RECOIL

June 1998

At almost 6' tall 185 pounds, one would think that I could tolerate recoil. I drive a pick-up truck, wear boots, change my own oil, heck I am just an all around macho kinda guy right?

Except when it comes to being stomped by a 8 pound stick of wood and metal. I HATE RECOIL !

Fifteen to twenty shots with a large caliber and I am over it. I am not sure if it is the noise, the muzzle blast or the felt recoil. Maybe it is all three.

Recoil is a funny thing. Sitting at the range, you know you're going to feel it so it is not a surprise, but it hurts. Even a shoulder pad or heavy coat really do not seem to help much. If the cross hairs are lined up on a game animal however, you barely hear the gun much less feel it.

For years I accepted that my "deer rifle" was going to hurt and it was just part of practicing. Today, my aging father, still shoots his 30-06. His accuracy is gone, he flat can't hit with that gun anymore. Now he says that he is too old to buy a new gun and learn new tricks. That is stubborn, but that is a whole different story.

I guess my point is, he fell in love with the gun as a young man and has never known any other rifle for deer hunting. I would caution you against such a narrow frame of mind. It truly is saddening to see his
frustration at his inability to hit. Although he could never cut a small group with it he was confident that the heavy load would do the job.

Had I known 20 years ago what I know now, I would have at least attempted to talk him into trying a different caliber.

WHAT AFFECTS RECOIL

Recoil is a result of a combination of things, with probably the two most significant factors being volume of powder charge and bullet weight.

Other factors include rifle weight, velocity, and powder velocity.

Load From A Disk Software ballistic software and others I am sure, can quickly tell you a pretty accurate felt recoil energy in pounds.

The formula in it's self is complex and beyond my comprehension, but here it is.(ref Lyman 45th edition).

Wg Vg = W1 Vp + W2 Vc

Where: Wg = Weight of gun (lb)
W1 = Weight of bullet (lb)
W2 = Weight of powder chg (lb)
Vg = Recoiling velocity of gun (fps)
Vp = Muzzle velocity of bullet (fps)
Vc = Effective velocity of powder charge

Maybe to you this is simple. I will just let the computer do it for me, thanks.

I mentioned my Dad and his 30-06. Just for comparison sake, take a look at these actual numbers produced by the software.

Dad's 30-06

My .243

Gun 8.5 lbs

Gun 8.5 lbs

180 gr bullet

100 gr bullet

43 grs powder

34.3 grs powder

felt recoil 14.6 lbs

felt recoil 6.8 lbs

100 yd energy 2209

100 yd energy 1582



His track record over the past 10 years has not been good, mine is hanging on the wall.

WHAT CAN BE DONE

There are things that can be done to reduce recoil economically. First and foremost might be to have a recoil pad installed. We put one on the 06 and it helped some.

In the fall of 1997, I convinced my dad to drop back to 150 grain bullet. The results, a 3.9 pound reduction in felt recoil, now 10.7 pounds of recoil, 100 yd energy 1639.

This was a good improvement and he is shooting better at the range. Now I have to work on 30 years of flinch with him.

My project for the summer is to do some extensive testing with 130 grain bullets, maybe even less bullet, if I get the time. Expected recoil with 130 is around 9 lbs.

Simply reducing the bullet weight but leaving velocity high can still leave recoil high. By reducing the bullet weight and velocity, recoil is lighter at the expense of down range energy loss.

Before you decide that you can't accept reduced energy, consider that improved bullet placement greatly compensates for lower energy. We have all heard the stories of killing large game with a rimfire, not
to say that it can't be done, but this is a realistic approach.

The goal here is to reduce recoil so that you enjoy practicing. If you enjoy practicing, you will practice more. Come next fall, you should be able to drive nails with that old deer rifle that you just can't give
up.

Bill

Update:
My father has since passed away but the last deer he shot (1999) was a 1 shot kill. 130 grain Sierra bullet fired from his 30-06. I was not there to see it unfortunately but he called me that evening and was as excited as a kid at Christmas.

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