BryceM
AH fanatic
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2009
- Messages
- 889
- Reaction score
- 2,737
- Media
- 20
- Member of
- NRA, RMEF
- Hunted
- USA, Canada, Namibia
Interesting topic. I know I flinch a little sometimes. Shooting a .44 mag revolver with 2 live loads and 4 dummies brings that out pretty easily. I know that I flinched way worse years ago. This was most likely a result of being knocked in the head by the scope a few times. One time I was bleeding almost as much as the antelope.
Growing up on a .300 Weatherby didn't help. Truth be told, the magnum craze of the 80 and 90s did plenty to harm the average hunter's marksmanship. This, along with bullets that weren't up to the task, produced the disdain of PHs and guides for the average dude who showed up with a fancy Weatherby. The military realized pretty early that most soldiers didn't tolerate the .30-06 very well. Occasional sportsman didn't do any better. Any magic the 6.5 Creedmore can claim is just that the bullets now magically go where they're supposed to. Things die when that happens. Wierd.
I mostly cured myself by spending an entire summer learning how to actually shoot the stupid .300 Wby. I sent more than a thousand rounds downrange until was able to shoot nice groups in a variety of conditions. It was 90% mental and 10% physical. After a needed barrel change, my takeaways were these:
- The brain doesn't like loud noises, concussive blasts, or sharp recoil. It will try to protect itself. This is why I hate muzzle breaks and love suppressors. High-velocity rounds produce sharp recoil. That's why the 375 H&H is so darn much fun to shoot and the .340 Wby isn't.
- Heavy rifles help a ton. "Sheep rifles" are hard to hold steady and kick like a mule.
- Being surprised when the shot breaks should only happen once - the very first time you shoot that rifle. If you're surprised, you need more time behind the trigger. Know when that shot will break.
- Proper technique mitigates felt recoil A TON. How hard to grip it. How hard to pull it in to your shoulder. Where the butt should rest against your shoulder. Proper fit of stock and length of pull. Proper cheek weld. Proper left hand placement. How to roll with the recoil instead of acting like a brick wall. Proper foot or elbow placement. Proper setup on shooting sticks. You can learn this by yourself if your the analytical, reflective type, but live feedback from an expert marksman will skip you ahead a few grades.
- You'll never be a great marksman until your brain truly believes the stupid thing in your hand won't hurt you. Lots and lots of trigger time helps. Mess up once and catch a scope in the forehead and you'll be a while getting over it again.
- A .22 can work for some people, but I did better with a .22-250. It's more like an actual hunting rifle and I don't get in the bad habit of a short bolt throw.
Finally, people aren't recoil sensitive or recoil tolerant. People either use good technique or they don't. That's why some smaller-framed women do just fine with a DG rifle. Last week I let 3 people shoot my .416 Rigby. I could tell who was going to enjoy it and who wouldn't. They way they held it and their setup before the shot told the whole story. Now, I can shoot the .416 Rigby and truly enjoy it, up to about 8 or 10 rounds at a time. It's a kick in the pants. Before, it was just a kick in the head. It took a couple hundred rounds and a bunch of effort to figure it out. Now, putting every shot into a paper plate at 100 yards from the sticks is my standard.
Growing up on a .300 Weatherby didn't help. Truth be told, the magnum craze of the 80 and 90s did plenty to harm the average hunter's marksmanship. This, along with bullets that weren't up to the task, produced the disdain of PHs and guides for the average dude who showed up with a fancy Weatherby. The military realized pretty early that most soldiers didn't tolerate the .30-06 very well. Occasional sportsman didn't do any better. Any magic the 6.5 Creedmore can claim is just that the bullets now magically go where they're supposed to. Things die when that happens. Wierd.
I mostly cured myself by spending an entire summer learning how to actually shoot the stupid .300 Wby. I sent more than a thousand rounds downrange until was able to shoot nice groups in a variety of conditions. It was 90% mental and 10% physical. After a needed barrel change, my takeaways were these:
- The brain doesn't like loud noises, concussive blasts, or sharp recoil. It will try to protect itself. This is why I hate muzzle breaks and love suppressors. High-velocity rounds produce sharp recoil. That's why the 375 H&H is so darn much fun to shoot and the .340 Wby isn't.
- Heavy rifles help a ton. "Sheep rifles" are hard to hold steady and kick like a mule.
- Being surprised when the shot breaks should only happen once - the very first time you shoot that rifle. If you're surprised, you need more time behind the trigger. Know when that shot will break.
- Proper technique mitigates felt recoil A TON. How hard to grip it. How hard to pull it in to your shoulder. Where the butt should rest against your shoulder. Proper fit of stock and length of pull. Proper cheek weld. Proper left hand placement. How to roll with the recoil instead of acting like a brick wall. Proper foot or elbow placement. Proper setup on shooting sticks. You can learn this by yourself if your the analytical, reflective type, but live feedback from an expert marksman will skip you ahead a few grades.
- You'll never be a great marksman until your brain truly believes the stupid thing in your hand won't hurt you. Lots and lots of trigger time helps. Mess up once and catch a scope in the forehead and you'll be a while getting over it again.
- A .22 can work for some people, but I did better with a .22-250. It's more like an actual hunting rifle and I don't get in the bad habit of a short bolt throw.
Finally, people aren't recoil sensitive or recoil tolerant. People either use good technique or they don't. That's why some smaller-framed women do just fine with a DG rifle. Last week I let 3 people shoot my .416 Rigby. I could tell who was going to enjoy it and who wouldn't. They way they held it and their setup before the shot told the whole story. Now, I can shoot the .416 Rigby and truly enjoy it, up to about 8 or 10 rounds at a time. It's a kick in the pants. Before, it was just a kick in the head. It took a couple hundred rounds and a bunch of effort to figure it out. Now, putting every shot into a paper plate at 100 yards from the sticks is my standard.
