Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only How "big and strong" must one be to handle the recoil of a true Big Bore?

Well my take on being able to handle "recoil" to the upper torso, mainly the shoulder the butt of the rifle is against and one's cervical too.

Proper fit of gun is a must but also the proper technique of standing or sitting when the trigger is pulled. One needs to receive a "rocking motion" when standing or sitting and this will let recoil run out.

The shooter must also have a mind set, as to be determined NOT to let the rifle rule or control you, YOU control the rifle etc. So like in golf, proper stance and grip of the rifle is a must and placing that butt of the gun, into the shoulder pit is essential, not have it on your bicep muscle etc.

Little girl, big bear - not photoshopped.

Stepdaughter of Guide Larry Rivers. He wrote about this on his website. Great achievement for anyone - especially for one so young. They set her up with a special kevlar shoulder piece to protect her from recoil by distributing it onto a larger surface.

(This from memory - His website is out - so I have no source.)

Elmer was damn near a midget in fact. I saw him at a NRA convention years ago. I'm 5'9 and am a lot taller than he was. I'd say he was 5'5 to 5'6. I have no problem with hard kickers, it's mostly mental. I've seen guys who were 6'4 and 300 who couldn't handle a .300 WM. You just have to have the mental ability to realize it isn't going to kill you and concentrate. The big boys will teach you proper gun mounting however, one way or another.

I also mounted and sighted in more than my share of scopes on 12 gauge shotguns. Thats all we used in Michigan. The Ithaca mod. 37 DeerSlayer tipped the scales at about 6 lbs. and with 3" magnum slugs would turn your hat sideways! But its nothing compared to a Mossbeg 835, about 7 lbs, with a 3 1/2", 2 1/4 oz. turkey load. It will knock your hat OFF & loosen the fillings in your teeth! However, in my older years (66), it seems I have become more tolerant to recoil. Of course I do a lot more shooting now also, so I'm learning more about technique, I guess.

A lead sled off of the bench will take the sting out of sighting in and load development. Offhand, most of the big bores are not difficult to shoot as long as you keep them to reasonable (not too light) weight.

Chuck

Last time I had my 600 at the range I let 2 kids shoot it. With the break on of course! One kid about 16 that said he and his father shoot 3.5 12s and 10s on waterfowl. I knew he'd have no problem. The other was a short fat kid that wanted an empty for his collection. I told him he could have it if he shot it. He watched me shoot a few and backed off, but determination won in the end. The stock was a bit long for him, but he had good form. He also was the recipient of excellent firearms training as he did not put his finger on the trigger until ready to shoot. After the shot he was all smiles! The load was Wayne's standard 900gr2150. Rifle weighs 10.75lbs.

Andy

It is said roll with the punches, don't be caught flat footed. Inertia, resistance to change, if you are stopped you want to stay stopped. When shooting a rifle with healthy recoil ,stay loose roll with it, don't resist or tense up, if you have the proper stance touching of a heavy or .22 RF your form will be the same and likelyhood of reliable hits.

I didn't see much mentioned about 'stock fit'. I had an old ww2 8mm Mauser that kicked worse than my 458WM. The Mauser had very little drop at comb. For me it has everything to do with the fit of the rifle and the shape of the stock!

Stock design, weight and balance and "will".

John

many years ago my wife wanted to start shooting deer and sitting on a deer stand by herself. We had 2 kids, maybe she just wanted to sit on the stand (away from them) while I watched them at the cabin.
Well, it was in our poorer days and didn't see spending $1000 on rifle/scope. So, I bought her a 12 guage. I had the stock sawed off and a huge recoil reducer pad put on it. Probably 3 inches was cut off so that, after adding pad, it'd still be 1.5 inch shorter stock.
Killed her first deer with 3 inch magnum buckshot.
I had no idea until recently that this shotgun's recoil with 3 inch magnum shells were 1.5 to 2 times harder than a 300 magnum. Granted there was no scope to dodge, but kick is kick.
I used to smile watching her shoot it. she weighed 120 pounds.

