How good are they?
Shooting my .308 off the bench starts to be a little rough after 10-15 shots and it takes some effort to stop the flinch.

Is a mercury suppressor worth fitting, or would porting be a better option?

If you need something i would sugjest a combanation of a new recoil pad and the mercury suppressor in the butt of the gun. You can do all the mods yourself or take it to the smith. Limbsaver or decelorator pads are the best i've found. Just my .02
Oh, the mercury works rather well. I would avoid the muzzle brake like the plage. Specially if your developing a flinch! the increase in muzzle blast will amplify the flinch IMHO!
Regards,
Paul

Agree with Paul all the way... another idea is to bore a hole under the recoil pad to fill with shot for bench shooting... empty it for hunting. It is amazing how much weight you can put in a 1" hole and how much it will dampen recoil.

Did I mention I HATE ports?
art

DBT, Would you consider the possibility of a lesser caliber?In the long run IMHO you and your rifle will become better friends and you will become a better shot. I don't like recoil either. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Women generally shoot lesser calibers than us and they kill deer just as dead.I shoot my 300H&H and 45/70 for fun just not for long

Oh I like the .308 and it's no trouble shooting it offhand and for hunting it's great.

I'm just thinking of ways to make the bench shooting more comfortable.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Cheers,
DBT

Couple other things you might try is a strap-on shoulder pad like some trap/skeet shooters use, or a slip on recoil pad over your normal pad. Also use double hearing protection on the range- it is amazing to me how much noise affects perceived recoil.

I too would recommend replacing the pad with a Limbsaver or Decelerator (what I use). I like Art's suggestion of the shot-filled hole under the pad, better than I do installing a mercury damper. I don't like carrying the extra weight in the field, and I don't like extra weight on the back end of the rifle (with the exception of several spare rounds). They do work, but I just don't like the shift in balance, as I prefer weight-forward balance. Of course, if you craft the hole carefully for fit, the mercury suppressor could also be removed, while still retaining the (theoretical??) inertial "slosh" effect of the mercury in the partly filled tube, as well as the weight inertia. With such a close fit, a higher humidity might well cause the suppressor to be temporarily non-removable, however, until the stock is dried out again.

I too am not overly fond of porting, although I did Mag-Na-Port my .338 Mag. In my opinion, it would help somewhat on the .308, but that caliber is getting down into the marginal range for effectiveness/cost/ugly holes in the barrel. The larger the caliber/velocity, the better porting works.

On my .338, it reduced muzzle jump by over half (as measured in a Ransom Rest), which of course helps on perceived recoil. In actual recoil, it is barely noticable, with rearward recoil seeming to be slowed slightly, rather than actually reduced.

Hope this helps.

My dad had mercury put in his rifle a few years before he passed away, he just really started having trouble dealing with recoil, in an 06 of all things. Long and short, it made his rifle weight a ton, but he was past the packing stage of any real distance and mainly sat on stands his last few hunts. I have since removed it from his rifle stock.

They are somewhat effective but there are a couple of negatives as well.
First, they are heavy and drastically alter the balance of a rifle.
Second, they gurgle! If you don't mid a butt heavy rifle that sounds like a boot full of water, they are just fine. GD

I have an extremely light weight savage in 308 (six pounds). recoil only becomes noticable to me at bullet weights abovve 165 grains. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive, but one solution would be using lighter, tougher bullets, like Barnes. I'm considering drilling 2 holes in the buttstock of my Ruger number one 416 rigby and filling them with lead shot only because the gun is muzzle heavy. But, it should also dampen recoil. Another alterntative to mercury. But, with a plastic stock, that might not be possible.

DBT ... there is a much better and cheaper way to accomplish what you want to do .... Get a PAST Shield!!! They cost $20-something. I got the $10 cheapy Winchester version .... it works wonders!! I only take it when I'm shooting the 300 and 7mm Roys. One range session I put 70 rounds down range with these two rifles (40 in the 300 and 30 in the 7mm) wearing my pad and a t-shirt. My shoulder felt like it would after about 10 7mm shots or 2-3 outta the 300, not sore, just a little tender.

If this little cheapy pad can tame my magnums, I would imagine you could shoot the 308 all day and still be smiling <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. w/o the brake or Hg added to the stock!

Do yourself a favor ... don't mess with your rifles until you tried this ... I'm bettin' you'll be happy you did!

Hey George,

I got a Past pad - the really thick one, Haven't used it yet but will put to good use this week sighting in my 12 ga slug guns! My light, Ruger 45-70 made me black and blue - that's why I got the pad. The recoil didn't bother me anywhere but on the bench.

Tom

Have always wondered whether the mercury "sloshing" reduces the recoil or if it is simply the added weight of the recoil reducer, mercury and all, and that a lead slug the same weight as the rec. reducer would work just as well.

Get a "sissy" bag for the bench and no modifications are needed. I've been doing that with a couple of my harder kickers during long range sessions. The PAST pads are nice, also.

It's hollow ruger synthetic stock,I've stuffed it with a sack of lead shot and that has noticably reduced the recoil.
And it's easy enough to take out when hunting.

Thanks for the suggestion though,I will check out the shield.

A friend is having the Mercury suppressor installed on his 300 WSM but I have a muzzle brake on my 340 Weatherby. Recoil is now like a 270 but better wear ear protection!

I have a T/C Contender with a 14" 7-30 Waters barrel. I'll NEVER have a break on another gun that isn't a monster. Even hunting under field conditions in the hills makes for ringing ears without ear protection.

Thats what I'm wondering also.
I suppose that the sloshing effect would add a bit of kinetic energy to work against the recoil for some added benefit.

DBT The times I have been "sloshed" I had little or no recoil <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I'm not trying to be rude here, I can understand using a brake on a rifle while doing load development at the bench on a heavy kicking rifle. What I do not understand is why on God's green earth would someone leave it one when in the field and hunt with something that can leave you with significant hearing loss??? Take the damn thing off while hunting! If you cannot handle the recoil while shooting in the field .... your using too much gun! I've shot deer with my 300 WBY prone in the field and to this day couldn't tell you if the rifle even kicked.

Like I said at the begining of this post ... I don't want to pee in someone's Wheaties .. but I don't think there is a single good reason to hunt with a brake on your rifle!