.303 rifle recoil, sore shoulder

Any advice on how to mitigate recoil? Dont want to sound like a wimp here, but I have a wickedly bruised shoulder after putting about 3 or 4 rounds through it over the weekend. I had to stop.
I dont know if I was holding the rifle wrong, but its not like I haven't fired one of these before, but it was some years ago when I last used one and at the time I didnt think the recoil was anything significant, but I had been using his rifle while in the standing position.

We were just shooting regular soft point hunting rounds through his gun, but ive been putting through my rifle the greek surplus HXP rounds.
Perhaps these have a higher charge in them? IDK, but I was shooting this sitting on a chair and resting the rifle on a table with a sack of grain to support the rifle on.

I have been diagnosed with bursitis on my shoulder, and im also wondering if the use of my 12 gauge has been partly to blame, but i had been doing alot of heavy work over the last few months when it first gave my symptoms which is what I put it down to, but I dont want to make things worse.
Any suggestions?

Check headspace, or get a Smith to do it. Out of headspace will contribute significantly to felt recoil.

Brass, steel or alloy butt plates can be a bit thumpy if you don't pull them tight into the shoulder, a short stocked gun kicks a full size shooter more than a correct fit does, 303s came in short std and long stock options fitting a slip on recoil pad may be the answer .
It's most likely work related, I've had a rotator cuff strain caused that way and after a few weeks of light duties went back to full activity including clay target shooting 700 rounds over a weekend and not a worry mind you the gun fits me perfectly and has a limbsaver recoil pad.
Follow any practical doctors advice and get on with it. Life without shooting doesn't bear thinking about.

Brass butplate, ww2 ergonomics and a decent size cartridge.


There is a few options you can do.
Lighter loads
Slip on rubber but plate
Shoulder pad.

With enfields, it's worse when you are prone because you get a small corner of the butt digging into your shoulder.

Personally, I use a shoulder pad from paast. Or if you are going to have a dedicated shooting shirt, you can sew in a small pad in the shoulder. Pad from a shot gun jacket for clay shooting is ideal

the tighter in you hold it,the less momentum it has to boot. firm=good and slip on recoil pad is good. give barrel really good clean out too incase its been nickled up at some point and is tighter than should be..not all that common anymore

Id like to add that the Greek surplus ammo has 174gn projectiles, you will likely find 150gn projectiles a fair bit easier on the shoulder.

Shooting from a sitting position can knock the shoulder around a bit, I find it helps to have the rifle higher rather than lower so the shoulder doesn’t have to hunch, I think a straight shoulder gives more surface area to spread out the kick.
Hold the fore stock firmly too. If it’s on a sack consider whether the top of the sack provides a ‘raceway’ on which the fore stock can slide back freely. You can also rest the rear stock on a separate sand bag, provided it isn’t a smooth channel, it will also help absorb some of the felt recoil.

I am guessing you were using the hug yourself method with front rest ??? no hand firmly gripping the forestock.if so it would make it worse.

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Originally Posted by Old_School

Any advice on how to mitigate recoil? Dont want to sound like a wimp here, but I have a wickedly bruised shoulder after putting about 3 or 4 rounds through it over the weekend. I had to stop.
I dont know if I was holding the rifle wrong, but its not like I haven't fired one of these before, but it was some years ago when I last used one and at the time I didnt think the recoil was anything significant, but I had been using his rifle while in the standing position.

We were just shooting regular soft point hunting rounds through his gun, but ive been putting through my rifle the greek surplus HXP rounds.
Perhaps these have a higher charge in them? IDK, but I was shooting this sitting on a chair and resting the rifle on a table with a sack of grain to support the rifle on.

I have been diagnosed with bursitis on my shoulder, and im also wondering if the use of my 12 gauge has been partly to blame, but i had been doing alot of heavy work over the last few months when it first gave my symptoms which is what I put it down to, but I dont want to make things worse.
Any suggestions?

