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Should 2 identical rifles recoil the same?

coyotewillie

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Minuteman
Oct 5, 2005
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When the RPR magnums came out, a friend of mine bought the 338 Lapua. I went out with him the first time he shot it. 3 rds to get it on target at 200yds, then went to 300yds. He said "go ahead and try five, see what it'll do". Now, I'm getting a little recoil sensitive anymore and kinda puckered up at the sight of that size of a cartridge, but what the hell! Surprisingly I put all 5 inside a 2" circle. It not only shot great but felt great! I've got a 6.5 CM and none of us thought the 338 kicked much, if anymore than it did. It was actually fun shooting the 338. I could have shot it all day. So, I decided that I had to have one more rifle. One big caliber while I could still handle it. Found a good deal and bought one. Same rifle, scope might be a bit lighter. Took the 4 set screws out of the muzzle brake like my friends. Shot the same ammo. Should be close to identical. But. This thing just beats my ass! Although my groups are bigger that really doesn't bother me. I feel if it had the recoil I was expecting the groups would be better. The other guy with us that first day thought mine recoiled harder too when he had a chance to shoot it. So am I crazy here?? It was a pleasure to shoot my buddy's rifle, but mine is work. What am I missing here?
 
A couple of suggestions:

Add some weight to the butt of your stock.

Get a recoil pad for your shoulder.

Other than that, I can only say that things vary from rifle to rifle and person to person.
 
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Have you shot both rifles side by side on the same day? Memory and perception can play tricks on you. Kinda like over-hyping a certain food, whiskey, cigar, etc that you enjoyed one time, next time you try it... not as good as you remembered.
 
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how were you shooting it?

were you using the same exact position? bipod? bipod feet? rest? rear bag? etc

Also, make sure your stock is set up exactly the same and that the rifle has the identical balance point and weighs the same.

Shoot them side by side using the same ammo.

You could even run a chronograph to verify bullet velocity.
If yours has a higher velocity, then the recoil impulse will be greater.

Lots of variables to contend with.
 
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Assuming both rifles are indeed identical in all respects, including the ammunition they fire, yes their recoil will be identical. That's a physical fact beyond dispute that is verifiable with instrumented testing and anyone who claims otherwise is an idiot not worth listening to.

Whether their recoil feels the same to you is a completely different matter and totally subjective.
 
Same ammo, same bench, same bags. I set the stock up the same since my friends rifle shot so decent (recoil wise). I've got a magnetospeed sporter but didn't check any velocities on either one. Not sure if I can fit it on the RPR with that tank brake it's got. Wasn't showing off to anyone LOL. I was fully prepared to get my ass beat that first day. PLEASANTLY surprised, I feel I could have shot 100 rds through it that first time. Seemed to push straight back. Mine on the other hand seems to really jump. I've tried adjusting my shooting positions, but nothing seems to help. Of course that doesn't help my groups either.
 
Regarding the thought of using the magneetospeed sporter on a big magnum with a tank brake......

I didn't have good luck with my 338lm savage 110 stealth with stock brake, it tore the strap and whole
Thing just fell on the shooting bench. It has worked on 7 mag 300w mag 300 ultra with schuler
Brakes though.
 
Regarding the thought of using the magneetospeed sporter on a big magnum with a tank brake......

I didn't have good luck with my 338lm savage 110 stealth with stock brake, it tore the strap and whole
Thing just fell on the shooting bench. It has worked on 7 mag 300w mag 300 ultra with schuler
Brakes though.
That’s odd. I have MS v2 and it has seen hundreds of rounds on both mine and a friend’s 110 FCP .338 LMs, stock brakes and all. Is the strap on the sporter different than the strap on the V2? Mine doesn’t even slip when used for a full OCW work up in one session.
 
I believe the sporter isn't recommended for the particular application I used.
The sporter, I have been told is for sporter barrelled rifles with shorter brakes.

I have used it on my heavy varmint barrelled 243, non threaded barrel though.
 
Take another look at your friends rifle and see what he has that either adds weight, or how he has it set up differently (to cause you to line up on it differently) than yours.
 
Take another look at your friends rifle and see what he has that either adds weight, or how he has it set up differently (to cause you to line up on it differently) than yours.
Virtually identical setups. Only difference is the scopes. His is a Burris weighing in at 32 ozs and mine is an Athlon weighing 27 ozs. Unfortunately he moved and we can't get together very often so I haven't been able to do a side by side comparison. Just wondered if I'm missing something obvious here.
 
Virtually identical setups. Only difference is the scopes. His is a Burris weighing in at 32 ozs and mine is an Athlon weighing 27 ozs. Unfortunately he moved and we can't get together very often so I haven't been able to do a side by side comparison. Just wondered if I'm missing something obvious here.
Smart money says 5oz on top of the action wont be the deciding factor. My suggestion if you want to tame recoil now would be to look into a different brake.
 
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This is the era of the interwebs, take pictures of both and post them, smart folks here might be able to see something, brake, different stock, etc.
 
Same factory rifles with same factory ammo. I that situation yes they SHOULD.
Other various conditions will affect the perceived recoil. For example, temp outside. The more uncomfortable the temp the more uncomfortable the recoil, your nerves even act different when cold vs comfortable vs hot/fatigued. Also I believe that the latter rounds shot most recently always seem to be the strongest.
 
I just got one of the 338 rprs. I am absolutely amazed at how soft the recoil is. I know it's due to the weight of this beast. The kick is more manageable than my friends ruger American in 30 06.
 
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