Shoulder bruising

O

OhioAmerican

Inactive
Howdy,

My buddy and I went out shooting this past weekend and he complained to me today that he has some bruising around his chest and shoulder areas. In talking to others, the only educated guess we have was because of the bushmaster AR in 308 that he shot. Nonetheless, this has never occurred to him before. On the side note, he is a road patrol deputy who is certified to carry carbines, so not new to ARs.

Has anyone else experience the same thing? :confused:
 
Agree with FITASC, probably a fit problem. He might want to experiment with the stock at different lengths to see if it resolves the bruising.
 
Bushmaster sez their 308 rifles weigh between 7 and 8 lbs.
Not exactly heavy weights for the caliber.
That and the wrong technique for his body size and shape could bruise a guy real good.
It would take more than long distance forum discussions to figure it out, though.
 
It depends on the number of rounds fired. I'll sometimes go through 50+ rounds of 308 in a range session. I've never seen any visible bruising, but am a little sore the next day. On the days when 20 or fewer rounds are fired I'll never notice any difference.

Actually 7-8 lbs is on the heavy side for a 308, mine are 5-7 lbs. But the lack of a recoil pad on the AR style rifle makes a difference too. Seems very likely if someone went through a lot of ammo in a short time. This is the primary reason the 5.56 was chosen over the 7.62 round for the military.
 
As a medical professional, a clotting abnormality crosses my mind. If he has any other unexpected bruising, nose bleeds, or prolonged bleeding from otherwise routine nicks and cuts, he should see a doctor, preferably a hematologist.

Granted, it is far more likely to be either an issue of either fit or shooting technique, but if there are other symptoms the medical problem could be serious and needs attention.
 
Appreciate the feedback - he is apparently anemic.
Follow up with him today and he said that he is improving.
Looking back to my early shooting days, I vaguely remember that I hurt my shoulder from the unexpected Russian surplus ammo when shooting a SKS.
 
If any gun that kicks has a hard butt plate it can bruise.

Many guns have hard plastic, or metal plates.

Put a pad on what you shoot.

I slip a pad on those guns at the range.

Here is one I like.

pachpic0441b.jpg
 
I expect to get bruised if shooting rifles or shotguns wearing only a T-Shirt.
Having a little extra padding in the form of a shooting jacket, sweatshirt, winter coat (during the winter) makes shooting more enjoyable.

He might invest in a wearable recoil pad. They make em for a reason:
http://www.amazon.com/Caldwell-Super-Plus-Recoil-Shield/dp/B001C5XOJQ

Or just man up with it and deal with it like the rest of us. He'll heal.

Every Branch of the US Military shooting teams wear padded shooting jackets.
 
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A semi-auto .308 shouldn't have enough kick to bruise a man's shoulder. I'd say that the stock didn't fit properly; or he's not holding the rifle correctly. Now, with an o/u 12 gauge, after 100 rounds, my shoulder will bruise a little. Both shotguns that I shoot fit me well.
 
I've often had some redness, red spots, or discoloration of the skin, soreness or stiffness after after shooting rifles (and a semi auto .308 is not in the heavy recoil group) but never a black & blue "bruise".

But everyone is a little different. Remember that you are "hitting" your shoulder with quite a few ft/lbs of energy, delivered via a 5,6,7, 8lb "hammer" every time you pull the trigger.

Some folks will show it more than others.

And, that is assuming the gun is mounted correctly and the stock fits you properly.
 
I expect to get bruised if shooting rifles or shotguns wearing only a T-Shirt.
Click to expand...

If your guns fits, you would have no expectation of that.

The issues with the slip on pads are twofold:
1- they move around under recoil not giving the best results;
2- they add LOP which may or may not be a good thing from the "FIT" perspective

Too many want to fit themselves to the gun, instead of the other way around. You should be able to take ANY gun and with eyes closed, mount it and be pointing at the spot you were looking at just before you closed your eyes - in the case of a shotgun, that is down the rib without seeing rib; in the case of a handgun, the sights are aligned on the target perfectly, etc., etc.....
 
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^^^ Excellent point. I've had to shorten the butt stock on every rifle and shotgun I own. The wearable PAST recoil pad is excellent. Being small (5'6") I really appreciated the pad when developing elk loads for my .300 Win Mag.
 
Just about every time I take my .458 SOCOM or .475 Tremor out, I come back with some ruptured blood vessels on my shoulder. To date, so has everyone else that has shot the SOCOM. (The Tremor hasn't made it's "public debut" yet.)

It's caused by a combination of things:
001. Fairly heavy recoil for the platform (AR).
010. Unpadded, ribbed butt plate. (Same lower receiver for both uppers.)
011. The length of pull is too short for me.
100. I'm fairly skinny and don't have much padding there.
101. Sometimes I shoot from less than optimal positions, and don't get the stock tucked into my shoulder properly. (Simulating improvised field rests for hunting conditions.)

For those rigs, it's par for the course, and not something I put any extra thought into.
 
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