Yes a big mistake. While we as grown men think that the 30-06 doesn't have much recoil...to a child it does. I know somebody's going to come along and say when my boy was 6 he killed a moose w/my .358Norma Mag. but it's really tough on youngsters. Knowing young people are so excited to get to go hunting they often times hide the fact that the recoil on a certain rifle is too much. All we have to do is watch their faces while shooting and see how they close their eyes, yank the trigger and grimace w/their face. powdr
When we talk about recoil, we usually cite the physics of recoil -- bullet weight, powder weight, stock design, etc. But the human factor is there, and it can't be made into a formula. Does a shooter hold the buttstock in the pocket of his shoulder, or just outside it? How tightly does the shooter anchor the rifle to his shoulder? What is the angle of the shooter's wrist on the pistol grip. Is the shooter's head floating freely, or does he have a good cheek-weld? Does he have a death-grip on the gun? Does the shooter cant the rifle? Does the shooter move with the rifle, or does he resist the movement? And, as the quoted post alludes to, the body size of the shooter makes a difference.
While the physics of recoil are the same with the same rifle from shooter to shooter, how that impacts the shooter can vary widely. All of these things and more affect felt recoil.
I'd hypothesize that if we spent some time on shooting form, recoil would be less of an issue.
Steve.
