I shot my 30.06 for the first time today and my shoulder is bruised and purple. I am sure that some of this was my fault as I don' t think I started out holding the rifle correctly. (this is the first hunting rifle I have ever owned) I shot 40 rounds with it and managed to get a 2" group at 100yds and a 3.5" group at 200yds. I know this is not very impressive, but it is certainly good enough to kill a deer.

My question is:

What good aftermarket recoil absorbers would you guys suggest? Pachmayr? Others?

Thanks in advance for your help.

PS: My rifle is a Weatherby Vanguard. Yeah, I know it' s not the best rifle in the world, but I am not trying to win a sniper competition. I just wanna bag a deer.

Pachmayr will do fine....personally, I' d look for something called a decellerator.

Just keep shooting, in 20 years your shoulder will be mostly scar tissue and the recoil won' t bruise anymore.

Make sure the rifle butt is tight to your shoulder- if its not, it will slam you harder and cause bruising and abrasions. Sounds like the rifle is a good shooter, get off the bench and practice from sitting kneeling and improvised rests- it will make for a better field shooter, and your body will absorb the recoil in a much more pleasant manner than shooting from a benchrest.

I will try that. I will also check into a decellerator and a couple of others. My wife about fell over when I showed her my shoulder just now. Ouchie! I am going to go to the range again on Thursday and I will be taking a friend of mine to help me fine tune. My goal is 1 MOA at 100 yards. If I can get that, I will be happy. The way my stand is set up, I won' t have to make a shot longer than 150 yards or so. If I change stands, I might have to make up to a 300-350 yard shot, but I think I will have plenty of shots where I am.

If you are having alot of recoil probimes try a litter bullit

just an idea,check to see if your barrel is floated,i had trouble with my brno it was rubbing on the wood. also check to see if your stock is to short or to long, that can give ya shoulder a hard time. good luck.

reacher..

what gun and grain size are you using? do you shoot your gun alot?i have also found from my experiences if i have not shot alot that year my shoulder would be more recoil sensitive to shooting compared to shooting more frequently .i have owned 3 30-06sprg' s in my hunting carrer. one was in a rem 700 ADL using 180gr. another browning BAR and a browning medallion. i find the ligther medallion bit me more after i went past 165gr. the rem 700 had no kick what so ever like my 308win.
also is the gun fight you like an extension of your arm? i have heard from people on this site complaining that a 270win kicking more than the 30-06sprg due to the stock design/ hunter fit.

also how far will you shots be? what frain size are u using? try maybe a premium 150gr. or 165gr. buulet less recoil and the 150gr premium bullet wil hold better.

Weatherby Vanguard is a great rifle. I have a Sako and a Weatherby Vanguard and I' ve grabbed the Wby first the last two seasons. I' m not saying the Vanguard is a higher quality rifle than a Sako, but it' s nice enough to make the choice between the two more about the caliber than the rifle. Is your Vanguad wood or synthetic.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

Reacher,

I don' t think I have ever shot 40 rounds at the range with my 30-06. I usually keep it under 20 more like 10 and have no problem with shoulder. My Mossberg 500 shooting 2 3/4 slugs, now that rifle will definately mess with the shoulder.

I use either 165 graim remmington' s or winchesters and kill deer just fine. Many hunters by me go to 180 grain but I feel the 165 works great. I usually bring 1 box or rounds with me and if I' m hitting the target with nice groups, then that is what I will be using FDD (First Day Deer).


Good luck....

Tomster

First at the range are you using sand bags? try throwing one over your shoulder. NO sense beating yourself up at the range. The sand bags will cut the felt recoil by about 95% no bruiseing. as far as recoil pads. Sims labratorys has some great reoil pads guaranteed to cut felt recoil by 50%. If you like your rifle and you think it is good for you. It really doesn' t matter how much you spent. Vanguards are nice rifles for the money. your groups sound pretty good, especially if that was your first time out. It isn' t always the rifle but sometimes experiece shooting. Good luck with your rifle. I had great luck with the remingon core lokt 165' s in 06.