2 years ago, though, I had my TC Encore 50 cal loaded with a heavy load of powder and around 200 gr bullets. I forgot I had it heavy loaded. She wanted to shoot it and the scope popped her between the eyes. E.R. trip and liquid stitches. A very fine 1.5 inch scar that can barely be seen with no makeup. invisible with makeup. But, she won't shoot that gun again..... even when I offer to reduce the charge to a weak load. it's in the head.
she didn't notice the 12 guage kick much, but did on the 50 cal. It's all perception I guess.

Some interesting comments, but the rules of physics can't be denied or changed.

A big person will on average suck up recoil better than a small one over the long run for the same reason that most big bores are made to weigh more. Once you mount the rifle your weight becomes part of the unit and if you weigh 250 vs 150 like a heavy rifle you soak up recoil more efficiently.

Many of the top trap shooters of game were or are bigger than average. I've watched a couple three hundred pounders just stand there and take round after round. The shotgun hardly moves under recoil. The body jiggles around and comes back to rest quickly.

Not saying a small person can't lean to roll with the punch or that a larger person that is overly tense or muscle bound will not feel the effects of recoil more than one that can relax. Or that mental toughness can't take one places that those who don't have it will never go.

But size does soak up recoil, due to the body at rest theory. The more weight that body has, the more it wants to stay there, and it can't be ignored.

Weight is the reason the lead sled doesn't break the egg.

Americans must be at least six-feet tall and 200 pounds and Koreans must be above average height and weight and hold a black belt in at least one marshal art. Smiling, apparently, is not required...Or is that a DMZ guard....

The fact is,size seems to have little bearing on recoil.One of my very best friends can lift the front of a Volkswagon off the ground with ease yet sold a .338 Win Mag given to him because of recoil.

One has to learn to roll with the recoil rather than fight it.In my opinion,size and strength has nothing to do with it.


Jayco

The more one weighs the less he has to roll.

The recoil of a .458WM will move a hot wheel car. An F250 not so much.

It is all about inertia and mass. But what the hell did Newton know?

I'm surprised that this is still going! But since I started it, I guess I could add a few comments: I was not asking for myself as I've lots of shooting experience with Big Bores. And there has been some excellent input from everyone.

The reason I posed the question as I did was because several, on other threads, were complaining rather vociferously over the recoil of "magnums" when they weren't really any "better" for large game than standard cartridges in the same caliber. I wanted input from others, who shoot "big magnums" to see whether "magnumitus" is a serious problem among those who prefer heavier calibers for heavy game... because I write on these matters, and others of a practical nature.

Thanks to all for your input.

I'm not a large man... about average I think. Today, I weigh 180 lbs out of the shower. At one time I did weigh about 210 - 215. I'm probably healthier today (at age 75) than when I was 60. I do handle my .458 Win mag quite well, and I don't find it abusive with it's heaviest loads. But I have settled on a practical hunting load for moose and bear, using 350gr TSX's at 2750 fps, generating 50 ft-lbs of recoil. And the recoil momentum isn't bad from the 11.25 lb rifle all-up ready to go.

One thing I have learned though, when practicing I use good ear muffs and ear plugs. When the muzzle blast is just a simple "pop", the recoil is definitely less!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

I agree that muzzle blast bothers me more than recoil. It is simply a mind over matter thing. If you don't mind it don't matter. Muzzle blast gets into my mind making it matter. The only time I ever caught myself flinching was shooting a friend's 338 win mag with a muzzle break. I have shot 470 nitro express with no issues.

Shooting is all between your ears....

