Bench recoil reduction for heavy calibers via a counter-weight(?)

[pertnear]

I read this on another website about reducing the recoil of large caliber rifles when developing loads from a benchrest. I never heard of this before & I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried this. It was stated that you can control heavy recoil by hooking a cord to the front sling swivel & then hanging a counter weight over the front of the bench. The weigh is suppose to be about the weight of the rifle. Interesting idea to say the least. I know the lead sled has been known to damage a rifle. For sure that front swivel would need to be solid.

Any thoughts...

[200grain]

Recall that anytime you increase the effective weight of the rifle the recoil velocity of the rifle when fired against the shooter's shoulder decreases. Obviously the barrel oscillations will change with the added weight on the front sling swivel along with the sight-in and probably accuracy, as well. Instead of interfering with the rifle barrel I would try either a heavier (so-called bench-rest these days) rifle barrel or weights/shape changes in the rifle butt-stock (available retail or your own mods).

[200grain]

Here is a pretty cool article discussing recoil/velocity:
https://sciencing.com/do-calculate-r...y-6592101.html

[Skipper]

I used to use a spring that hooked over the front of the bench. It was connected by a nylon strap through the front of the trigger guard.

[ulav8r]

I have used a shot bag filled with sand between the buttplate and my shoulder to reduce the felt recoil.

[Mk42gunner]

Sitting up straight instead of hunching over the rife helps a lot.

If I had my own range, I would build a standing bench rest like the British gunmakers were supposed to use for regulating the big double rifles of yesteryear.

Robert

[Wild Bill 7]

You can also fold a towel and put it between your shoulder and the butt. Helps with felt recoil. Did that shooting a Ruger No.1 in 416 Rigby. Worked good enough to shoot 10 rounds without any bruises. Besides I’m only 140 pounds and I need all the help I can get. HaHa!

[waksupi]

When I was testing large caliber rifles, I built an English shooting bench. It is a bench that you stand up to shoot, allowing the recoil to act more naturally, without dislocating the shoulder.

[beshears]

Standing up and using shooting sticks makes my 375 Ruger easy to shoot. I would like to see a picture of the standing bench/ I think it would be good to build one.

[James Wisner]

Back in the 90's when I had the 505 Gibbs itch, that got scratched.
Helps to be younger and more bullet proof.

I would sit upright as possible, even drop the stool and use a 5 gallon bucket to sit on to keep as upright as possible.
Then place a 25 pound bag of bird shot between the butt and my shoulder.
Was able to then hold my own with the 11 pound rifle and shoot over the Chronograph with no problems with out loosing any fillings in my teeth.

Got a 525 gr Woodleigh up to 2400FPS with a huge amount of IMR4350
And a 600 gr cast bullet up to 1900 FPS with 5744

The good old days.
J Wisner

[243winxb]

A Portable 3 legged benchrest is used that allows firing while standing.

Forget the counter weight. Same for adding weight to the butt stock or magazine tube of a pump shotgun.

[country gent]

The pics I have seen of the standing benches they appeared to be simple thing to build, but they are shooter height specific.

A 6" x 6" beam set in the ground possibly poured in concrete, I couldnt tell how deep from the pics

The top of the post appeared to be cut down to 4" square 6-8" down.

This top was heavily padded and covered in thin leather. I think a 3 1/2' or 4" hole saw on the back edge at 45* to form a cup and extra padding where the hand sits might help also.

It will need to be covered to protect from weather or a removable top made so it can be taken inside.

[BS2]

With big guns, I kneel and don't use a seat.
It will let you roll with the recoil.
Back is straight and not bent over.

[Hossfly]

You can also fold a towel and put it between your shoulder and the butt. Helps with felt recoil. Did that shooting a Ruger No.1 in 416 Rigby. Worked good enough to shoot 10 rounds without any bruises. Besides I’m only 140 pounds and I need all the help I can get. HaHa!

I’ve used a recoil pad that you strap on your shoulder for practice with the 45-70, works well if you put it on really well.

But full house loads still hurt and you have to watch out for other parts of the body being slammed around.

[Jim22]

Recoil reducers like the Lead Sled bother me. Especially with hard kicking rifles. I can easily envision the rifle's stock either splitting or breaking just behind the rear tang or through the pistol grip. I had a Sako in .338 Win. Mag. that split its stock from normal use. Trying to slow or stop the rifle will make it worse.

Jim

[DonHowe]

This is why Brit gunmakerz learned to test heavy recoiling rifles off a rest at standing height.
I have on occasion used a small sandbag between the rifle but and my shoulder in these situations to lessen FELT recoil. A bit awkward but effective.

[Green Frog]

I’ve seen pictures of a standing rest arrangement used (at least sometime in the past) at the famous Texas Schuetzen range at New Braunfels. It had a sort of pyramid profile with rounded notches spaced along each surface to give shooters of various heights a position to suit them each. Maybe someone has a picture of this(?).

So as to not be accused of too much tread drift, I’ll say to the OP that I would be very hesitant to introduce any new factor into the harmonics of my bench gun… that sudden shift of recoil will be likely to introduce a whole new range of variables. Not saying it won’t work for you, it’s just that I’m not sure adding those new factors to the overall equation would be that productive. YMMV!

Froggie

[John Taylor]

When I worked for a shop that was building 50 BMG single shot rifle the boss came up with the idea of using a shock absorber from a snow mobile to tame the recoil. The stock had a notch in the forearm for a metal hook that would hook the apparatus that had the shock absorber. The gun weighed 45 pounds and we were shooting a solid brass 615 grain bullet at about 3,400 FPS. Took about 210 grains of 5010 powder. We tried a muzzle brake but someone about 20' to the side got some powder burns.
My testing of different design muzzle brakes showed that there are a few that will take about 50% of the recoil out of a 308 with a 22" barrel and some have no effect at all. Seems strange but in some testing the shorter barreled rifles produced more recoil than the long barrel rifles which had higher velocity, most likely caused by the gas pressure being higher when the bullet left the barrel. One of the least recoiling rifles I own is a 300 Win mag with a 30" bull barrel and brake but it weighs in at 17 pounds.
The worst recoiling rifle I ever had was a Ruger #3 with hopped up 45-70 loads. The book said I could get within 10% of a 458 so I had to try it.. When I test fired the 416-500 I built for a customer I used a lead sled. While the recoil was tamed down the concussion and muzzle blast from the 24" barrels was not pleasant. Even with hearing protection I felt uneasy for the rest of the day, sort of like shell shock.

[Green Frog]

Plus one on that monster recoil from a #3 in 45-70. My dad and I had one pass through our hands many years ago. As it passed through three owners/shooters, less than half a box of factory ammo was used in total by all of us. The best term I can think of to describe it as brutal!

Froggie

[Jim22]

The worst recoiling rifle I ever had was a Ruger #3 with hopped up 45-70 loads. The book said I could get within 10% of a 458 so I had to try it..

I agree. I had one of those and had the same experience. The rifle was just too light. Rather than selling it I rebarrelled it with a 27" medium weight barrel in .375 JDJ. Had to have JD Jones do the chambering. The cartridge was proprietary. The heavier barrel brought the weight up and using 250 grain boolits it was manageable. Now I'm working on cast boolit loads for it. Looking for velocities between the .38-55 and the .375 Winchester.

Jim