Lowest recoil round?

W

wild cat mccane

New member
Hello,

What is the lowest recoil commercial round out there? I know, I know, "ultra light," "super lite," etc. But really, which one has the lowest amount of recoil? I am asking for someone who has tried them all and think they have clearly found the lowest recoil :)

Buck and bird.

Thanks a million.
 
Target loads are the lowest I have used in a 12guage. I would like to try some of the Aguila shorts but they are hard to come by. I found them at Budsgunshop but I just refuse to pay the shipping.
 
Since this is the shotgun forum, I guess shotgun and not rimfire or even pistol for that matter.

Since 12g is the most available, I guess it shouldn't be too much of a leap to assume 12g.

But yes. 12g shotgun :D
 
Don't go try everything out there...do the math..and read the box...

Lowest recoil for a 12ga.../ the shell with the least amount of shot ( 1/2 oz if you can find some...or go to a 3/4 oz load ).....and at the lowest velocity...around 1000 fps is probably the slowest you will find...

a. least amount of shot...
b. lowest velocity...
c. ( and weight of your gun ....add weight to it, if you can ) and it will help a lot. An extra lb in the gun will reduce recoil at least 20%.
 
You know what assumptions do... ;)

There were smooth-bore .22s produced in the past (such as the most recent Rem 572 "Garden Gun"), specifically for use with shot shells.
Rimfire. .22 caliber. Still a shotgun.



Just because 12 ga used to be* the most popular, doesn't mean that that's what everyone asks about.


*(Some reports claim 20 ga has overtaken 12 ga for shotgun sales. ...But not all.)
 
The only ammo I know that's the lowest recoiling is snap caps. Very quiet and doesn't even kick.

I have used Winchester AA low recoil and it wasn't bad.
 
Aguilla MiniShells.
Won't work in an auto, and will jam in some pumps while loading, but for a shell about 1.75" long, you can put more of them in a tubular magazine.

If you want to minimize the recoil on a shotgun, add a mercury or hydraulic absorber, or add a rail and 10 lbs of weight.
 
20g more common than 12g?

Not by quantity of shells available (ammoseek.com), variety of shells offered by manufactures (ammoseek.com), nor by number and variety of shotguns for sell (slickguns.com).

Ha, I thought I made the biggest flub by not saying I was looking at 12g...but then I was saved by someone thing 20g is more common :D
 
Just because 12 ga used to be* the most popular, doesn't mean that that's what everyone asks about.


*(Some reports claim 20 ga has overtaken 12 ga for shotgun sales. ...But not all.)
Click to expand...

Not even in the same ballpark.
12 outsells all others combined, whether for hunting, target games or HD/SD/Zombie slaying

Winchester makes a nice light training load that runs sub-1000 fps.
With a break action gun you can reload your own as light as a recipe you can find. I can reload 3/4 oz for 12 gauge guns that actually work nicely in a gas-operated semi..

Two other factors affect recoil; the weight of the gun and the FIT of the gun.

Heavy gun plus light load equals lowest actual recoil. Gun that fits the best has the lowest perceived recoil (aka "kick")
 
Ha, I thought I made the biggest flub by not saying I was looking at 12g...but then I was saved by someone thing 20g is more common
Click to expand...
I'm not going to walk away feeling like an idiot, just because that's your goal.


There may still be more options for 12 ga ammo, but it is no longer the king for new shotgun sales.
 
BigJimP said:
Don't go try everything out there...do the math..and read the box...

Lowest recoil for a 12ga.../ the shell with the least amount of shot ( 1/2 oz if you can find some...or go to a 3/4 oz load ).....and at the lowest velocity...around 1000 fps is probably the slowest you will find...

a. least amount of shot...
b. lowest velocity...
c. ( and weight of your gun ....add weight to it, if you can ) and it will help a lot. An extra lb in the gun will reduce recoil at least 20%.
Click to expand...

True. However, it's an exponential, not a linear relation. A 7/8 ounce load does not kick 7/8 as much as a 1 ounce load, it kicks 7/8 X 7/8 as much or a little over 3/4 as much as a 1 ounce load, velocity being equal. 7/8 = .875, .875 squared is .7656.
Reducing velocity is also exponential. Double the velocity and you quadruple the kick. Load to only 90% of the original velocity and the kick will be 81% as much.

1150 fps 3/4 ounce loads kick so mildly that they sometimes fail to reset the inertia trigger on my 12 gauge Browning over/under.

When a double barrel doubles on you when you pull the trigger, the recoil is 4 times the recoil of shooting a single barrel.
 
Gauge reducing chamber inserts will let ya shoot .410 or 20 ga ammo out of your 12 gauge break action. That aughtta reduce the kick, too.

When I started making black powder shells for my antique LC Smith, I was amazed how little they kicked. I used 3 1/2 drams of Pyrodex RS, and 1 1/8 oz of shot in the all-brass Magtech shells. Maybe they're not moving as fast as I figured, but I thought the first shot was a dud. I still thought something was wrong for several more shots. Anybody else noticed that, or am I crazy?
 
I dunno, seems that my 3 drams of Goex FFg (80 grains measured volumetrically using a black powder measure) and 1 1/8 ounce shot loaded in regular 12 gauge hulls kick just as hard as smokeless loads.

Have you shot those black powder loads in a modern shotgun so you can do a real apples to apples kick comparison with smokeless loads? It could be that your L.C. just fits in a way that makes the recoil comfortable.
Or it could be that what you think is 3 1/2 drams is actually smaller. A dram is 1/16 of an ounce or 27.3 grains.
When using Pyrodex, don't load by weight. Pyrodex is a volume for volume substitute for black powder, not a weight to weight substitute.

An old rule of thumb for black powder shotgun loads is to use the shot measure to meter the powder. Set your shot measure to 1 1/8 ounce and use it to measure the powder. This comes very close to 3 drams.
 
there are some really light 410 shot shells or even some 22LR snake shot. :p


for 12ga the winchester subsonic 7/8 oz bird shot are super light. they are only doing like 950 FPS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top