According to Newtown’s Third Law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When gunpowder explodes inside a firearm and launches the bullet forwards, an equal amount of force pushes the gun backwards and (usually) upwards. The bigger the explosion, the greater the force. Recoil baby! I love it.

desantis-blue-logo-no-back-4-smallFiring a gun with a lot of recoil — be it a Smith & Wesson .460 snubbie or a Benelli M4 tactical 12-guage — makes me feel like Zeus hurling a thunderbolt. Most gun owners don’t share that view. Sensibly enough, they consider heavy recoil an impediment to accuracy that’s often painful and always LOUD. How recoil sensitive are you? Does recoil factor into your choice of firearms?

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101 COMMENTS

  1. I do find myself pushing the muzzle down in anticipation. When I had mostly revolvers it was easy to check by leaving a cylinder or two empty.

    With autos, I can only prove to myself that I’m preflinching by accidentally leaving a safety on, hammer down, or a bad round.

    • Interesting, I have never seen a gun where one could “leave a couple cylinders empty”!

      Matter of fact, I have never seen a gun with more than one “cylinder”!

    • For an automatic, you can test for flinch by adding a couple of snap caps to magazines. It’s best if you have someone else load a snap cap or two, or if you have several magazines so you’re not sure where the snap cap(s) is(are).

      Great for testing flinch/recoil anticipation, seeing if your sight stays on the target through the trigger pull, and practicing malfunction drills

  2. Nope, bigger the better, and I’m a relatively small guy, running 3″mags out of my Mossberg cruiser is stupid fun, 100 or more rounds thru the .06 doesn’t phase me, if I could afford one I’d have a 50bmg just for range days punching holes in paper, many times half my torso is bruised and I’ll go back the next day for more, have found nothing I won’t fire more than once.

    • I tend to appreciate recoil as well, but a S&W Airweight with anything stronger than straight .38 Spl (.38+P, .357 Mag,etc) just flat hurts. Kicks, fine, I love a .308, but “hurts” actually hurts, and that cannot be fun. I suspect Ruger LCR is same business, being similar weight.

    • If you are feeling especially masochistic, I recommend a tri-ball round like the ones here:

      http://www.dixieslugs.com/products.html

      3 spheres at over 310 grains each (in a cup) Is a kin to a 2 ounce slug. It is punishing recoil especially if the gun is not an auto. I am not affiliated w/ the company I just like a big bang 🙂

  3. I never think about recoil.
    Actually, I like a hard pushing rifle.
    The only thing making me hate it lately is the position we have to fire in the new range here.
    The protective roof is so low that you sit in a strange, almost “crouching” way, exposing the bone of the shoulder to the stock pad.
    That can really hurt if you make a mistake.
    In such occasions I notice that I sometimes start flinching.
    So I bought a gel-filled additional pad.
    Works great and makes all of my range days better.
    It also adds half an inch in length, which is fine on my old surplus rifles.

    • I got one of those for my wife. The rifles I’ve got are a tad big for her and she has a hard time holding them right. Before she’d let my buy her a compact/youth rifle she made me buy the shoulder pad. I still might get her her own rifle at some point but the pad works great.

      • Well, I guess she’ll be glad to shoot the real things without punishment.
        I use it on the Mosin and on the Enfields and Mausers when I load ’em hot. Carl Gustafs, Carcanos, Garands don’t need it, but again, if you’re 6′ ore more, a tad more in length is really good on most of these rifles.
        If I could shoot in a “normal” range, like in the Army, no rifle would need to be “smoothed”, but in stupid positions……..
        Unfortunately, there is so much heat hitting gun entusiasts in good old Europe, that many ranges are implementing unbelievable “safety” features, so that shooting is getting difficult.
        The bad guys still shoot illegal full autos, though………

        • You just need to find out where the bad guys get their waivers so they don’t have to follow the law.

          I think for my wife the too long stocks make it hard to hold the stock square to her shoulder so she takes the recoil on the corner of the pad.

