{"id":2009,"date":"2022-11-28T14:50:18","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T19:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/?p=2009"},"modified":"2022-11-28T14:50:20","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T19:50:20","slug":"thoughts-on-recoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/thoughts-on-recoil\/","title":{"rendered":"THOUGHTS ON RECOIL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig Boddington<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was just hunting Cape buffalo in Mozambique with buddy Gordon Marsh, proprietor of this site. Gordon brought his CZ 550<\/a>, chambered to the huge .500 Jeffery<\/a>. Propelling a 535-grain bullet at over 2500 fps, the .500 Jeffery<\/a> was long our most powerful sporting cartridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Boddington is flanked by great gunwriters Gary Sitton and John Wootters, both now gone. Wootters lost the sight in his right eye due to a detached retina. Although it didn\u2019t happen while shooting, he came to believe that heavy recoil may have cumulative effect and increase the risk of detached retina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Surpassed in 1957 by the .460 Weatherby<\/a>, the .500 Jeffery, yields over 7000 foot-pounds, a real powerhouse. It and the .460 are among few cartridges that, with ideal shot placement, might drop a Cape buffalo\u2026and keep him down. Gordon proved this on his bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also proved he\u2019s one tough SOB. He suffered two severe scope cuts and had his front scope mount loosen under recoil. Gordon put the rifle (and himself) back together, re-zeroed, shot a one-inch group, then went on to flatten his buffalo and shoot a hippo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Prone is one of the worst positions for recoil; the body has nowhere to go, plus the head must be cocked forward, increasing chances for scope cuts. This scope has plenty of eye relief, so it\u2019s not going to hit him<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recoil is the embodiment of Newton\u2019s Third Law of physics: \u201cEvery action has an equal and opposite reaction.\u201d The action is the projectile traveling down the bore; opposite is recoil, in which the firearm becomes the projectile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proper stock fit matters greatly, and there are actually two primary factors to recoil: Energy and velocity. In the US, we speak of recoil energy in foot-pounds, and recoil velocity in feet per second. Because of the force required to move a heavy firearm, both are much lower than projectile energy and velocity. Fast magnums and light rifles seem to hit us faster\u2026because they do. This is why cartridges that are large, powerful, and fast, such as .338 Lapua Magnum<\/a> and .378 Weatherby Magnum<\/a>, seem to produce especially violent recoil. They hit hard and <\/em>fast, on both ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slower big-bore cartridges, such as .458 Win Mag<\/a> and all the old Nitro Express rounds, at around 2150 fps, produce lower recoil than cartridges like the .500 Jeffery<\/a> and .460 Weatherby<\/a>, which are 20 percent faster. At these levels, we\u2019re splitting hairs between recoil velocity and energy; the effect is brutal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Boddington takes a serious bash with a .700 Nitro Express from Bill Jones\u2019 collection. This is more than 150 ft-lbs of recoil, note the \u201ccatch team\u201d in case he loses control of the valuable rifle. Boddington no longer does this kind of thing for fun.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the Internet, actual recoil figures are at our fingertips. Some examples for comparison:  A 7.5 pound .243 with 100-grain bullet produces about nine ft-lbs of recoil energy. No problem, right? A 6.5 Creedmoor<\/a> kicks about a dozen ft-lbs, a .270 Winchester<\/a> in the upper teens. An eight-pound .30-06 with 180-grain bullet kicks just over 20 ft-lbs, while a .300 Wby Mag goes up a third, over 30 ft-lbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This .375 Wby Mag was fine in the states in winter with a jacket on, but needed a bit more eye relief in shirtsleeves in Cameroon. After multiple scope cuts Boddington gave up and removed the scope and used iron sights, the only time he has ever traded a functioning scope for irons.