The heavier a rifle is the less the felt recoil is. Also the wider the recoil pad is the less felt recoil is. Also stock desing and balance affect felt recoil too.
Try the new Limbsaver recoil pad. www.limbsaver.com they are extra soft and thick.
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Nugent
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You would have to make it heavier by a pound or so to make much of a difference. Shooting lighter grain bullets will help a little too.
The best thing I' ve found is to put a sand bag or two between your shoulder and the butt pad when you shoot at the range. It soaks up a lot of recoil and you don' t have to mess with making you' re gun heavier. In the field, you won' t notice recoil as much as on the range.
Ask your gunsmith about mercury recoil dampers. The one I have in my BPS shotgun weighs 5oz and fits into the buttstock. It doesn' t add too much weight (and because it' s so far back it doesn' t really change the way the gun swings, but that' s not so improtant with a rifle), but it is filled with mercury which hydraulically dampens the recoil. I installed mine for the times I' ll go to the trap club and shoot 8 rounds (200 shells of 1-1/8oz. 12ga. #8' ). It doesn' t really reduce the total recoil, but it helps a lot to smooth it out over a longer time, for it' s more of a shove than a kick. I' d bet it' d have a similar effect on rifle recoil, too. I do know that they are very popular on the trap and skeet range.
The other option not yet mentioned if having a muzzlebrake installed, if you don' t mind the extra noise. A good efficient muzzlebrake can reduce recoil by as much as 70%, which would make that 7mmMag a *****cat. The caveat is that a muzzlebrake will greatly increase the intensity of the report, which makes hearing protection mandatory at all times if you value your hearing, even in the field. A muzzlebrake is one of those deals where you don' t get something for nothing. But adding weight is the same way. The extra pound you add to a gun you plan to carry around all day will feel like 10 extra pounds at the end of the day. If you hunt from a stand, or stationary on the ground, then the extra weight might not be so bad.
Look into getting a recoil pad like pacymar (sp) or sims. And for shooting off of the bench, I have found that wearing ear plugs and also ear muffs will help my groups.
totoe,
Adding weight will always help reduce felt recoil.
Assuming you do not have a past injury and/or are not very young and of light build, then (at the risk of making you mad) your 7mm Mag should not be that much of a kicker, provided you have the fundamentals covered, i.e. your stock fits (including a reasonable recoil pad) and your technique is sound. Check out the quick, cheap, and easy stuff (fit and technique) before pursuing the expensive stuff like mercury rods or muzzlebrakes. Check with a good gunsmith on fit and check with a NRA certified instructor or PH that handles bigger bores regarding technique.
The gunsmith will give you his opinion no charge and it involves no damage to your ego. The NRA heavy bore instructor on the other hand requires a step that the majority of hunter will NEVER submit to --- asking for a critique from a qualified stranger, and --- opening up the possiblity that they may be doing something(s) wrong.
I hunted over 30 years before finding out that my hunting successes were IN SPITE OF my technique not because of it.
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