  4. Recoil doesn’t bother me. I’ve only ever found one gun that I shot and said “Well that was rather unpleasant”.

    That gun was a Ruger M77 in .30-06.

    It was a used gun that my buddy bought and wanted me to check over for him. The previous owner had changed the stock out for something I’ve never seen before or since. This stock made for a very light gun. Now that would probably be fine, but this weird stock this guy had found was literally 1/2″ wide where it met your shoulder and it was hard and grippy. Combined with the lightweight nature of this thing it was like taking a chisel point sledgehammer to the shoulder. I put four or so through it and told him the stock sucked. My buddy told me I was a pansy, then he shot it…once. He then pulled out his phone and, without leaving the stall, ordered a regular stock for it.

    After swapping stocks the gun was a pleasure to shoot. No idea what the original owner was thinking or where they got that Frankenstock.

    • For me it was my first experience shooting slugs through a plastic-stocked Mossberg 500 at a low roofed range.

      It wasn’t the recoil per se, but the recoil combined with all of the percussive forces bouncing around that space and my not really knowing what to expect that made it a bit much for me. It was also a fixed choke barrel. I read up and made sure that was okay to fire slugs through, but I am sure there was more push back than a cylinder bore barrel would have had. Maybe not.

      Went through a box of 10 and got them all on target to prove to myself I could do it, and put it away.

      • Yeah tight spaces will do that.

        Anyone who’s ever been on and end lane of a range up against a wall should see the value of a suppressor in a home defense gun. It gets loud and you can feel the blast a lot more than if you’re a lane or two away from the wall.

  5. I flinch less when shooting guns I’m comfortable with, more if they’re new to me. No flinch on the K98k because I dry fire it frequently.

    • Kar98K – same thing, but I’ve fired it a “few” times. The muzzle blast is always entertaining for spectators.

    • I’ve found frequent dry-fire practice to be a fantastic way to minimize if not outright cure flinches. Now to pick up some snap caps for my combat shotgun…

      • Send me your address. Global Sportsman sent me 12 ga instead of 9mm snap caps and it took me a month to convince them. I called customer “service” and the monkey asked me “How do you know they’re wrong?” His supervisor said the same thing. I couldn’t get them replaced until I disputed the credit card charge.

        Anyway – I’ll mail them to you. And never buy from Global Sportsman.

  6. Unlike Tom in Oregon, I’m not a ‘recoil junkie’ of the raw pain variety.

    The 7-inch Superblackhawk in .44 mag I had was pretty much the max I’d prefer to experience on a regular basis.

    I’ve fired a S&W featherweight snubbie in .357, and one cylinder was enough for me for one day.

    I would like to fire one 700 gr. round of that monster .500 in the video, just to say I did it…

  8. If your form and grip are on point the recoil shouldn’t matter.
    If recoil is bothering you tighten your shit up and drive that gun!

  9. 5’10”, 135lbs, A little over 1% body fat. I can’t find a plate carrier to fit me, but I shoot my 4″ Tracker in .44 mag accurately one handed, so you could say I’m not at all.

    • You need some milkshakes.

      The minimum body fat you should have is 2-4% for men, more for women. This is called “essential fat” and anything less is not healthy.

  10. I got no problem with recoil. I’m still a big guy in my old age…and I never understood “snappy” comments from a measly 40cal handgun. Work out. On a magnum shottie load yeah but I can deal with that. YMMV…

    • Speaking from my personal experience, the descriptor “snappy” isn’t a synonym for heavy recoil, it’s a description of the feel of the recoil as opposed to other handgun round like .45 (pushy), .357 (authoritative), .38 (special) 10mm (Austrian), .22lr (curious), .22wsm (curiouser), 9mm (disco), etc.

  11. Muzzle flip bothers me more than straight back recoil. The gun I shoot best is a High Standard Sharpshooter .22. The gun is heavy and the cartridge light. In descending order from the Sharpshooter are my .45 ACP Gold Cup, .38 Special Colt Diamondback and .357 magnum S&W Model 19. With magnum loads, the 19 is actually stings unless I wear a glove.

