I recently visited a local outdoor range , I brought about 6 large coin bags stuffed with rubber mulch to use as a rifle rest,
and several rifles that have rather noticeable recoil, 378 wby, 458 LOTT , now I have a vest with a PAST recoil shield sewn into the shoulder,
I managed to shoot some decent rather tight 1"-2" 100 yard groups off the bench rest,
and once I had the 458 LOTT sighted in to hit where I prefer to sight in my rifles (at 3.5" high at 100 yards)
the rifles loaded with a 540 grain hard cast bullet pushed to about 1800 fps,
thats not max but it has significant recoil,(bullet looks like this one)
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/47...n-semi-pointed

I started to shoot a few off hand groups just to see how I could do, well the guy next to me and the guy running the range,
walk over to watch for a bit and theres only about 6 people total on that range at this time.
after a few shots were fired the guy next to me asked if he could try a shot, as he had never fired a serious power larger bore rifle.
I reminded him that the rifle must be held correctly and that it had a significant recoil level,
I showed him how to wrap his arm in the sling and properly shoulder the rifle, and pointed out that the rifle was not yet loaded,
but to try a few practice trigger pulls and to maintain the correct sight picture even after the trigger was pulled.
the range officer watched this with interest, I then suggested the guy temporarily borrow my shooting vest with the recoil pad,
he politely refused as he only intended to shoot once to get a feel for the rifle.
well I loaded it and as expected the recoil was a bit more than the guy expected , but he managed to hit the target and not drop the rifle.
he instantly became convinced that his need for owning a 458 lott was now very low in his priority list!
no harm done, now the range officer had been watching this and asked if he could try a shot ?
I started to go through the same basic prep talk, but he said he had been watching and If Id just hand him a cartridge he would take a shot and be fine....
I then suggested the guy temporarily borrow my shooting vest with the recoil pad,
I suggested I hold the sling, I could see the potential result as he decided not to use it correctly wrapped around his arm or properly shoulder the rifle,
as expected, the rifle recoil knocked him out of his sunglasses and forced him back on his back leg rather instantly,
if the rifle had a scope instead of iron sights Im sure he would have had a few stitches in his forehead, as the rifle was not held firmly in the shoulder.
Im sure pride kept him from screaming like a little girl, but he looked like someone hit in the head with a golf club, rather stunned.
he almost dropped the rifle (It was a good idea I held the sling) the previous shooter said,
"kinda gets your full attention when it goes off... doesn,t it"
the range officer was not overly happy, it was probably a mistake to let him shoot the rifle.
honestly its a skill you need to learn, to properly shoot a large bore rifle,
and you can,t get away with the bad form and habits that you could ignore if you shoot something like a 308 win or 30/30.
I don,t know if there will be any repercussions,...I doubt it....but its obvious that some people will not take good advice
now I know several guys who can accurately shoot big bore rifles, but its an acquired skill, and its certainly not something joe-average
will do well without some instruction.

thread on bags
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...10/#post-73479

heavy recoil rifles
http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...90/#post-77601

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...87/#post-72914

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...846/#post-7368

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...03/#post-10070

BTW
proper sling use, a rifle recoil pad for your vest
and a recoil pad on the stock
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0001001641


http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0094310010