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More powerful rifles are usually heavier. This is a good thing, because sheer gun weight is always the easiest way to mitigate recoil. A nine-pound .375 H&H<\/a> will stay below 40 ft-lbs. With practice, most shooters can learn to handle this level. The .378 Wby Mag<\/a> jumps to over 70 ft-lbs of recoil. At 11 pounds, my double .470 <\/a>kicks in the high 60s. With similar bullet weight at higher velocity, the .460 Wby and .500 Jeffery reach 100 ft-lbs, a lot of kick\u2026for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A good shock-absorbing recoil pad helps a lot, but adding gun weight is often the simplest way to reduce recoil. The Break-O mercury recoil reducer adds weight, plus the heavy mercury acts as a piston under recoil, slowing the impulse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I used to think I was impervious to recoil. I was wrong! Some years back I had a .600 Nitro Express <\/a>\u201cdouble\u201d on me while shooting an elephant. Not my rifle, so I don\u2019t know if it was a malfunction that fired both barrels when I pressed the front trigger. Or, if, after firing the first barrel, recoil caused me to inadvertently hit the rear trigger. Doesn\u2019t matter, 300 ft-lbs of recoil, no desire to shoot it again to find out. The elephant dropped. So did I. I was briefly stunned, sore for a few days, but no apparent damage until, weeks later, I lost a major tendon in that shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possibly repairable if I were a pro athlete, not worth it for me. No residual pain, no loss of motion. But I can\u2019t risk drawing a bow on that side, and I take more care in the recoil I subject myself to. At that time, I\u2019d already started to ration recoil, but for an entirely different reason: Risk of detached retina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Boddington and Bill Jones with the only buffalo Boddington has taken with the .500 Jeffery. From Jones\u2019 collection, this famous rifle belonged to Fletcher Jameson. Effect was devastating, but Boddington decided this is too much recoil.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John Wootters was our star writer when I was Editor of Petersen\u2019s HUNTING<\/em> magazine, an invaluable mentor. John suffered a detached retina while on the NRA\u2019s \u201cGreat American Hunters\u201d speaking tour. He didn\u2019t get to an eye surgeon quick enough and lost sight in his right eye, transitioning to left-hand shooting in his 60s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wootters did a lot of research. Severe recoil can contribute to detached retina. My old friend Bert Klineburger experienced a detached retina while checking zero on his .460 Weatherby<\/a> in Central Africa. He knew what had happened, caught a plane to Paris, got it repaired, and hunted for another 30 years. Wootters came to believe that recoil effect can be cumulative: After untold thousands of 12-gauge, shells, veteran competitive shotgunners frequently experience it. And, all too many older gunwriters have suffered detached retinas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The .470 produces about 68 ft-lbs of recoil. That\u2019s plenty, but the other three are much faster and kick at about 100 ft-lbs, an awful lot of recoil. Despite shorter case, the .500 Jeffery is loaded a bit hotter and is slightly more powerful than the huge .505 Gibbs.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scared by Wootters\u2019 experience and trusting his research, by the time that .600 doubled, I\u2019d slowed down, avoiding shooting big guns for fun. Mind you, I still believe in the right gun for the job at hand. Usually, I find myself well above minimums, but I avoid maximums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gordon Marsh at the bench in Mozambique, checking zero on his CZ 550 in the mighty .500 Jeffery. The bench is one of the worst positions for felt recoil because the body has little give.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I shot exactly one buffalo with a .500 Jeffery<\/a>. It was Fletcher Jameson\u2019s famous rifle, featured in John Taylor\u2019s African Rifles and Cartridges<\/em>, and part of Bill Jones\u2019 collection. Quartering-to, aiming for the point of the on-shoulder, the first shot slammed the bull down so hard that my PH and I agreed I must have hit too high. Likely to get back up, better hit him again. No further reaction, so I worked the bolt and we advanced. Halfway there, I realized my left (shooting) arm was completely numb from shoulder to wrist. Good thing the bull was dead; no way could I have fired again! This was just a year after my shoulder got ruined, so I don\u2019t know if this was residual effect, or if the .500 Jeffery is too much gun for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Donna Boddington on sticks, watching a pig trail into a vineyard. Note the clearance between cap bill and ocular lens; almost impossible for the scope to hit her.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Either way, I have no intention to find out!  