    • Muzzle flip is your friend when shooting heavy recoiling revolvers. Convert as much of that recoil energy into rotational force as you can, IMHO.

      • That’s true unless you need quick, repeated shots. That is, emptying the gun in three seconds rather than taking three seconds between shots. Mag-na-porting was invented for a reason.

        • If you’re going to choose to carry a heavy recoiling revolver for self defense then you’ll have to make up for fast follow up shots by making the first one count. But really, how many rounds of .44mag (or bigger) do you think it will take?

        • Guv, I agree. We have to remember that even misses go somewhere. .357/.41/.44 Mag HP well aimed, only takes one. Leaves 4/5. Work hard on that trigger reset on your 9mm with 20 round mag, and you can spray 10 rounds in 1/2 second, miss 8 times and kill 3 people, hopefully including the perp. How fast you can dump a mag should not be a big factor, unless of course you are already an OOOO (Operational Operator Operating Operationally).

        • Personally Larry, I could never hold the front si ght on target on my 2-1/2 pound loaded Beretta 92 while firing. Between every single shot I had to reacquire and realign the front si ght. If you’re close enough to attempt a mag dump on an assailant you probably should worry about pushing the slide back out battery. (Yes I’ve seen videos of guys doing double taps but I guarantee they’re not even looking at the sight on the second shot, they’ve just developed the muscle memory to drop the muzzle so much and pull the trigger again.)

        • Larry: I think the issue is how fast can you do a mag dump while keeping all shots between the bad guy’s nipples. The problem with recoil is that it throws your sights off target. The less time you waste reacquiring the target, the faster you can make accurate follow up shots.

        • If the object was to get off as many shots between a man’s nipples as possible then we’d all be carrying .22LR target pistols. Is it easier to reacquire the front si ght on a 9mm than a .357? Yes. Does that buy you more than a couple hundredths of a second between shots? Probably not. Either your target is up close and personal where both mag dumps and out of battery contact non-shots are a real possibility or you’re going to be far enough away that you’re going to have to reacquire the front si ght and re-aim. The extra time it takes to pull the muzzle back down 30 degrees as opposed to 20 degrees is only a tiny fraction of the time this process takes.

        • That’s probably true for the .44mag + calibers, but I’ve found that my 3″ .357 is actually more comfortable to shoot than my 6″ despite the fact that it’s a half pound lighter. The 6″ doesn’t flip much and drives the recoil straight back. With the heavy loads it tends to rap your knuckle just a bit.

  13. Port it. 1/2 problem solved.

    What’s the capital of Syria………..Dumb ass cus!

    MOVE THE STINKING BLANKET! to protect that spendy revolver.

  14. 500 S&W Mag and 460 Mag revolvers are worth shooting for a couple of cylinders. After that, they are a bit much and you will start wishing that you’d brought gloves.

    Desert Eagles in .50AE are a hoot to shoot despite the stout recoil. Alexander Arms .50 Beowulf is fun for a while. Take it in doses.

    The Barrett Model 82A1 is okay recoil-wise and not too loud for the shooter, but it’s an eardrum-buster for bystanders and a wallet-buster for the shooter.

    For a real treat, shoot full power 10 gauge 00 buck from a SXS. Kicks like the proverbial mule. By way of contrast, the recoil of a 10 gauge auto seems about the same as a 12 gauge of the same type.

    • Try a youth model Rossi single shot 20 ga with 3 inch slug loads. I’ve shot a .458 win mag and it didn’t kick that hard.

      The old man ordered a 16 ga single shot from sears when they delivered guns to your door thru the mail. It had a hollow plastic butt and forearm. Load that bad boy with high brass and watch the fun.

      • I started target shooting when I was eight — and I was small — yet to this day I’ve never shot a youth rifle or shotgun.

        Given how small and light youth models are, I’m not surprised that they would recoil more than “adult” models.

