RECOIL...YOUR ENEMY #1
11/30/2018
RECOIL...YOUR ENEMY #1
After two weeks of sitting in our new display trailer just off the shooting line at the Southern Grand and the Florida state shoot, I was amazed at how many shooters were getting pounded by their shotguns. Their shoulders and heads were snapping back due to recoil....ouch! Today's shotgun games (trap,skeet and sporting clays) should not inflict pain and suffering!
Individual shots don't matter much, however like a boxer getting hit with little jab punches, the cumulative effect can be devastating to the shooter over a 100 or 200 target event. Sooner or later a gun that hurts you will begin to negatively effect your scores.
OK, how do you solve the problem? There are a couple of interesting solutions that I'll list here:
1. Gun fit. As we discussed in an earlier blog, having a good fit on your shotgun will reduce felt recoil significantly. There are a number of qualified folks around the country who offer this service and it's normally well worth the price paid.
2. Recoil reducers in the stock. There are a number of these on the market (ie: Dead Mule and Edwards...) and they do work reasonably well. They add weight and have either a mercury or spring mechanism inside which dampens recoil. The combination of weight and dampening can be highly effective and if your gun tends to be a bit muzzle heavy it will help to balance the gun.
3. Recoil Reducing Stocks. There are several options in the recoil reducing stocks that are available. The Precision Fit Stock is a bolt on arrangement which is amazing in its capacity to reduce recoil and allow for perfect gun fit. At $1295.00 it's well worth the price. The Ultimate Fit upgraded version at $1395.00 gives the shooter who needs more offset a great advantage over the typical adjustable wood comb. Click here to learn more about Precision Fit Stocks. Others like Pro-Soft and Stock-Lock are considerably more expensive, however they look more like a traditional stock and work even better than they look.
Porting, back boring and long forcing cones. Porting a shotgun barrel will keep the muzzle under control and reduce the upward motion of the barrel. I particularly like the barrels of my trap doubles gun ported to stop muzzle jump between shots. This can have a dramatic effect on recoil to the face and also allows for a quicker recovery for a second shot in a doubles presentation. About $100 a barrel and there are several companies that do it well, Top Line porting, Angle Porting and Pro-Port being the more well known shops.
Back boring a barrel can have a positive effect on recoil, especially in combination with a long forcing cone job if the gun has short ones. Patterns generally improve and the recoil sensation is softer. There are a couple of serious barrel gurus out there like Tom Wilkinson and Kerry Allor, both do superb work.
In conclusion, get rid of recoil and your scores will improve... Thanks for reading,
Bob