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as a young fella I shot full bore with the old Gisborne rifle club -great days - as a new member I used one of their old SMLE target rifles with a brass but plate - 10 rounds and my shoulder was copping it -so I got a piece of neoprene used for wet suits and sowed that inside the army jacket I used to shoot with and was a lot happier with the felt recoil - those old 303 with steel or brass butt plates can boot

Probably pay to give yourself a bit of a break for a while, next time get it in really tight on bone wide on shoulder so no movement and recoil absorbs through whole body instead of punching you in the shoulder.

The Greek is hot. I hammered myself around getting back into the old Milsurps as well untill got technique sorted It.

I can pump 50-60 303 down-range in Tee shirt no problem now, great fun!

First shot ever with a centrefire, Lee enfield prone with brass butt plate, bloody thing almost broke my skinny little teenagers collar bone. "Memorable" didn't put me off all together, but still don't like shooting prone.

If it is sporterised and not in original you could put a decent suppressor on it, something like a sonic or stealth with built in break

Not quite 4 shots but the 8x57 czech mauser sporter i have was just starting to just show me who was boss after maybe 15 shots. 185grs at supposed packet velocity of 2500ish fps.
Nothing too bad but much more and I would have known it
A slip on recoil pad and a cheek riser to get my eye in line with scope and it's a pussycat.
Like night and day

I find both my 303's with original butt plates ok to shoot. The rifle that kicked my butt; or should I say my shoulder... was a Midland 308 with a rubber recoil pad. Holy shite, that kicked like a stag! Whereas my Ruger 77 .270 was a pussy compared to the Midland! It must have been a stock design issue because I've shot other 308's with no drama.

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Originally Posted by Gun nut

Check headspace, or get a Smith to do it. Out of headspace will contribute significantly to felt recoil.

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OK, I had just had this checked by a gunsmith while it was in for some other work recently, im pretty sure all thats OK.

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Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Brass, steel or alloy butt plates can be a bit thumpy if you don't pull them tight into the shoulder, a short stocked gun kicks a full size shooter more than a correct fit does, 303s came in short std and long stock options fitting a slip on recoil pad may be the answer .
It's most likely work related, I've had a rotator cuff strain caused that way and after a few weeks of light duties went back to full activity including clay target shooting 700 rounds over a weekend and not a worry mind you the gun fits me perfectly and has a limbsaver recoil pad.
Follow any practical doctors advice and get on with it. Life without shooting doesn't bear thinking about.

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Yeah, I feel the heavy brass butt plate is not helping things. Ive got a limbsaver on my 12 gauge and it helps, but it extends the length of pull a bit and I learned that the factory stocks that had the recoil pads were cut shorter to make up for the extra thickness.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

the tighter in you hold it,the less momentum it has to boot. firm=good and slip on recoil pad is good. give barrel really good clean out too incase its been nickled up at some point and is tighter than should be..not all that common anymore

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Well I thought I was holding it tight, but wondering if its me just automatically relaxing without realising as i had the rifle supported on the table, im sure I tried holding it tighter on the last shot.
This rifle does have a very tight bore when it we measured it, this may not help things. Ive given it a bit of a clean and the cleaning patch was coming out quite grey, but the bore appears clean when looking down.

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Originally Posted by Danger Mouse

Brass butplate, ww2 ergonomics and a decent size cartridge.


There is a few options you can do.
Lighter loads
Slip on rubber but plate
Shoulder pad.

With enfields, it's worse when you are prone because you get a small corner of the butt digging into your shoulder.

Personally, I use a shoulder pad from paast. Or if you are going to have a dedicated shooting shirt, you can sew in a small pad in the shoulder. Pad from a shot gun jacket for clay shooting is ideal

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I might have to look at experimenting with different loads, I dont think I need much padding, just something to cover the heavy buttplate, as there is not much muscle protecting my collarbone or shoulder.