        • I’ve had similar experience to jwm but with a full size Rossi 12ga. I only shot 2-3/4″ slug out of it. With a “recoil pad” like tire tread I shot it three times, I had to talk myself in to shooting shot three.

      • A Sears Ted Williams break barrel single shot with plastic furniture, in 1968?
        The only plastic stocks I recall seeing before the 1980s were on bb guns and Nylon 66s.

        • Yep, it may have been a few years before 68. Sears. Hollow stock and fore end. I doubt that gun weighed 5 pounds. It was brutal with anything other than trap and skeet level loads.

  15. The XD 9mm gives me very little recoil when I shoot one handed, and none I can feel with a two hand grip. The Ruger .357 3″ barrel revolver has a solid recoil. pretty snappy with .357 rounds, but easily manageable with the .38+p I use at the range. I’m 5 foot, with back and leg disabilities. The 30-30 lever rifle has a healthy kick, but I don’t find it distressing either. Can’t shoot the SKS offhand anymore… it knocks me down every time. 🙂

    I start novice students with the .22 pistol for a number of reasons, just one of which is the need for them to gain confidence and a steady grip before they have to deal with much recoil. That way, they are less likely to develop flinch.

  16. The recoil consideration is directly proportional to the size fire hose require to flush sand out of ones’ crack. Bigger the hose less recoil tolerance.

  17. I enjoy a hard kicking handgun or rifle, but not for long. For me it seems to be a cumulative effect. I can put 4 or 5 cylinders max through my .44 mag Blackhawk before I’m ready to put it away. The hardest kicking rifle I’ve got is a .308 and 20 or 30 rounds is enough with it. I’d like to get something in the .375H&H range, but I’m guessing a box of am mo will last a couple of years with that. In handguns I think I’ll stick to the .44. Too much punishment for something that would be relatively mild coming out of a rifle. Just doesn’t make much sense.

  19. I think recoil bothers everyone if they want to be honest about it an fire enough rounds. My nastiest gun to shoot is a Smith 340 PD titanium / scandium .357 snubbie. Full power .357 hits so hard it abrades the skin off of my palms, and I do about 80-120 pull-ups in a given week. Add rudimentary sights, and that’s never been an accurate gun. My .460
    XVR 8 3/8″ revolver pushes pretty hard. I can send 10 full power rounds of Hornady / Buffalo Bore pretty close to POA / POI. After that, the gun seems to lose accuracy. More like the shooter.

    I’ve had the trigger guard knock skin off of my middle finger shooting 12 gauge 3 1/2″ mags through an 870 Express Mag – a combo of Remington’s 18 00 buck payload / 1 3/8 oz Mag slugs / Lightfield Commander (big Banda-boom!) slug combos. The free recoil energy of that combo is epic. It feels like a .458 Win Mag – only cheaper.

    I stop enjoying shooting a Glock 23 / 35 / 27 / 22 with full power .40 Smith after 150 or 200 rounds in a sitting. Heavier .40s aren’t as bad. I’m sure some can go further than that but I start wanting a 9mm, .45, or a .22 LR after awhile.

    Do I consider myself recoil sensitive? Not really. I’m just honest about what and how much I can throw down range. I can shoot 300-500 rounds of 9mm and wonder where all my ammo went. Hey! Who’s been stealing my 9mm?! I can shoot .22 LR until my guns are covered in gunk, and .223 until the barrel is too hot to manage. I usually start big and go to smaller calibers if I’m shooting multiple guns.

    I like some weight in a firearm if it’s a hard-recoiling caliber. I’ll purposely use heavy scope and barrels whenever I get the opportunity. My chest is pretty big and a toe-in of a shotgun stock would be useful. Painful recoil doesn’t help anybody’s accuracy.

    • I don’t see what you’re describing as recoil sensitivity. I see what you’re talking about as getting tired.

    • “My nastiest gun to shoot is a Smith 340 PD titanium / scandium .357 snubbie.”

      That was it!

      That was the one that bit me the hardest. When you pick it up, the lack of weight is surprising, and you start thinking it would be a good concealed carry piece. Then you go to fire it.

