The LOWEST recoil shotgun loads

Z

Zoosh

New member
A few months ago, I took the Front Sight 4-day
tactical shotgun class. _I_ had a great time
and learned a lot, but my shoulder did not appreciate
the experience. Not one bit. We probably fired
about 1000 rounds or so.

I'm going back to take it again (hint: get a combat
site before you take the class), and I'm now looking
for the lowest-recoil 12ga buckshot and slugs you
can recomend.

Also, do you have any ideas about other things we can
do to make this easier? Is there a type of padded
vest, or something else that you recomend? Hans
recomends the Hogue stock for this, and I'm
going to try that out.

I'm also taking it with a friend of mine who is a woman
with no shotgun experience, who is also using a 12ga,
and I don't want her shoulder to fall off, so we
really need low low recoil.

We are using Rem. 870s, so there's no issue of
needing the right kind of ammo to cycle an auto.
Btw, I was _very_ happy with my Marine Coat 870
last time. It's fast, it just feels good.
Except the beed site is not up to the task of getting
fast slug shots at 50m.

Please post your recomendations here, or email me
at drevil@sidereal.kz

Thank you!
 
The lowest recoil slugs that I have fired are made by Brenneke. They are really pleasent to shoot. I have not tried the Estate ammo yet, but the Remington 8 pellet load won't beat you up much.

Unfortunately, none of these shells except for Estate are very easy to get.
 
Federal makes low recoil buckshot and slugs that take a lot of the sting out.

You might also look at a PAST shooting vest. They have a nice thick piece of neoprene-like material on the shoulder that cuts the kick. There are also slip on recoil pads that further soften the blow but these do lengthen the stock appreciably.

Finally, I've never taken a defensive shotgun course but I would have to question the wisdom of people who put a course together that requires 1 thousand full power buckshot/slug rounds in 4 days. That might not be an unreasonable amount over 4 days of clay shooting with light loads and heavy guns but for instruction it sounds excessive.
 
PAST makes a wearable recoil pad and I highly recommend it.
As for ammo, the Estate SWAT(Reduced Recoil) loads seem to pattern well in most shotguns, and are lighter in kick than others I've tried.

The KO Brennekes are not as ferocious at the back end as the Rottweil Brennekes are, or most other slugs. They're also cheaper.

Since you have 870s, I'd like to recommend you add extensions to the magazines,and peep sights. The Mag extensions will drop the kick a bit and aid control. They also tend to tighten up slug groups.

There's tons of old threads here about reducing kick. A little research should give you plenty of ideas...
 
If you have a wood stock on your shotgun, a mercury-filled recoil reducer can be installed in it. That helped the most in eliminating the recoil in my 870 with wood stock (couldn't do that in the one with the synthetic stock).
 
A local defensive shotgun class (3 days) lists a wearable recoil pad as mandatory equipment for attendance. It's a good idea.

HTH,

Justin
 
Regarding loads, for buckshot there are the various reduced recoil loads, my current favorite being from Estate. For slugs, Federal has a reduced recoil slug in the "Tactical" line that is pretty soft shooting, but a better bargain is the Remington green-box reduced recoil slug.
 
I went thru the same thing: full power loads and factory hard-rubber recoil pad the first time around; reduced-recoil buckshot and a good recoil pad the second (definitely recommend the latter, 'cause it's always there, regardless of what you feed the gun). I also think there's an element of conditioning, because I had absolutely no recoil-related problems the second time around, but it's hard to believe it was just the ammo and recoil pad (but who knows?).

I'd also suggest you give your bead sight another chance. I made 100% hits, in time, on all the slug shots the second time around, with a bead. With some dry practice and test firing the gun so you know exactly where it shoots, you should have no problem getting the same results.

PJR, it's more like 600 rounds, and full-power loads are not required. IIRC, it's something like 250 birdshot (light dove & quail loads OK), 200 buckshot (low recoil OK) and 100 slugs. The more difficult part for me was getting up and down from sitting, kneeling, prone, etc., in the heat.
 
Thanks for the tips

It looks like I will buy the Estate low-recoil buck,
and the Estate low-recoil slugs. I'll also get
Hogue CompStocks for both my gun and my friend's
gun. And we'll get those PAST vests, and bring
some Advil.

Thanks for the tips. This is a very informative
site.
 
I am going to reload some 2-3/4" 12 ga in 00 Buckshot and #1 buckshot.
Does anyone have some favorite recipes?

Thanks
Bill
 
Is it all buck and slugs or is some of the shooting with birdshot?

If shot is used, follow the Cowboys. Winchester Low Noise - Low Recoil shotgun shells, commonly called Featherlites because of the feather on the label and on each shell, are under one ounce, under 1000 fps. Won't run an auto, of course, but fine in a pump.

No reason not to handload buck to skeet specifications.
 
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