Controlling Recoil from the bench?

[jonesse91]

I have heard many people say that when you shoot a rifle from the bench it should recoil straight back and not have the muzzle "jump". I find that this is true when I shoot heavy or small bore rifles such as a .243. But when I shoot my 7mm rem mag with a pencil thin barrel the barrel of the rifle almost always jumps in the air. Is the rifle supposed to come straight back or is this just taboo? Thanks for clearing this up.

 

[Korhil78]

It's not taboo. It's just gonna happen. The rifle would come straight back if your shoulder wasn't there for the butt of the gun to hit. When the bitt of the gun hits your shoulder, some of the force is absorbed into your body but the force of the recoil still affects the gun. The force of the gun hitting your shoulder will have to make the gun go somewhere because there is always and equal and opposite reaction. The force of the recoil will make the gun go in the path of least resistance. It gets stopped by your shoulder, it can't go down because of the bench so it will go up and depending on your grip on the gun, it will go up and to the left or right. The heavier the gun, the less it will move of course.

If I am shooting a really light gun with a lot of recoil, I will have my hand on the grip and pull the rifle straight back into my shoulder. I don't death grip it but I dO have enough pressure on it to make sure that the gun is good and snug in my shoulder. Make sure you are pulling back straight too. I will have my other hand apply slight tension on the forenend to hold the gun down so that it doesn't "jump" when I shoot. I don't death grip it and also make sure that you are not applying too much pressure on the fore end as to make it cant or be pushed to on side. Others may have a better solution but that is how I do it.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

The amount of rise in the barrel when your rifle is fired is also dependant on the cut of the rifle stock. The straighter the stock is cut the less muzzle rise you'll get. And in the opposite case, the more drop at cheek or comb a stock has the more the barrel will rise. The barrel rising takes up some of the force of the recoil so the less felt recoil you'll experience on your shoulder. It's just a matter of finding a stock that fits you correctly.

 

[Reelamin]

I started just resting my off hand over the top of the scope objective. Much more consistent groups then trying to hold the fore end.

 

[FEENIX]

I hope that after 9 years, the OP has learned how to mitigate the issue with his rifle/shooting. OP was last seen Jan 24, 2013.

 

[Greyfox]

Many bench set-ups are designed for free-recoil shooting where the shooters body is located to the left or right of the rifle with minimal(or no support of the rifle). While you can achieve accuracy by compensating with a tighter hold with lighter recoiling rifles, it's more difficult with heavy recoiling rifles. The position of the body/shoulders determines straight-line recoil. I have found that when shooting from the bench(or any position, field or bench)) that getting "behind" the rifle with the shoulders perpendicular to the barrel while applying "firm and consistent" rearward pressure of the stock against shoulder using the grip in direct line with the barrel, will better control the rifle in recoil. The degree of rearward grip pressure can be determined by consistent group accuracy and precision on the target. Very little, to no cheek pressure(downward) on the stock, and straighter stock designs with less drop helps control barrel rise. While pulling on the fore-arm or scope with the off-hand may might help in controlling the rifle, it does add another pressure variable that has to be controlled. This could pose problems if the off hand is needed for rear bag/stock support. IMO.

 

[Rich Coyle]

I don't know if this is pertinent or not. I tried a test with two ten shot 200 yard groups with my Savage .223. The first group I more or less held the rifle in place with sand bags under the fore end and under the rear of the rifle with my face and shoulder barely touching it. Group was .870". Then I held the fore end lightly in the bags and increased the shoulder pressure on the rear of the rifle. Group went to 2".

My conclusion was I need to learn to shoot.

 

[jasonco]

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