      After the first shot, I had enough of it…

      • As my bride said of her Airweight, “It’s not for shooting, it’s for carrying!” I supported her, saying she would probably carry it for 20 years without ever needing to fire it. She has other firearms to practice with.

  20. i would say a little bit. As a kid my uncle sat me down behind his sporter weight 270 at the ripe young age of about 9yrs old when all my prior experience shooting was with 22lr at summer camps. Then my first rifle was a Winchester featherweight in 308win with about 2mm of rubber on the end as a recoil “pad”. Recoil wasn’t so much heavy (although sporter weight 308s kick harder than a lot of 270s if Chuck Hawks recoil tables are to be believed) as much as it just kind of stung a little against my scrawny pre-teen shoulders after more than one or two shots. It also had a pretty heavy trigger (the smith I sent it to for a trigger job years later measured it at 10.5lbs). So you almost had to jerk it just to get it to go off. So I have a pretty well engrained flinch from all that.

    I have since gotten a 12lbs varmint rifle in 308 and it’s an absolute pussy cat to shoot, so I am slowly getting over it the more time I spend with that rifle.

  21. .454 casull is the biggest handgun I have fired, wasn’t that bad but I only shot one cylinder of it. I find a few hundred rounds of 2 3/4″ 12 guage followed by 30-06 makes for one bruised and sore shoulder. I prefer lighter kicking guns but I don’t shy away from the big stuff.

  22. I fired a 3 1/2″ slug cartridge from my 12 gauge pump once. Never again. But that’s the only thing I’ve ever fired that I genuinely didn’t like because of the recoil.

  23. I don’t know, really. I guess I haven’t shot anything that has that much recoil. I have a single action army in .357 mag, but with its 2 lb+ weight and 7.5″ barrel, it’s a lot of flame and noise, decent muzzle rise, but not really all that much recoil. My .45 Colt SAA with a 4.75″ barrel is tough to shoot one handed, but even then it is not punishing. Then again, I haven’t spent the big bucks to get some of the heavy high power Buffalo bore loads that are out there. I’ve shot a .40 Glock once, one mag, and it didn’t feel all that different from my 4″ XD 9 mm with 124 grain rounds. My .45 ACP has a lot of muzzle flip, probably due to its smooth front strap, but 100 rounds through it is not problem, and for me, a 5″ 1911 is sweet shooting. The only shotgun rounds I’ve fired were skeet rounds, not any of the magnums my brother uses to hunt turkey with. I understand those have a lot of thump. I did shoot a few rounds out an airweight .357 snubbie once, but the thing I remember most is that I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.

  24. Growing up, my dad and uncle used to talk up the lefty .300 Weatherby Mag Mark V that their father-in-law (my grandpa) owned, like it was some kind of shoulder-eating monster. He taught me to shoot it at the range, then I used it to take my first deer when I was about 13. How much you shoot it matters. If you take it out and shoot it all day, it will wear on you and you’ll definitely feel it tomorrow. But shot-to-shot, I can’t tell much of a difference.

  25. I am of two minds on this, I enjoy shooting my 9mm carbine about the same as I enjoy shooting my Mosin Nagant M38.

    My friends and I all enjoy putting a magazine thru the mosin, but at the end of the day we use up more 9mm…..

    Hardest kicking gun I ever fired was a NEF 12 gauge single shot. I didn’t hang on properly either so it slapped right in the face. I put 2 more shells thru it and that was enough.

    I guess at the end of the day I enjoy shooting guns more that kick less, judging buy volume of ammunition spent.

  26. Ruger Redhawk in 454. Don’t like the recoil but the damage on target can’t be denied. The Ruger pushes straight back with no flip. 12 shots per range trip is about all I can stand. 300 grain. It’s a hand cannon.

  27. I’ll take less recoil if I can get it.

    Which is in part why I stopped carrying snubbies. The recoil, limited cap, and I couldn’t get good hits rapidly.

