cgturner7

I decided to beat the crowd and take my H&R .308 to the range yesterday. Not many shooters because of the rain we' ve been having lately. Getting close to getting the scope dialed in. I' m wondering what I did wrong, though. Today my shoulder is killing me. I woke up this morning to a red/bruised spot on my shoulder where the deltoid attaches to my collar bone.

So what am I doing wrong? Any advice is welcome. I could tell that near the end my shots were off because I was anticipating the recoil and the shock to my tender shoulder. Should I tighten up on the rifle, relax more, use a shoulder pad, etc? I looked around at the other shooters and most seemed to be having no issues with recoil. I think my rifle jumps a lot. Some of the guys looked as if they were firing .22' s. Help me.

Mark whiz

All of the above.

Keep the butt tucked in tight to your shoulder when shooting - that will help.

If it is a pretty light rifle the recoil will be worse - If so, I would invest in either a good recoil pad or one of the shoulder pads that you wear.

Hopefully it will get better with time - my first outing with a .308 left me pretty sore too. Now, I don' t even notice it after firing off 60 - 80rds out of my M1A in a session.

plinker772000

I shoot rifle at 4-H and I am avid clayshooters. I used to be sore and bruised all the time from one round of trap. Then, I started holding the gun tighter to my shoulder. I can shoot more than four rounds and not have so much as a red mark.

driftrider

First of all, how many times did you shoot it? .308 Win isn' t a hard kicker (relatively speaking) but the effects of recoil on the shooter are cumulative. Meaning that the first shot won' t bother you at all, the 10th shot is OK, the 20th shot might be uncomfortable and the 30th shot excrutiating.

Next time you go to the range stop shooting when recoil gets uncomfortable. Another thing is that you want to make sure the rifle is firmly in contact with your shoulder. You don' t have to pull it into your shoulder like you' re trying to pull a stump, but you definately don' t want to give the rifle any room to gain speed and momentum before it hits you like a battering ram either.

Make sure that you are able to get a good amount of stock weld between the comb and your cheek. Lots of people use scopes that are too high to allow your face to be firmly against the stock while still aligning your eye with the scope. The face actually absorbs a remarkable amount of recoil if the rifle fits the shooter correctly. The possible solutions are to either remount your scope in lower rings if possible (the scope should be in the lowest rings possible without the objective touching the barrel anyway), which is the preferred method. If you can' t get the scope lower then you' ll have to make the comb higher. The options would be to get a stock with a higher monte-carlo comb, or get yourself one of those comb raising kits that slide over the existing stock and pad up the comb to make it higher.

And if you are doing everything right and the recoil still bothers you enough to cause you to flinch, then you may just be more recoil sensitive than others. My wife is a classic example, as she finds that the recoil of my 22-250 uncomfortable after 20 rounds or so, while I have been known to shoot 40 or more shots with my muzzleloader in a sitting. If that' s the case then you could try installing some recoil reducing accessories on your rifle to reduce felt recoil. Items like aftermarket recoil pads (the " Limbsaver" pad seems quite popular and one can never go wrong with a Pachmeyr Decellerator pad), mercury recoil absorbers, extra stock weight, and muzzle brakes all work well to reduce actual or felt recoil. Another good option would be to invest in a shooting vest or jacket with a recoil pad built into the shoulder which spreads the recoil out over a good portion of your shoulder, chest and arm and provides a good amount of padding to boot.

The final solution is all of the above fails would be to sell the .308 and step down to a lighter recoiling caliber. The 7mm-08, .243Win, 6mm Rem, or .25-06 if you are wanting a moderate range deer rifle. If you are just interested in punching holes in paper or splattering a few varmints, then any of the .224 calibers are great. I recently got a Ruger M77VT MkII in 22-250 and I love it. I really like the accuracy and I' ve found that I appreciate the limited recoil. It just makes my range time that much more pleasant as I know I won' t go home bruised and battered.

Good luck,

Mike

Vapodog

I disagree that the .308 isn' t a bad kicker...personally sitting at a bench trying to shoot the best groups you can, a .308 is not a fun gun for me to shoot. I' ve owned a few and while it' s not like a .338 mag, it' s still a very sharp rap.

