Recoil

Whenever the sportsman puts the gun to his shoulder and pulls the trigger there's a bang and something pushes him/her (PC!) backwards. There is a law somewhere that says 'for each and every action there is an equal and opposite reaction', in other words if we want an action to send lead through the sky at speed we must be ready for the reaction as a consequence. The force or pressure generated inside the barrel is in the order of 900-1200kg per sq. cm. (for the older of us 3-4tons per sq. inch and for the newer 850 1200 bar) so it follows that there is one hell of a kick backwards if the shot is to go forwards. This kick is called recoil.
Recoil affects us to different degrees depending on the gun and cartridge. A lighter gun using a 36grm cartridge will provide its user with a huge kick back where the gun must be mounted correctly if ou are to avoid sore face and bruised shoulder or arm; if this combination is used for game or wildfowl with only a few shots, then that's OK, the trouble will appear when these are used for a couple of rounds of skeet. In contrast, a heavy gun using 24grm cartridges can quite happily be used for a full day's competion with no ill effects, assuming the mounting is satisfactory.
Recoil will also come into play when you shoot pairs of targets which are close together. Stand behind any gun and watch what happens to the muzzles when a shot is taken; you'll see that after the shot the barrels jerk upwards, this is sometimes called 'flip', whatever we do it is usually uncontrollable. The heavier the cartridge and/or the lighter the gun then the heavier the recoil, hence the higher the barrel lifts. Imagine a pair of left to right birds close together, the back bird slightly lower than the front, you shoot as I do so the front target comes first. The first shot is a cert, you've broken that but now what happens with big recoil? The gun has lifted above the first clay and you now have to bring it down onto the second, if you know what I know then you'll need to control the gun to get it down to the target and then lift it up again to be still in front and pull the trigger a second time for the dead pair. One particular shooter a while back shooting a following pair using fast 32's in a light side by side - when I stood on his shoulder the muzzles could be seen lifting and turning in a complete circle about 4 inches across in his attempt to get down for the second shot, he missed it every time.
It seems foolish to settle on a combination with excessive recoil, you're just making life hard for yourself - this is borne out by the regulators in the clay game who have dropped cartridge weights from 36-32-28grms and now clays are regularly smashed with high velocity 24grms.
Using some of the modern recoil pads fitted on the end of the stock will also lessen the felt recoil - the whole business is trial and error. Different cartridges do the same job but some of the shooters in my squad are unhappy using the same ammunition as me, I like to feel a kick to be sure that something has happened whereas others don't want to feel anything. If it is uncomfortable for you to shoot then first of all go to your gunsmith to make sure the gun fits. While you're there he may prescribe a butt recoil pad or his selection of lighter/softer loads; if recoil is a problem, don't give up, there will be an answer.

Please come back soon to find some articles or ask me about guns.

Copyright of this page belongs to Andy, How to Break Clays.com - the website for the amateur clay shooter, July 2007.