  28. I concentrate on the sight picture and “roll with the recoil”. Concentrating on the target and dealing with the threat will carry the day. Practice, practice and more practice, Shoot a revolver and skip a chamber (or two); this helps take your mind away from the pending recoil.

    Did I mention practice?

  29. Love me some recoil!
    Then again, in the moment of passion, the buck is in the crosshairs, you won’t feel a thing.

      • It does. You won’t notice recoil or noise. I was taken off my feet by an explosion that killed another guy in my outfit. That was more than 40 years ago. To this day I don’t remember the noise of the explosion.

    • I almost fell out of a tree stand twisting around to take a shot with .45-70 LeverEvolution 325 grain round out of a Marlin XLR.

  30. Big heavy guns with a lot of boom are fine by me. I’ll shoot a ruger super read hawk all day but 357 pocket rocket I’m not game for.

  31. He pulled it off so whatevs, but yikes having his hand around the cylinder gap with it cocked, also when they were cocking before being on target.

  32. 30 years back I was blazing away with my Python and hot .357 Mag reloads at a range, keeping all inside the 9 ring, when the guy beside me invited me to try his .44 Mag Blackhawk. I fired 3 rounds without cutting paper and handed it back, over his objections, “go ahead and shoot the rest”. Turned out he was shooting hot handloads as well, he couldn’t hit squat either, was trying to get rid of the ammo so he could try again, without further bruising of his own hand. IOW, all we were enjoying was the blast and recoil. That was too much.

  33. Recoil doesn’t bother me too much. Except for max loads from my .450 marlin. Some people do retail therapy. I prefer recoil therapy.

  35. Recoil is the enemy. Wind is the enemy.
    Im used to shooting guns with lots of recoil, but it’s a necessity of physics and I’ll use physics any way I can to get rid of it.

  36. “Newtown’s Third Law” – that’s a new one.
    Now I wonder what laws would bear that name. I’m sure we wouldn’t like them.

  37. I don’t go out of my way looking for something with the heaviest recoil, but I’m not adverse to it. It doesn’t make a trip to the range more “enjoyable”…to me doing something deliberately that you KNOW will hurt just for…”bragging rights”??? makes no sense. With some guns, it’s the price of admission. One of the heaviest hits I recall having was only a couple of weeks ago. I just bought a lever action Adler 12 ga wuth a 13 in barrel for bush protection against bears. The first trip to the range with it, I went through about 150 rounds of every type of slug I had, or that I could find locally. It’s not a terribly heavy gun, and the short barrel doesn’t discourage felt recoil much. Some felt a little heavier than others, but none were “painful”…until right before I shut it down for the day. I’d decided in advance I’d be running Brenneke Black Magic 3” slugs through the gun. I ponied up for a couple of boxes of them, so I could run a few through the gun, to get a sense of what they’re like. I tripped the first one off, and while everyone else on the line was “oohing” & “ahhing” about the enormous fireball it threw, all I was thinking was “CRAP! That HURT!”.
    I threw the lever & chambered another, lit it off, and my plan of running through three more went right out the window. My arm was numb & my shoulder hurt like a….
    I’m not a big guy; 5’11” and about 170. The guy in the lane two spots over was a bruiser; a couple of inches taller, and carrying a good hundred pounds more weight. He had a bit of a snarky “recoil too much for you?” comment to make, so I suggested that he being a big tough guy, he should show us all how it was done. He took me up on it, for one round. I got to fully appreciate the fireball, & it was truly impressive in an indoor range…He looked a bit stunned, rubbed his shoulder & handed the gun back, saying “No thanks” to the offer of another round.
    Now, I’m re-thinking these rounds. Would they work? No doubt in my mind; what I’m afraid of is that if it’s indeed time to pull the trigger on an angry bear, I won’t HAVE a second’s hesitation anticipating the recoil.

  38. This is kind of a hard one for me, as said it’s subjective. My mosins bother me likely more than they should, so they don’t get out much. My Mossberg 185 20ga seems to be worse than my Ithaca37 12ga, but I think that’s stock shape and weight (the bolties are light.)

