FNG here, first post other than introduction. It appears that I suck at recoil management. Three guns, a Ruger American Predator in .223, Tikka T3x 6.5 creedmoor and Fierce Fury .300wm with factory radial brake. All three have Harris bipods and are shot prone. I can shoot the .223 and stay on target after the shot but the other two its hit and miss. Mostly miss as after the shot I'm off the target and can't spot hits or splashes. I've researched this quite a bit and try to follow the standard recoil management tips - load bipod, squeeze and freeze, directly behind the gun, etc. but still having trouble. It seems the muzzle is jumping up more than anything else. I'm not really recoil adverse and don't think I'm anticipating it but who knows. Any suggestions?
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Recoil management
- Thread starter Hntgriz
- Start date
Couple of things to consider.
You may be loading the bipod too heavily. All you are trying to do there is take the slack out of the bipod, not anchor the rifle. Use the amount of pressure that you can feel when slightly pressing your fingers into your shoulder pocket, as if you were taking someone's pulse. If the muzzle is jumping it sounds like you may be leaning into the rifle too hard. Think about recoil -- the rifle returns rearward, and if you are really driving it forward on the shot it has nowhere to go but to bounce off your body. Many shooters now use free recoil, or close to free recoil, meaning a very soft body signature on the rifle. Possible you are doing the opposite.
Also be sure the bipod is securely tightened up to reduce "yaw" meaning so it doesn't rotate around the axis of the bore. If the bipod is sloppy you may get all sorts of recoil artifacts including bouncing off point of aim.
Then pay attention to your finger on the trigger. Square onto the trigger and straight back, which is obvious to say but surprising how often shooters fail to to that. Last thought is to bring the butt more toward the point where your collar bone and shoulder pocket connect, just above the pectoral muscle. If the butt is too far toward the shoulder joint when in the shoulder pocket you may get recoil that bounces the rig off point of aim.
You may be loading the bipod too heavily. All you are trying to do there is take the slack out of the bipod, not anchor the rifle. Use the amount of pressure that you can feel when slightly pressing your fingers into your shoulder pocket, as if you were taking someone's pulse. If the muzzle is jumping it sounds like you may be leaning into the rifle too hard. Think about recoil -- the rifle returns rearward, and if you are really driving it forward on the shot it has nowhere to go but to bounce off your body. Many shooters now use free recoil, or close to free recoil, meaning a very soft body signature on the rifle. Possible you are doing the opposite.
Also be sure the bipod is securely tightened up to reduce "yaw" meaning so it doesn't rotate around the axis of the bore. If the bipod is sloppy you may get all sorts of recoil artifacts including bouncing off point of aim.
Then pay attention to your finger on the trigger. Square onto the trigger and straight back, which is obvious to say but surprising how often shooters fail to to that. Last thought is to bring the butt more toward the point where your collar bone and shoulder pocket connect, just above the pectoral muscle. If the butt is too far toward the shoulder joint when in the shoulder pocket you may get recoil that bounces the rig off point of aim.
Anywhere from 100 to 1200 yards. Generally cranked up to max which is 15- 18 on my scopes.
Good question. If what your talking about is in the post below yours then probably bad, meaning tense. I hadn't really thought about that until reading these replies.
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Trigger finger I think I'm good. I've focused on that and had people watch and video so I can make corrections. I am having trouble knowing exactly where the rifle should sit on my shoulder as it seems there are different schools of thought on that but probably pretty close to what you said about collar bone and shoulder pocket.
After reading the first part of your reply I believe I am loading the bipod to heavily and leaning into the rifle to hard and those are two things I will try first. One of my Harris bipods has an Atlas-Bravo lock, on my .223, and it is solid. The other two have some slop even though I tighten them down so I'll use the AB on all of them and see if that helps.
Less magnification i shoot matches and those distances at 10-12x. It will help see where you are letting the rifle recoil and help diagnose shooter error.
The closer you are with higher magnification will make it difficult... light rifles make it harder...
There are a ton of threads and online on the hide discussing this.
There are a ton of threads and online on the hide discussing this.
Yes on the light rifles for sure. I've shot a couple of MOA rifles (Bob Beck) that were light in 300 RUM and 300PRC and the recoil was less than my 6.5 but those are well set up rifles with good muzzle brakes and well designed stocks. Thank you.
Yes, another thing I’ll try starting with on dry fires. I do have another stock for the Tikka with an adjustable cheek piece I’m going to put on.
Not sure what factory rifles have to do with it, many adjustments possible. Frank's analogy you just bought a car, you need to adjust the seat and mirrors to fit your body.
What kind of surface your shooting off of can sure make a difference with heavy recoil. Shooting at targets that climb up a hill can change things too. I’m no expert but I’ve laid a stocking hat over my shoulder and it sure helps with the bigger calibers for me. Set your phone up and video tape what the bipods/you are doing might help bring some things to light . Hope that helps
If you can’t spot your shots at distance (past 3-400), prone, with 6.5 t3x......you are not setup behind the rifle properly.
Is the reticle just moving straight up, or also to the right or left?
Is the reticle just moving straight up, or also to the right or left?
Make sure you are applying rearward pressure with your bottom 3 fingers.
You shouldn’t need the bag/rear support to stop the butt from dropping down. The butt is dropping down and escaping to the right.
Also make sure you are up on your elbows and not with the bipod as low as it will go.
I have shot a couple of them off a bench using bags. I switched over when going prone for several reasons but am going to try using bags.
Several of my friends went to MOA long range shooting school and were using them. I used them when I shot their rifles and liked them. I think they work well at times but am going back to bags at least for targets and getting this recoil thing under control.
Been doing some shooting here and there and incorporating lots of the above advice and the recoil management is rapidly improving. Great response for help. Thank you!
great idea about filming yourself, I will definitely be doing that. The guys at my local range are friendly but keep to themselves so this may well prove to be a good learning system. those links to recoil management were really good thank you!
If you ever want to learn about recoil management you must let your body absorb the recoil at your shoulder and let your ass cheeks mitigate the shock wave.
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