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Originally Posted by longshot

Shooting from a sitting position can knock the shoulder around a bit, I find it helps to have the rifle higher rather than lower so the shoulder doesn’t have to hunch, I think a straight shoulder gives more surface area to spread out the kick.
Hold the fore stock firmly too. If it’s on a sack consider whether the top of the sack provides a ‘raceway’ on which the fore stock can slide back freely. You can also rest the rear stock on a separate sand bag, provided it isn’t a smooth channel, it will also help absorb some of the felt recoil.

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Yes, Im thinking this is part of the problem. First thing im going to try is shooting while standing to see how that compares.
I think I might need to sit lower to keep my back straighter.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I am guessing you were using the hug yourself method with front rest ??? no hand firmly gripping the forestock.if so it would make it worse.

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Thats what I was trying to do, but having the rifle resting on a sack perhaps didnt lend well to me holding the rifle in the most ideal position.

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

as a young fella I shot full bore with the old Gisborne rifle club -great days - as a new member I used one of their old SMLE target rifles with a brass but plate - 10 rounds and my shoulder was copping it -so I got a piece of neoprene used for wet suits and sowed that inside the army jacket I used to shoot with and was a lot happier with the felt recoil - those old 303 with steel or brass butt plates can boot

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Neoprene sounds like a good idea, would be super easy to make a lightweight slip on pad too.

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Originally Posted by jackson21

Probably pay to give yourself a bit of a break for a while, next time get it in really tight on bone wide on shoulder so no movement and recoil absorbs through whole body instead of punching you in the shoulder.

The Greek is hot. I hammered myself around getting back into the old Milsurps as well untill got technique sorted It.

I can pump 50-60 303 down-range in Tee shirt no problem now, great fun!

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Im feeling OK now so probably will be fine for me to play around next weekend.

It appears this greek stuff has a heavier projectile, so is probably the reason I have found this has more recoil than I was expecting.

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Originally Posted by Old_School

Any advice on how to mitigate recoil? Dont want to sound like a wimp here, but I have a wickedly bruised shoulder after putting about 3 or 4 rounds through it over the weekend. I had to stop.
I dont know if I was holding the rifle wrong, but its not like I haven't fired one of these before, but it was some years ago when I last used one and at the time I didnt think the recoil was anything significant, but I had been using his rifle while in the standing position.

We were just shooting regular soft point hunting rounds through his gun, but ive been putting through my rifle the greek surplus HXP rounds.
Perhaps these have a higher charge in them? IDK, but I was shooting this sitting on a chair and resting the rifle on a table with a sack of grain to support the rifle on.

I have been diagnosed with bursitis on my shoulder, and im also wondering if the use of my 12 gauge has been partly to blame, but i had been doing alot of heavy work over the last few months when it first gave my symptoms which is what I put it down to, but I dont want to make things worse.
Any suggestions?

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a funny story for you rebooting rifles - we have it easy - my Dad was telling me when he trained in Egypt WW2 they had a viscious beast called a boyes anti tank rifle -cant remember the calibre but think single shot .50 cal - the Sargeant would ask first volunteer to step foward to fire the big bitch and no one would move - they were all shit scared of it - the sergeant would have to order them to fire it

More rounds down range is the solution, once bruising subsided. Bit of regular practice and won't know yourself. Try to incorporate using sling, allow rifle to go through recoil pulse and ideally coming back approximately onto target, your technique is sound.

There does seem to be more perceived recoil out of HXP Greek at 2500 fps than say a 174gr reload at 2400 to me, even though one would think there shouldn't be much in it?

I thought it improved my shooting on light recoiling rifles as shooting the brass buttplate three'O exposes flaws in shooting technique that are not clearly obvious otherwise with modern setups as tend to mitigate to dome degree, but are still there.

