Managing recoil is not a problem with a 6mm rifle, but once you move beyond .30 calibre it starts to become an issue.
The funny thing is you never feel the recoil when you are hunting, but you certainly feel it when you are practising.
Remembering Newton’s Laws of Motion, if the bullet leaves the barrel with 5,000 foot-lbs of energy, there is also 5,000 foot-lbs acting in the other direction – against your shoulder. Fortunately, the rifle weighs a lot more than the bullet!
A good shooting technique helps manage this recoil. In particular, your shooting position should be appropriate to the calibre. No-one wants to shoot a 416 Rigby from the prone position. Shooting from the standing position allows your body to move with the rifle, helping to absorb some of the recoil.
The weight of the rifle has an obvious effect. Since the energy is a function of velocity and mass, if we keep the muzzle energy the same, but increase the weight of the rifle, its velocity to the rear will decrease. As a result the shooter will experience less recoil. But if you are carrying that rifle any distance you will soon feel that extra weight. A mountain hunter may well trade shooting comfort for lightness, but if you are shooting varmints from a bench, shooting comfort is more important.
Muzzle brakes reduce recoil by re-directing some of the gas created by the burning propellant to counter-act the rearwards motion of the rifle. Muzzle brakes come in various designs. The “pepper-pot” directs the gas radially in all directions. This design is sometimes modified to remove the downward facing holes to avoid disturbing the ground. The “clam-shell” directs the gas to either side of the shooter.
Whatever the design, all muzzle brakes greatly increase the noise of the shot. That makes them uncomfortable to other people on a rifle range, and loathed by professional hunters and trackers.
Another option is the recoil reducer. These are tubes fixed into the stock and either half-filled with a heavy liquid (such as mercury) or contain a weight with a spring at each end. When the shot is fired the mercury or the weight absorbs some of the recoil. This changes the balance of the rifle, since there is now more weight in the stock, but with no increase in noise. I confess to being a big fan of these and have fitted them in all my rifles of .375 and above.
Finally, there is the old favourite, the recoil pad. This is a cloth or gel pad that fits on the shoulder. It works by absorbing some of the recoil and spreading the force over a wider area. They work well with shotguns, but the thickness of the pads for large calibre rifles means the effective stock length is increased and changes the handling of the rifle.
If only there was a way to absorb the recoil with a much thinner pad – and on a recent trip to America I discovered Evoshield!
Their system uses an undershirt with a rigid plastic shield. When you take the shield out of its foil wrapper it is flexible, but exposure to the air starts a 30-minute hardening process. You place it in the undershirt and mount a rifle a few times. The pad then hardens into the correct shape. At least, it is in the correct shape for holding a rifle in your shoulder. As a result it does not fit flat but is easy to remove from the undershirt when you finish shooting.
I tried it this weekend with my .416 Rigby. The difference was amazing. No bruising to my shoulder, no change to the fit of the rifle. It meant I could concentrate on the shot rather than the recoil. The same with my 470NE.
You do need to make sure the rifle is squarely mounted against the rigid shield so the butt does not slip. Also, while it protects the shoulder it does nothing to reduce the concussion effects on the brain!
But overall the Evoshield system makes shooting large calibre rifles much more comfortable. It is also very practical for travelling. No extra noise, no modification to the rifle. And it works equally well with shotguns – perfect for a few hours of clay shooting after you are done with the rifles.
