation.
 
tiriaq said:
Shooting from a bench? Don't. Try standing with a rest.
As suggested, get a good pad properly fitted to the correct length of pull. A strap on shoulder pad would help when practicing.
A brake would tame things considerably.
Click to expand...

Yes, only shot it from a bench thus far.
I will look into a strap-on shoulder pad.
No brake for me. This is a hunting rifle, and I do not want the added length, nor the noise!
 
I purchased a Limb Saver recoil shoulder pad. I didn't want to worry about getting one, for every hard hitter I got. So I got the next best thing. One that I put over my shoulder, doesn't add much LOP. Max 1/2". But saves my shoulder.
 
AP said:
In addition to advice above - hopefully you are not shooting prone. Any position that does not let you 'roll' with the recoil will increase 'felt' recoil. Standing generally results in the least felt recoil and of course you will seldom see a shotgun fired from the prone position.

When you have your new recoil pad installed .... my 2 cents is to ensure that the base of the recoil pad is left as large as possible while still being able to properly mount and fire the rifle. The larger surface area that results will spread the recoil better ... the face of the pad should obviously be trimmed to follow the contour of the rifle butt but sometimes the tendency is to follow this contour to the rear of the pad ... while this looks nice/proper it often results in needlessly reducing the surface area bearing against your shoulder. However as I mentioned you still must be able to mount the rifle to your shoulder effectively. Dont forget the dimensions of your hunting clothes and effect on recoil in the overall equation.
Click to expand...

This. I have done the same thing and it worked great. I used the “Nitro” pad and didn’t grind it. I have long arms so the extended LOP was a good thing. Also, the technique for shooting many popular 6.5 ish calibers and semi autos is not conducive to shooting 375s comfortably. Hold it firmly into your shoulder. Gentle hands and free recoiling doesn’t work with carrying weighted boomers. I’m on my 3rd 375.
 
Try a good pad properly fitted, or get a slip-on one if you want to try the concept before shelling out the bucks to get it installed professionally.

Don't go brake unless you absolutely have to, yours and your hunting buddies ears will thank you. It will however mitigate recoil unquestionably.

If recoil is still unmanageable, you could try weighting your stock. I think there's an outfit that offers mercury (I think) weights, but you can use homemade stuff too. Would most likely require a hole to be drilled into the buttstock and weights slipped into it. Not likely a desirable alternative as it would raise the overall weight of the rifle. I like my hunting rifles as light as feasible if you're going to be lugging them around for long.
 
Limbsaver Nitro will tame recoil of the big guys to tolerable. Have one on my 338wm (I know it's not in the same class as the 375 Ruger) and the recoil from the bench is very tolerable. It does add 1.5" to the LOP however, so that might be a consideration if you don't want to shorten the stock.
 
Here’s the thing with recoil, it sucks! With large calibers, shooting from a bench is near impossible without some other form of support. Muzzle breaks are effective, but impractical in a hunting sense. A Lead Sled can help at the bench, but for larger calibers I wouldn’t recommend, as your gun can develop cracks in the stock if using one with a nice walnut. This leaves you few other options. You can try and add weight, but for a hunting gun there are obvious disadvantages to this. Mecury recoil reducers may help, not that cost effective though. So that leaves swapping out recoil pads. Limb saver and pachyderm are the most widely known. Or you could step down in caliber to what you can comfortably handle and still maintain a consistent hold on target. One of the reasons I went with a 35 Whelen... Good luck.
 
pacobillie said:
Yes, only shot it from a bench thus far.
I will look into a strap-on shoulder pad.
No brake for me. This is a hunting rifle, and I do not want the added length, nor the noise!
Click to expand...

You could always get a brake for range use, then get rid of it for hunting purposes. Just make sure you recheck your zero to make sure it didn't shift from taking off the brake.

I completely understand your aversion to brakes, I am generally in the same boat, particularly for a hunting rifle. But they work, and they're relatively affordable especially if your rifle is already threaded.
 
If the LOP is too long for you, felt recoil will be greater than if the gun fits you or is a bit short. A LOP that is a bit short in the summer, should be perfect when shooting in the cold when bulkier clothing is worn. The closer the LOP comes to fitting you, the handier the rifle will feel, but the shorter the LOP, the more cognizant you must be of your scope's eye relief. Its better to mount the scope forward, even at the cost of losing the high end of your magnification, than it is to take the recoil on your eyebrow.

Your shooting technique can affect the felt recoil you experience. The butt should be kept tight to the shoulder, and concentration on sight picture and trigger squeeze should interfere with the recoil impulse you actually feel. Slinging up might help in that the pressure against your shoulder is more consistent. Shoot offhand, standing supported, or kneeling rather than prone or sitting at a bench, as this will allow your body to move more with the recoil. Stand bladed to the target with your forward knee slightly bent, this way the recoil impulse comes across your chest and runs down you rearward leg. If shooting at the bench, the rifle should be rested high enough that you are sitting fairly upright rather than hunched forward.

If you handload, choose lighter bullets and reduce the powder charge to bring the recoil to a tolerable level. Over time your tolerance to recoil will increases, as you slowly work up to full power loads, and to heavier bullets. If you must shoot factory ammo, you can add weight to the stock, which reduces recoil velocity, and/or install a muzzle break, provided you intend to always wear hearing protection. You can try to using lighter bullets, but with maximum factory loads, lighter bullets use greater powder charges and can result in faster, less pleasant recoil.
 
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