you are shooting a rifle that was DESIGNED to be shot standing and held firmly in BOTH hands...... sitting is no issue,not having front hand firmly holding onto that stock and pulling it back into shoulder however IS an issue..and why your getting booted.
if your cleaning patches are still coming out grey....keep cleaning.... just make sure you are using a cleaning rod from chamber end and not pulling rope pull through out on angle.....
you can get really serious about cleaning and CAREFULLY pour jug of boiling water down through bore,carefull not to get onto stock etc..this will help shift any corrosive salts left over from primers etc in the milserp stuff...not sure if greek stuff is corrosive,but some of reports on here its a bit dodgy at times..... you can also plug muzzle with rag and fill bore with the likes of CRC and leave it over night then give it another really good clean using your brushes and followed by numerous cloth patches till it comes out clean....what your trying to achieve is remove any old shit from in bore that isnt supposed to be there.
a slip on rubber recoil pad doesnt cost the earth.... removing brass plate will shorten stock up a fly shit, one thing is forsure,what your doing now is not doing you any good ,it will erode your confidence and could lead to the dreaded rhymes with grinch......

re cleaning the barrel-a trick told to me by an oldtime shooter of .303s.plug ya barel pour a cup of boiling vinegasr down the tube -let sit for a time theb rinse with boiling water-heat of metal will dry the bar rel .do not attempt to drink either .that bore should lo ok clean as a babies bum!
my own no4mk1 longbranch I had fun and games with it too but a recoil pad plus a DIYcheekrest solved it .dont fire the old sheilas often but I dont call her my 18"naval gun for nothin.the barrel is also only 2land/groove so she sprays 150gn but looooooves 180gn softnose round nose.-Im also pondering exploring downloading some cases with 125gn7.62x39 loads????subsonic -oh yeah have suppresor in situ

Well remember my first centrefire was a .303 quite a step up from my .22 more they noise I think too make sure you have good air protection and as Mickey says hold the forend and a firm buttpad on your shoulder.

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

a funny story for you rebooting rifles - we have it easy - my Dad was telling me when he trained in Egypt WW2 they had a viscious beast called a boyes anti tank rifle -cant remember the calibre but think single shot .50 cal - the Sargeant would ask first volunteer to step foward to fire the big bitch and no one would move - they were all shit scared of it - the sergeant would have to order them to fire it

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I would hate to think what the recoil would be like on one of those 50BMG rifles, im assuming the modern ones have some sort of spring or shock absorber to absorb the recoil?

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Originally Posted by jackson21

More rounds down range is the solution, once bruising subsided. Bit of regular practice and won't know yourself. Try to incorporate using sling, allow rifle to go through recoil pulse and ideally coming back approximately onto target, your technique is sound.

There does seem to be more perceived recoil out of HXP Greek at 2500 fps than say a 174gr reload at 2400 to me, even though one would think there shouldn't be much in it?

I thought it improved my shooting on light recoiling rifles as shooting the brass buttplate three'O exposes flaws in shooting technique that are not clearly obvious otherwise with modern setups as tend to mitigate to dome degree, but are still there.

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Yeah I think I need more practice, I found that with my 12 gauge it was the same thing, I was bruised heavily when i first used it, but since then its never been as big a deal.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

you are shooting a rifle that was DESIGNED to be shot standing and held firmly in BOTH hands...... sitting is no issue,not having front hand firmly holding onto that stock and pulling it back into shoulder however IS an issue..and why your getting booted.
if your cleaning patches are still coming out grey....keep cleaning.... just make sure you are using a cleaning rod from chamber end and not pulling rope pull through out on angle.....
you can get really serious about cleaning and CAREFULLY pour jug of boiling water down through bore,carefull not to get onto stock etc..this will help shift any corrosive salts left over from primers etc in the milserp stuff...not sure if greek stuff is corrosive,but some of reports on here its a bit dodgy at times..... you can also plug muzzle with rag and fill bore with the likes of CRC and leave it over night then give it another really good clean using your brushes and followed by numerous cloth patches till it comes out clean....what your trying to achieve is remove any old shit from in bore that isnt supposed to be there.
a slip on rubber recoil pad doesnt cost the earth.... removing brass plate will shorten stock up a fly shit, one thing is forsure,what your doing now is not doing you any good ,it will erode your confidence and could lead to the dreaded rhymes with grinch......

