Muzzle Jump

[saltysurfman]

Hi all,

I have a remington 700 in 7mm mag that has been very jumpy after a shot, to the point that I need to completely reset behind the gun for a follow-up shot. Rifle came from the Remington Custom Shop, and I'm not the original owner. It is fitted with a muzzle brake (from the factory) that has holes basically around the entire circumference with the exception of a small area on the bottom. I can take photos later if needed. I'm shooting off of a bipod on a wood or concrete bench with a rear bag.

My question is, would a new muzzle brake with only side ports reduce the muzzle jump or is the muzzle jump coming from bad form? I can only load the bipod so much before it starts to slide on the bench and tried to be more conscious of bipod loading at my last range session. If it is a loading problem, maybe next time I can try stacking sandbags in front of the bipod.

Rifle groups well, but there is no way for me to stay on target after a shot due to the hop.

 

[Tnc]

Wood and concrete benches induce quite a bit of muzzle jump or hop. Try it prone on the ground and I bet your results will be better

 

[saltysurfman]

Wood and concrete benches induce quite a bit of muzzle jump or hop. Try it prone on the ground and I bet your results will be better

Thanks!

All of the ranges around here require you to shoot from a bench, so I'll have to wait for a trip to my buddy's hunting cabin to try prone to see if that helps. Is there anything I can do differently from the bench that would help to reduce the hop?

 

[demolitionman]

Getting straight behind the rifle, so your shoulder, back, buttocks and leg absorb the recoil inline with the bore will fix most “hop” problems....but a few guys I shoot with refuse to believe me and continue to lay off the side or continue to shoot off a bench and are in disbelief of how their technique affects how bad the recoil hops.

 

[Tnc]

Your sandbag idea is a good start. If you have a small enough one, might try resting the feet of the bipod on the sandbag as well

 

[Erno86]

Shooting off the bench with a light weight high caliber rifle, the likes of a 7 mm mag...will have a tendency for the sights not returning to the original point of aim after the recoil cycle --- No matter how hard you try --- so I wouldn't worry about it.

I can really load a bipod on the bench, when I put a heavyweight (20 lbs???) steel plate in front of the bipod on the bench.

 

[DrainTheSwamp]

I can’t shoot off a bench to save my ass unless I’m bagged up pretty good. You’re dealing with some recoil there and if it doesn’t transfer straight in to your body it’s going to take the path of least resistance, usually up and to the side opposing your body.

 

[isofahunter]

Think about Square shoulders and hips to target and butt stock. If I hop left while off a bench when checking if I am square to target invariably I am not.

 

[saltysurfman]

Thanks for all the pointers!

I have basically unlimited access to sandbags as the range provides hundreds of them for anybody to use. I'll try putting bags in front so that I have something to lean on.

I'll also pay more attention to how square I am to the rifle. The benches have very small cutouts that almost force you to lean to the right from where you are sitting to get behind the gun, but I may be able to adjust myself some more so that I can keep my shoulders square.

Really wish they'd just let us shoot prone, but the benches are basically permanently attached to the concrete pad.

 

[seansmd]

You can also bring a piece of carpet or mat to use under your bi-pod on the bench

 

[Klemm]

Use a patio stone to pre load your bipod

 

[Dthomas3523]

As stated above, answer is to get straight and square behind the rifle. Load the bipod a bit, and apply rearward (rear only) pressure with strong hand.

Rifles don’t want to hop. They only want to recoil straight back. They hop because we don’t allow them to move straight back while at the same time giving the rifle somewhere to go when it deflects off our shoulder.

Eliminate these holes, get behind rifle properly obsorb the recoil straight back, and rifle will push into your shoulder and return to where it started.

If you’re using a bipod like a Harris, it also has springs in the legs. This can also aide the rifle hopping. But it starts with us not setting up for proper recoil management.

 

[Cfshooter]

I have had the same issue. I made sure to be square, changed butt stock position to be more towards neck, but the thing I noticed helped most was bringing the rifle into my shoulder with the bottom 3 fingers of strong hand. Still a work in progress, but was able to see my impacts on steel from 500 yards pretty consistently.

 

[saltysurfman]

If you’re using a bipod like a Harris, it also has springs in the legs. This can also aide the rifle hopping. But it starts with us not setting up for proper recoil management.

I am using a Harris. I didn't consider the springs. Thanks for the reply! I guess if I'm still having the issue after squaring up and adding some weight in front of the bipod to help load it, I'll try shooting off of sandbags to see if that helps at all!

Really glad I posted this because I was about to go to the gunsmith on Saturday to see about putting a new muzzle brake with only side ports.

 

[Steel head]

As stated above, answer is to get straight and square behind the rifle. Load the bipod a bit, and apply rearward (rear only) pressure with strong hand.

Rifles don’t want to hop. They only want to recoil straight back. They hop because we don’t allow them to move straight back while at the same time giving the rifle somewhere to go when it deflects off our shoulder.

Eliminate these holes, get behind rifle properly obsorb the recoil straight back, and rifle will push into your shoulder and return to where it started.

If you’re using a bipod like a Harris, it also has springs in the legs. This can also aide the rifle hopping. But it starts with us not setting up for proper recoil management.

Good advice.

 

[Dthomas3523]

I have had the same issue. I made sure to be square, changed butt stock position to be more towards neck, but the thing I noticed helped most was bringing the rifle into my shoulder with the bottom 3 fingers of strong hand. Still a work in progress, but was able to see my impacts on steel from 500 yards pretty consistently.

This is quite important in >6.5 cartridges.

With all the light recoiling rifles, it’s being forgotten what those 2 or 3 fingers are for. Just enough pressure to keep it in your shoulder pocket. And only straight back pressure. Lateral pressure will cause hop.