Stop whinin' about recoil!!

T

The Fat Man

New member
Okay, so I went to the "Free Republic" website and found a couple of interesting threads about the .500 and .475 Linebaughs, but there were a LOT of posts that involved nothing more than people complaining about how stout the recoil of these "hand cannons" is...

You have only two options: a) Deal with it! or b) sell the darn thing! If you buy a gun and then do nothing but B & C about how "it hurts when I pull the trigger" then you've OBVIOUSLY got too much gun. Sell it to someone who'll truly appreciate it. If you're scared of the recoil, you're most likely going to miss when you pull the trigger and flinch, anyway, so you're basically wasting the gun -- not allowing it to do the job for which it is intended.

Let's face it, folks: a 400 grain bullet at anything over 700 fps IS GOING TO KICK!!!! Those of us who've been there know already, and we're NOT going to sympathize and pat you on the shoulder. If you can't handle the recoil, IT'S NOT THE GUN -- IT'S YOU!!!

Can I get an amen?
 
What did Dirty Harry say? "A man has got to know his limitations". I think I know mine, finally. A S&W mod 657 41 maggie. Reasonably powerful and pleasant to shoot. Best, J. Parker
 
Never bought one so I can't "whine" about it. However I can say that I hope none of you ever end up with arthritic hands. Somedays a .22 is almost too painful. Other days the M29-2 and 625-5 (.45 Colt) are just fine. Since I know that my hands aren't going to improve, I just don't bother with anything bigger. As I get older I may have to give up the big bores completely (I sure hope not!) but until then I will enjoy them when I can.
 
Lucky so far; big Art. is in my knees and hips; so shooting is still OK. 3" .41 mag with boot grips is a challenge to the hand however.:)
 
How much is too much recoil? I haven't got a clue. I don't recall ever firing a weapon, hand-held or shoulder fired, that I thought was punishing. I think a lot of people have a problem with recoil of big boomer hand cannons because they try to control it. When shooting these things, you're not going after fast follow-up shots so just roll with the recoil. You will still definitely notice it but it won't hurt.

On the other hand, if you do suffer from the evil arty, some days are diamonds and some days are just rocks and anything can become a b*tch.

Just MHO.
 
Recoil is one thing, but if the damn thing is actually hurting, there's a problem with the WEAPON, not with the user. And there's almost always some way of modifying the weapon to fix the problem. Even the most powerful handgun isn't really delivering "too much" recoil for the human hand. Nobody I know of is getting their finger bones shattered. It's just a question of how felt recoil is minimized. The frame and grip that work for one person will not work for another.

It's not a question of being man enough to take it. It's a question of being too damn stupid to fix it '-)
 
Too much recoil is when the tendons in your hand collapse after a few shots.. :o. The most powerful handgun isn't dishing out too much recoil over a few shots, but after a while, your hand just isn't designed to take that kind of abuse..

But, to each his own, I'll stick with the big bores till my hands fall off :)
 
Fatcat

Rockaway is the one of the best coastal towns in Oregon. I still go there 2-3 times a year. And have for 40 years.

I will have to agree with sw627pc.
As a teenager I used to shoot alot of trap. The club was about 2 blocks from my house. I loved my Win. Model 12.
I would shoot an avarage of 50 skeets a day, 3 days a week. And used what shot shells that were on sale. Usually 2 3/4" #5 or 3" mag loads, Hell I was young and a black and blue shoulder did not bother me.and a Recoil pad I didn't need no sticking recoil pad.
Well many years later and 2 shoulder surgerys also arthritic
hands and shoulders has tought me to use the brain god gave and save the bruan.
I agree each gun should be equiped with
all recoil reducing equipment.
And if the gun still kicks to much
get a smaller caliber and enjoy it!

Tony Z
 
Many shooters who didn't consider recoil to be a problem now suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or permanent disability due to nerve damage.
 
I'm considering buying a big bore handgun, but I doubt it would be something that I would fire all that frequently. It would be for going where the bears are, because a .357 or .40 isn't sufficient, and my .30-30 gets heavy when hiking. I never see bear, but you never know. They are out there in the Rocky Mountains. IMO a large bore handgun is perfect for this scenario, but having shot some, they aren't the sort of weapon I can imagine going through 200 rounds with in an hour, like I do with my 9mm or with .38 Specials.

It's just like a large bore rifle. When you have to kill large, dangerous game, you're better off with the right equipment, but when you're plinking in the back yard, it's too punishing and expensive to shoot many times.
 
"It's not a question of being man enough to take it. It's a question of being too damn stupid to fix it"

That was exactly my point. I used to date a girl who was 5'2 and might have weighed 115 lbs, and she loved my .44 mag SRH. She used those gel-filled shooting gloves, but she didn't fight the recoil -- she rolled with it (to which someone alluded in another post, I think).

I'm a fairly big guy, with large mitts, and my forearms are probably bigger than average, but I've found that I use almost all of my upper body when I shoot, not just my hands and wrists. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure my wrists even rotate after the trigger is pulled. But it's not a question of "control", 'cuz NOBODY is man enough to prevent a .454 from moving after you fire a full-house load. Recoil is something to be accepted (embraced, even?), and you've got to let that energy move through your wrists all the way up to your shoulders.

To my brethren with arthritis, I respectfully apologize if my post offended in any way. Admittedly your circumstances have cruelly cut short your love affair with recoil, and I sympathize.

To get back to my point though -- if it hurts, if you involuntarily jerk when you pull the trigger, be man enough to admit that you've got too much gun.
 
Me, I've got arthritis, tendonitis, and sciatica

To keep from whining, I shoot .44 specials mostly. But those 20 or 30 .44 magnums I shoot in a typical day at the range with the 629 fulfill my big bore desires. Also, credit Dave McC, start taking your anti-inflammatories (Advil, aspirin, whatever) BEFORE you start shooting.

Regards to all.
 
Arthritis?

You guys act like arthritis is a fact of life and you can't reverse it. Do some research on the web vis a vis nutrition and start dealing with it. Science (not necessarily medical science) has been working on things and this is one of them.
 
riverdog (and others scoffers),


It's not the arthritis, it's the crushed joints that can't be fixed.

Some of the 'heavier' test loads I develop get shot in very small doses, like less than fifty per session (which is a full day). More than that and I have trouble holding things.

But last night shooting an IPSC stage with my Redhawk (PF 210) was NOT troubling; not 'light' but not bone-jarring either.
Perhaps it's a matter of understanding the degree of recoil we all mention; when I say 'heavy' I mean 300g+ bullets at 1400+fps.....
 
629 3"

I love to fire my S&W 629-5 3" Custom with Full House .44 Mag loads...

I even shoot it one handed.

The trick I`ve found is not to fight the recoil, but to instead let your arm and shoulder rise until the recoil is dissipated, and then thumb back the hammer on the way back down and re-engage the target as the sights come down onto the target...

Just my .02 cents worth,

Howard
 
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