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What about lying down flat? I would imagine they should have been designed for use in this position? I might experiment this over the weekend.
I might give it a better clean this week. It doesnt look rusty, so im assuming any corrosive ammo used in the gun previously should have showed up alot of rust by now. I was assured by the store that this greek ammo has no corrosive primers, CAC however can be corrosive.
I have some hoppes No9 bore cleaner which is supposed to be really good, perhaps I should use this, but ive just been using easeOX oil which is supposed to be OK for cleaning.
Ive got a long cleaning rod and a brush that i gave a good brushing but could probably do with some more.

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Originally Posted by trooper90

Well remember my first centrefire was a .303 quite a step up from my .22 more they noise I think too make sure you have good air protection and as Mickey says hold the forend and a firm buttpad on your shoulder.

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Yes will give this a go next time!

Well i also seem to remember different powders also contributing or helping with recoil.
How fast it builds pressure vs burning down the barrel.
I will stand corrected on that though

laying prone,ALL the recoil goes into shoulder,as it cant move your body out of the way...its inline with recoil force. sitting or standing your body can sway somewhat....
and for crying out loud do not believe everything the retailer tells you..thier JOB is to sell you stuff.the more stuff the better....

did you yell "TALLY-HO" before firing?
if you dont it will bruise you for sure

pullthat bloody thing into your shoulder and hold it tighter than a scots man holds a pound . now get ya mate to grab the barrel and pulllike a schoolboy with a penthouse.

ok if your mate has put his shoulder out with that action tell him step aside ,work the bolt and slide one inot the chamber then touch the bang lever! If recoil is a problem -place a large fresh gorse bush between your legs snug again ye old crown jewels-if youve got it wrong youll soon know .no we dont need photos!!!

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

laying prone,ALL the recoil goes into shoulder,as it cant move your body out of the way...its inline with recoil force. sitting or standing your body can sway somewhat....
and for crying out loud do not believe everything the retailer tells you..thier JOB is to sell you stuff.the more stuff the better....

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I wonder how soldiers got on during combat or training, wasnt that a common position that they would have used back in the day?
I guess they were tougher back then :P

I bet they were using a full wooden one weighing closer to 9lb than 6lb cut down model..and they would have been holding the plurry thing with BOTH hands...like they were made to be shot.for sure you can shoot a cut down .303 brit prone...thousands have done it..... but its slightly more pleasant to shoot if your upright.
try lining up open sights in both positions and see which is easier/quicker.....
you can actually get felt recoil from a .22lr if you try hard enough...sit but plate on your jaw and fire a round.....all firearms move when fired...how you control that/absorb that make huge difference.

Get along to a physiotherapist and check out if you have some “frozen shoulder” before it gets worse.
In general , building up beef ( not lard ) with strength training is helpful to shooting but well planned rotator cuff exercises and stretching can make that safer.

My dad joined the South African Police at 16. Shooting practice with .303 rifles saw him fire a few rounds and have to crawl forward to get back into position, because the recoil had pushed his slight frame back a foot or more! It isn't the worst by any stretch, but definitely rates as a grown up calibre and lying prone doesn't help matters.

@GrumpyKiwi - That 14.5 x 114 mm Truvelo CMS is almost an artillery piece! Any pics?

I also have bursitis in my shoulder, and its my opinion that most of your discomfort is coming from that. Perhaps it is causing you to hold the rifle in a way which you normally wouldn't, but if I was you I would work on the healing process before looking for issues with the rifle or your shooting technique.
I assume you're already going down this path but if not, inquire about a cortisone injection, which has reduced the inflammation for me, and ongoing physio visits for acupuncture and targeted mobility exercises are making gradual improvements.

Thick clothing of sturdy construction helps a lot too
Tempting to shoot in a tee shirt when it’s hot


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This time im seriolus .

Go get an old jandal or if you can scrounge it a bit of sleeping mat or something similar.
Now either hand sew or if you know someone who can hand or machine sew a pocket for this square of rubber/foam.Ok got that .right now nick a safety pin from somewhere and when you come to shoot old donkey nuts just pin that on the right shoulder of your shirt etc and snuggle the butt into that.