Your H&R is a very light gun as well and the combination is causing you trouble.

I had a friend with a very lightweight marlin lever gun in .44 mag. He had it rechambered to .444 Marlin and it was aweful!!!!

I suggest a recoil pad (already suggested) and when you shoot that gun from the bench, use a heavy sock filled with T-shirts between your shoulder and the butt stock.

Shooting at deer, you probably will never notice. But that' s where the recoil pad comes in handy.....they also have a slip-on pad that works too.

driftrider

Vapodog makes a good point about how the rifle' s recoil feels to each shooter. I personally have never been bothered by the .308, but he' s right when he says that it does tend to have a SHARP feeling recoil, which many find very unpleasant. Because if that point I' d steer toward items that spread the recoil out over a longer time like a good buttpad and maybe a mercury recoil supressor which really helps to take the bite out of the recoil.

Mike

westbronco

From my experience, most people develop a flinch on the bench and never acquire it in the field. Try sitting up straight so your body can move with the recoil. Leaning way into the gun gives you a lot more punishment. Also use a recoil pad on your shoulder. I use a Past Magnum and find it helps a lot. At the range with a magnum, I often use a soft sandbag between the butt and my shoulder to distribute the recoil better. As stated above, a frim grip is important too. Whatever you do, don' t develop a flinch, as that can be hard to cure. Make each shot a surprise when it goes off.

akbound

I agree with those that suggest that you either get a shooting vest with a shoulder pad, use a recoil reducing pad, or spend the money and have a " Good" recoil reducing pad installed. Do not sit at the bench and continue firing past the point you know you are " flinching" . Once a flinch develops it can be very difficult to eliminate.

If you have the rifle zerod I' d suggest you move from a " bagged bench shooting position" and shoot some from " field positions" . (IE. Offhand, offhand supported, sitting, and possibly even prone.) I do NOT know what type of range(s) you have access to, but if possible practice away from the bench after the rifle is zeroed! You will find the recoil more bearable (except from the prone) and you will actually have skills transferable to hunting environments.

If you find that you have " already started flinching" ....lay the .308 to the side...pick up your .22 LR (don' t have one...buy one) and practice with it until the flinch is gone! If you give a flinch a running head start...you may never get rid of it!

If you have access to " reduced loads" for the .308...give them some practice time as well. (A good excuse to take up a new hobby - reloading.) Don' t shoot someone else' s reloads...unless you' d literally trust them with your life!

And one other suggestion. They can be extremely hard to find in this country anymore....but several manufactures produce " chamber adaptors" . You might be able to find one at Numrich Arms or another similar site. (They come in different chamberings and calibers.) A good one for you would be an insert that resembles a .308 Winchester casing but allows you to shoot .30 Carbine ammunition. Yes, you have to rezero the rifle whenever you switch ammunition. But .30 Carbine is both very inexpensive and very light recoiling. It would allow you to pratice with your rifle, but with the reduced cost and recoil of the .30 Carbine. (Plus it is a great combination for starting " new shooters" to centerfire ammunition.)

Any way...good luck!

JagMagMan

For the most part, you have been given some good advice here!
I agree with Vapodog too, the .308 can be quite a kicker. A lot depends upon the style of stock you have and the weight of the gun is a big factor too.
I have a light weight .308 and it has about the same felt recoil that my 7MM magnum has. I have had " scope eye" and five stitches from my .308 to prove it!
Now to repeat what some have said, there are many fine recoil reducing products around today. Try them out until you find one that works!
If all else fails, there are several good deer calibers that have less recoil than the .308. You may want to try one of them out!
Lastly, don' t get caught up in " what the others" are shooting! If all else fails and you end up going to a lighter caliber, there is nothing wrong with that!
I would rather see someone shooting a lighter caliber well, than see them flinching, wounding game and not having any fun!
While I don' t think that a person can be " overgunned," I also think that we shooters have gotten too caught up in " magnumitis!" Good luck!

frizzellr

If your shoulder is sore that far up chances are you were leaning in too far at the bench. Try an extra sandbag under your gun and sit up straighter. It will position you better to get the stock into the pocket of your shoulder.