We all have different recoil \u201cthresholds\u201d that we can withstand without ill effect, and without acquiring hard-to-cure bad habits\u2026like flinching. Everybody is different, and experience counts, but we all have recoil limits that we exceed only at peril. Trust me, it\u2019s not a matter of toughness or male machismo<\/em>. Obviously, a youngster or 110-pound woman is likely to withstand less recoil than a 220-pound man. However, this is not locked in stone. Everybody is different, so in my experience it\u2019s more of a nervous system tolerance. There is no formula for \u201chow much is too much,\u201d but this I know: When you push yourself to uncomfortable recoil, accuracy will suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Muzzle brakes are extremely effective for reducing recoil and generally have no impact on accuracy. They work, but Boddington avoids them for hunting because of the increased muzzle blast.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are options. Muzzle brakes work. Systems vary, depending on how the gas is vented, but at least 40 percent recoil attenuation can be reached. That said, I no longer have any rifles with muzzle brakes, because of increased blast. My thinking: I\u2019m already deaf enough! I carry Walker Game Ears while hunting, but I know that, sooner or later, I\u2019m going to forget to put them on. Also, I hunt a lot in Africa, where trackers and PHs are close by. I don\u2019t want to blow out their ears so, despite unquestionable benefit, I avoid muzzle brakes. If a rifle kicks so hard that I can\u2019t handle it, I\u2019ll add lead in the butt and fore-end channel, or mercury recoil reducers. If that doesn\u2019t work, time to drop down to a lighter cartridge. While this is my answer, hunters who hunt primarily alone may be well-served by modern brakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The worst scope cut Boddington ever got was on this Nevada mule deer, shooting a very familiar .30-06 from a hasty prone position across a canyon at long range. It happens, usually more a matter of hasty or weird shooting position than too much recoil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I mentioned Gordon\u2019s scope cuts, accepted with sheepish grins. Sooner or later, most of us get them. Usually, it isn\u2019t a matter of excessive recoil, but weird shooting positions. The worst scope cut I ever got was from a familiar .30-06<\/a>. I lay prone on a rimrock for a cross-canyon shot, got the buck\u2026and a nasty cut. Prone is bad, but any hasty position is suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adequate eye relief is critical, and a bit extra helps. In 2004 I took a .375 Wby Mag<\/a> to northern Cameroon. Shot great on my range, wearing a light jacket in our mild winter. In shirtsleeves in Equatorial Africa, I couldn\u2019t stay away from the scope, deeper cut with every shot. Most unpleasant. At the tail end of the safari, I gave up. This was the only time I\u2019ve removed a functional scope in favor of iron sights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brittany Boddington instructing shooting off sticks at one of her She Hunts skills camps. Women aren\u2019t particularly sensitive to recoil, but don\u2019t like scope cuts. Brittany\u2019s trick is to wear a baseball cap. If the hat brim clears the ocular bell, then there\u2019s enough eye relief to make a scope cut highly unlikely.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Women usually have higher pain thresholds than men, but are less jocular about facial scars. Daughter Brittany has a great trick she shows the ladies at her \u201cShe Hunts\u201d skills camps. Wear a baseball cap. If the forward edge of the brim clears the rear of the ocular lens, then a scope cut is highly unlikely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, I still shoot big guns when and as I need to. This means I practice with them, but at the range I wear a PAST \u201cRecoil Shield.\u201d I still believe in the adage to \u201cuse enough gun,\u201d usually with power to spare. But I\u2019m not as tough as Gordon Marsh. I no longer shoot big guns for fun!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was just hunting Cape buffalo in Mozambique with buddy Gordon Marsh, proprietor of this site. Gordon brought his CZ 550, chambered to the huge .500 Jeffery. Propelling a 535-grain bullet at over 2500 fps, the .500 Jeffery was long our most powerful sporting cartridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,101,21],"tags":[127,257,260,273,271,144,8,19,61,39],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Gordon-with-500-Jeffery.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2026,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009\/revisions\/2026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}