Hard Recoil/Sore Shoulder

lkhudnall · 10-22-2004, 10:16 PM

I purchased a Browning A-Bolt 300 WSM and it kicks me so hard my shoulder takes two weeks to heal. The rifle does not have a factory installed B.O.S.S. system and I am comteplating about what to do to reduce recoil. Two alternatives I have heard about are installing a muzzle brake or installing a recoil dampening system in the stock with a limb saver recoil pad. I was told the muzzle brake increases the flash and sound of the rifle. Anyone had experience with this?

I fell in love with this wood stock left handed bolt action rifle and bought it before I even checked out the caliber. I have fired about everything the Marine Corps had in the sixties but this sucker really kicks.

James B · 10-23-2004, 01:32 AM

My Browning A Bolt kicks like hell too and its just a 308. Its the light weight Synthetic stalker but I was shocked at how hard it recoils. I just wear and extra pad in my jacket at the range while shooting from the bench. In the field it doesn't bother me. A good recoil pad would prabably help you. They make the Limb saver for for the browning a-bolts, all factory sized. Just screw it on.

HighDesertWolf · 10-23-2004, 03:15 AM

C'mon now its not that bad you guys make yourselves sound like a couple of soft P@#$ies.
but then again you guys are probably frail old men, not young bucks anymore. That SVL limbsaver recoil pad is a good one it works great on my Mossberg 835 with 3.5 inch turkey loads
and my New 338 remington Ultra mag.

jmfa1957 · 10-23-2004, 01:25 PM

It is both silly and risky to allow recoil to injure you. It has nothing to do with being a wimp, and everything to do with protecting your rotator cuff from damage that will require surgery. There are many things that a gunsmith gan do to your rifle to reduce recoil; of these, I would not recommend a muzzle break. These do reduce felt recoil but at the expense of tremendous muzzle blast, which will cause permanent hearing damage if you are hunting with no ear protection. They also cause some hearing damage even if you are using most types of ear protection, although not as badly. Hearing protection reduces noise by a certain number of decibels, and the intensity of most brake-equipped rifles is so high that even the reduce noise level is above that which can cause hearing loss.

I would recommend a recoil pad for your rifle. A PAST shoulder pad is also excellent. I have one of these and it workds great. They are available in a number of thicknesses.

One can become accustomed to heavy recoil with experience, but you really do run a risk of soft tissue damage if you are not careful. It ain't got nothin' to do with being macho, it has to do with being smart enough to not subject yourself to unnecessary injury.

m.t.hands · 10-23-2004, 01:46 PM

i've got a remington model 700 stainless/syn in 7mmSTW the gun has a brake on it and i am amazed at the reduced recoil, never tried any of the pads/gunsmith tricks i've heard they can do amazing stuff, but i can tell you for sure a break will help, the bad news as mentioned earlier, i don't think you'd ever want to shoot one w/o hearing protection, i did one time and my ears rang for three days[

], whats that ya say?

, btw i sold a rifle that did me that way and i'm 5'10" 225 lbs., it was a weatherby in a lightweight mountian rifle in 7mm mag, thing would knock fillings out, which did not help the accuracy any, best of luck but if you don't like the recoil my opinion is you propably won't like the gun unless you reduce the recoil in some way

oh yea welcome to the board

stress-relief · 10-23-2004, 03:11 PM

I have a Savage 116 300 RUM with a factory installed muzzle brake on it. This muzzle brake can be turned and it will either be on or off. At the target range where I'm doing load development I have it on. For hunting it can be turned off. Seems like the best of both worlds. Do after market muzzle brakes have the option of being able to turn them on or off?

8mm/06 · 10-23-2004, 04:25 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: jmfa1957

I would recommend a recoil pad for your rifle. A PAST shoulder pad is also excellent. I have one of these and it workds great. They are available in a number of thicknesses.

One can become accustomed to heavy recoil with experience, but you really do run a risk of soft tissue damage if you are not careful. It ain't got nothin' to do with being macho, it has to do with being smart enough to not subject yourself to unnecessary injury.

Great advice. At the bench you need to be comfortable and protect yourself. I'm 6'1" 210 lbs. and while I'm not in tip top shape I can hold my own. But I almost never shoot at the range without my PAST pad on. Call me anything you like, but I've never had a flinching problem and I don't plan on starting anytime soon.
I learned my lesson about 20 years ago while shooting a .338 Win Mag that did not fit me very well at all. Only 20 rounds from that rifle and my shoulder, neck and back were toast for about 3 weeks.

Make sure your rifle is a good fit, wear the proper protection at the range...and you'll likely never notice recoil in the field.

stubblejumper · 10-23-2004, 08:12 PM

Quote:

This muzzle brake can be turned and it will either be on or off. At the target range where I'm doing load development I have it on. For hunting it can be turned off. Seems like the best of both worlds.

That is fine if the point of impact stays the same with the brake on and off.That is not always the case.With the boss equipped rifle that I used to own the point of impact was changed just by adjusting the boss setting.

I would suggest a quality recoil pad such as the limbsaver or the decellerator.I actually find this entire situation very ironic considering that the big selling point of the wsm line was supposed to be reduced recoil compared to the standard magnums.

QTompkins2005 · 10-23-2004, 08:37 PM

Whats a muzzle brake?

1dahunter · 10-23-2004, 08:49 PM

Welcome to the world of magnums. My .270 win will do anything I want it to and alot less recoil. I had a 300wsm while deer hunting and shot at a very large doe well I didnt see was another doe right besides it and the bullet passed through both deer and they were at 125 yards I decided then the 300wsm was alot more than I needed, I figured I wont be hunting any thing that would require a gun like that and my shoulder thanked me after I got rid of it. Just my experience.