    Pistol wise, the worse is my airweight J-frame. Never shot a .44 mag but I think I’d take my chances with one. I get about 15 rounds in at a range trip and that’s enough. I usually save it for last. I have little to no objection to full power .357, although I haven’t added anything bigger to the collection. I’m hoping that if I need anything bigger I’ve got a long gun handy.

    Where it’s interesting to me is the fatigue factor. I start opening up with my SD9, but can go back to the revolver and shoot fine still. I think part of that is the ergonomics vs the wheel gun but another part is the weight and recoil making it a bit harder to control. I’m about at the point where I’m going to get a grip exerciser to work that a bit.

  39. Plates in your cervical and lumbar spine with rows of suture scars on your feet, legs and arms will put recoil in perspective. In addition, I need my ears for work – suppressed weapons meet both needs. I like the S&W compact 22lr with a warlock ii, Glock 26 and 19 with a TiRant, AAC 300 blkout sbr with a AAC 7.62SDN6, the AA 6.5 Grendel, and the A400 Extreme Beretta 12 gauge. Those choices don’t leave me sore or my hands numb. I can handle family and friends taunting me better than the pain.

    Regardless of your choices or how they change with age or illness, being adaptive and reasonable may allow continued enjoyment of the shooting sports rather than replaying memories or having continued painful reminders.

    Enjoy!

  40. Recoil is a fun topic, i would have to say i am sensitive to it, and like my Limbsaver™ recoil pad I got for my 590,
    fixed that shotgun’s high brass hit well…

    My biggest handguns are my two .45 Blackhawks, 300 grain Corbon hunter loads hurt when using the plow handle grip frame…

    Arnt a problem when i use my Bisley grip framed Blackhawk, so the Bear Loads are saved for the Bisley.

    Thats my story and I;m sticking to it.

  41. My buddy brought over his Mossberg 500 and along with it some 3 1/2 inch turkey loads. Now, I’m not paricualy recoil scencitve, I’ve shot your common hunting rounds before and wasn’t bothered by them.

    I pulled the trigger on the turkey loads and BOOM! I couldn’t get that shotgun away from me fast enough away from me. So my take away, I will only shoot turkey loads out of a shotgun when I’m turkey hunting.

  42. My Ruger LCR .357 magnum is just great with .38 and +P, but I can’t shoot more than a single cylinder full of .357 magnum without gloves (and, in fact, usually use gloves right from the start when I get an urge to shoot .357). I can go through any amount of standard pressure .38 special and not feel a thing, and cost, not recoil, is my limiting factor with +P. The hogue grips really seem to make a big difference.

  44. My quite warm .44 magnum reloads from 7 1/2″ barrelled Super Redhawk don’t bother me at all. The weight of the revolver really helps. Same with a steel framed .40 – no snappiness felt. On the other hand when I was offered to take 5 inch .500 S&W for a ride, I politely returned it after emptying just one cylinder … because the ammo is so expensive – yes, sure, that’s it!

  45. An old friend of mine invited me to shoot his Ruger single shot with full power 45-70 loads. I think with the scope it was under 7 pounds. Three shots were enough for me. 30-06 is the upper limit of comfortable for me. I’ve shot a Desert Eagle in 50AE, and it isn’t the recoil, it is the concussion you feel in your chest. For me, the 454 Casull was more than enough recoil. Anything less than that I can shoot comfortably in a normal sized gun.

  46. I’m quite sensitive to 180 grain full power loads in my Scandium 357 S&S 360. However, I handle 300 grain 44 mag loads in my 4 7/8 SBH just fine.

  48. I didn’t used to be. However…

    I fractured both my radius and ulna at the elbow of my strong hand a few years ago. Even a few surgeries later it does not handle sharp blow well (no more heavy bag, and using a hammer for any period with that hand will gift me a week of sharp pain).

    While I can use it (mostly) normally at this point, high recoiling guns are a problem. Heck, even a few hundred rounds through one of my AKs leaves it aching a bit now.

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