SBE3.5

let me know if their is a WAY please.

KitsapCaller

Not that I know of....but you can reduce the toil and wear on your shoulder which might result by shooting shell after shell by simply wearing a vest with a built-in recoil pad in the shoulder. These are very popular with people who shoot skeet or trap and will fire off their gun many times in a session. Give it a try...might just do the trick.

MOTurkeyTamer

I always shoot my turkey cannon from a seated position on the ground, never from a bench like you would a rifle. I wear a PAST recoil pad that straps onto your shoulder. I have also taken a small, fairly thin sandbag made from a piece of old denim pantleg and placed it between my shoulder and the stock of the gun. You can also utilize a small piece of closed cell foam rubber for this also. With the PAST pad and sandbag absorbing a bunch of the recoil, plus the natural rocking backwards of your body upon firing, you can shoot several rounds of 3" magnum turkey loads and go home without a strained back or bruised shoulder. It also helps to take a couple of Tylenol before you go out to shoot, cause you' re gonna need ' em afterwards anyway! I have no experience with 3 1/2" loads and have no intention of using them but this technique should help reduce felt recoil even with them. Happy shooting!!

MTT

slee

Something that I found to help with my Beretta A390 was to make sure I had a shell in the magazine to cycle into the chamber. Only took one patterning session to figure this out, and that was with 3" loads. It was brutal after 8 shots of various loads. Without that magazine feed, it is like shooting a pump or single shot. You get the full effects when the cylinder blows open. Also, if you are trying to set your sights to shoot center of the pattern, use light loads. This will tell you where your barrel is pointing, and they are a lot cheaper than turkey loads. Once you get the sights set and pattern pretty much centered where you want, then switch to turkey loads to finish the process. Otherwise, suck it up. You bought the 3.5" for the extra punch. I' d invest in a gel shoulder pad if it is a real problem for you.

sour01

Patterned my turkey gun last year using 3.5" and was black and blue. It was worth it, though, to give a couple of long beards a ride in my truck.

Mikey S.

I have a bum shoulder from surgery a year ago, and the scar tissue and cut line are right where a stock hits on recoil. It' s a very irritating and painful experience for me to shoot anything from any kind of a rest for practice or sight-in purpose. Hunting is no problem. You should try what I do when patterning a big shotgun ..................bribe a friend to do it for you!

HuntingBry

I have also heard that putting a sandbag between the butt of the gun and your shoulder works well, but that might mess up your eye relief if using a scope. If not you should be OK. Also, even if you are not shooting a semi-auto keep the magazine filled with shells. The extra weight helps the gun absorb some of the recoil.

BuckoDuck

MIKEY S STOLE MY ANSWER....LET A BUDDY DO IT FOR YOU! REALLY THOUGH YOU CAN TAKE A TOWEL AND FOLD IT OVER ABOUT THREE TIMES AND PUT IT BETWEEN THE BUTT AND YOUR SHOULDER AND IT WILL ABSORB A LOT OF THE RECOIL WITHOUT ADDING A LOT OF DISTANCE ON EYE RELIEF. NO MATTER WHAT YOU USE IT STILL IS GOING TO FEEL WORSE WHEN PATTERNING RATHER SHOOTING A BIRD!

maineac

The recoil pads are a good suggestion. Sims labs is also maaking an after market recoil pad that they say absorbs 50% of the recoil. You could invest in one and put it on the gun. That or drop down to 3" shells. I have never had a problem using them and shooting birds at reasonable ranges.

VAhuntr

The 3.5" guns do pack a punch but I just wear a good insulated coat when patterning off the bench. Once I' ve found the load I like I then will shoot sitting off the ground simulating a shot in the woods. I wear my turkey hunting clothes when doing this. Another solution would be to send your gun to nitro company and they will find what shoots best in your gun. But man this is going to cost you and you still would need to shoot the gun for yourself. Here is their link:

http://www.nitrocompany.com/pattern.htm