Ive done it with my 12g shotties-works a bloody treat.Actually i must confess a lot of surplus jandals have been recycled as recoil pads on my arms and do a perfectly good job.

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

Get along to a physiotherapist and check out if you have some “frozen shoulder” before it gets worse.
In general , building up beef ( not lard ) with strength training is helpful to shooting but well planned rotator cuff exercises and stretching can make that safer.

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I've already been going to one.
Looks like the bursitis is going away.
My main concern is what the cause is. I had been doing a ton of work with a weedeater and put it down to that, but could have been my use with the 12 gauge at the time too.
He has given me exercises to do and it helps. I dont have the pain anymore like I was getting doing everyday things, but want to take it easy with the guns for now. I have already put a limbsaver on my 12 gauge but it's added to the length of pull somewhat.

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Originally Posted by -BW-

I also have bursitis in my shoulder, and its my opinion that most of your discomfort is coming from that. Perhaps it is causing you to hold the rifle in a way which you normally wouldn't, but if I was you I would work on the healing process before looking for issues with the rifle or your shooting technique.
I assume you're already going down this path but if not, inquire about a cortisone injection, which has reduced the inflammation for me, and ongoing physio visits for acupuncture and targeted mobility exercises are making gradual improvements.

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Yes, I want to take it easy for now, am doing the exercises my physio gave me, he advised against cortisone unless the symptoms get worse, thankfully I feel it was just the shooting position that was the issue while sitting down.
I sighted it in the other day with a slip on recoil pad and it makes a huge difference.
Also when firing standing up, the recoil feels non existent.
The recoil seems to make the gun push upwards rather than my shoulder taking the full impact like when I am sitting down.

hmmmm I seem to recall "someone " said that would happen...laying down your body is inline with rifle so HAS to take all the force,upright your body can sway backwards LOL
sounds like you have got it sorted....dont forget to wrap some insulation tape etc on slip on pad when out n about or you can brush it off in the scrub.

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Originally Posted by Old_School

I've already been going to one.
Looks like the bursitis is going away.
My main concern is what the cause is. I had been doing a ton of work with a weedeater and put it down to that, but could have been my use with the 12 gauge at the time too.
He has given me exercises to do and it helps. I dont have the pain anymore like I was getting doing everyday things, but want to take it easy with the guns for now. I have already put a limbsaver on my 12 gauge but it's added to the length of pull somewhat.



Yes, I want to take it easy for now, am doing the exercises my physio gave me, he advised against cortisone unless the symptoms get worse, thankfully I feel it was just the shooting position that was the issue while sitting down.
I sighted it in the other day with a slip on recoil pad and it makes a huge difference.
Also when firing standing up, the recoil feels non existent.
The recoil seems to make the gun push upwards rather than my shoulder taking the full impact like when I am sitting down.

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ohh for crying out loud -man up - use a pad if ya half to but if ya think its going to kick - select one of two options 1) don't fire it 2 ) be brave - hold it tight - use a pad - enjoy shooting - end of story

I could look it up but the old SMLE actually has LESS recoil than a LOT of other rifle/cartridge combos that were in use 30 years ago,its about a third of your .12ga oh and DO NOT fire your .12ga prone unless no other option......been there done that AND got the parries too LOL.... oh the glorious days of slinkdown and belly crawl stalking then on home farm.

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

ohh for crying out loud -man up - use a pad if ya half to but if ya think its going to kick - select one of two options 1) don't fire it 2 ) be brave - hold it tight - use a pad - enjoy shooting - end of story

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As I said, the main issue was just the shooting position when I was trying to sight it in.
I dont even need the recoil pad if shooting in a standing position.


I think my bursitis is unrelated to my shooting, but need to be careful until it's settled down.

Greetings,
Definitely consider light handloads. Point of impact can vary widely with different sorts of ammo. If you handload I can suggest some lighter loads that I used in my steel butt No4.
GPM.