My first wife was 5 foot 1 inch tall and weighted 116 pounds. Her favorite rifle was my 375H&H and I would have to take it away from her many times because she wanted to fire 50-100 rounds from it a day and I could not afford that .
My wife today is 5 foot 11 and weights 151 pounds. She shoots her 30-06 with no problem at all, but doesn't like anything more powerful.
I know big men who are absolutely not wimps who just can't shoot well with 30-06s and 7MM Mags and I know smaller shooters who shoot big guns with no problem. A lady who used to work at out largest gun-shop in Riverton is 5 foot and she's a bit round, but one of her all time favorites is a 416 Rigby and she shoots it very well.

Stock fit is a big consideration and some calibers that hurt someones shoulder can be made to be easy to shoot well if the stock of the gun is either modified or replaced with one that fits the shooter. As a gunsmith I have dealt with that issue many times in the last 50 years.

So how big or strong is not really asking the right question. And the only way to answer that is to try them and see. Before going forward, have someone measure you and give you the stock dimensions that are perfect for you and see if you can find one that is of those measurements ----------or get as close as you can. For big guns length of pull and drop at comb are the 2 most important ones. For perfection cast off, drop at heel, drop at toe and pitch are helpful mostly for how fast you can mount the gun up and have the sight dead on. But the ones that are important for recoil are length of pull and drop at comb, and cast off is next. The other ones don't have a lot to do with how it feel in recoil.

I am only 5' 6" and I and wide in the shoulders. I take more cast-off then most men. I have a short neck and my LOP is ideal at 13.3" When I make stocks to fit, I shoot 416s, 458s and my 404 Jeffery very well and they don't hurt at tall. But I have a friend who owned a Remington 600 in 350 mag with a long slim stock on it (he has arms like a daddy long-legs spider) and I think that light long gun is a wicked kicker, and I hate firing it. It's recoil is probably about 1/2 of my 404, but it kicks me and hurts. My experience with a standard Weatherby Mk5 in 378 is awful too. But one I made a stock for one about 20 years ago, for a man who was built like me. It was not bad to shoot at all, with the new stock.

So the old saying is true:
Recoil is how much force is exerted backwards from firing a gun. Kick is how it feels.

Kick is all about who is doing the feeling. No man can tell you what you are going to feel. Only you yourself can tell us.

A good recoil pad, great stock design and plenty of weight and most big bores are easy too shoot. My 500 a square is a pussy cat to shoot with a recoil reducer and muzzle break.

Dont fight the recoil just roll with the hit. More than 3 shots gets a bit silly thou

I'm 5'10" and 165 and i can certainly feel it in my shoulder after shooting off a dozen rounds of heavier loads in the field sighting-in my .375 and i have pretty good technique, bin shooting since my single digit years. I'm not in pain but i can feel that something went on there, almost like a mild workout ache. It doesn't bother me mind-you and i think the thing about recoil is just not to think about it. Just shoot and don't give recoil your attention.

I do notice the recoil with 270 grain factory loads even though i don't think about it before i shoot. I don't notice it at all with my 250 grain handloads over 64.5 grains of Varget.

I am 6'4" and over 300 pounds. I have shot everything in the Army inventory once upon a time and I have a collection of big bores most won't fire twice. Recoil is not an issue for me even though I am big that does not matter as much as proper form and bracing yourself for the shot. If you have a scope you have to be aware of the clearance and not creep the scope that is what gets most people. The three guns I have shot that I really noticed the kick was in the Army only the M203 grenade launcher and that was only because I was not expecting it to kick that hard. 40mm grenade basically a 40mm shotgun duh. The hardest kicking rifle I've ever shot was a 505 Gibbs non ported with a 600 grain load. I fired 3 rounds off the bench, no lead sled, and my whole body was shaking even in a good position. The last is a T/C Encore pistol in .308, I could handle it fine but it is a hard kicking handgun that many people cut their brow on that scope. A 500 S&W even ported is quite stout but manageable. Every thing else including all the Weatherby's have been easy to control. I have a friend who is my size and hunts with a .338 Lapua ported but will not shoot any of my guns because he says they hurt him. Big bores are made to be shot standing anyway and that is the best way to minimize recoil but your footing needs to be right.