Thread: Managing recoil for a rookie shooter

Not sure if my title is very good but meh. What I want to know is how can I get the most out of my rifles so that I am as accurate as possible.

With my .243 it has quite a bit of kick compared to my .22lr obviously. The snug shoulder fit against the buttstock, steady breathing, no flinching, gentle trigger pull I can understand and somewhat do.

What I don't know is what do I do about the recoil of the centrefire? With my forward hand do I hold the rifle tight and try "fight" the upwards recoil? Or do I "go along" with the recoil? Cheers

#1. Fit a suppressor.

#2. reload.

And before all that, go join a club and you will be swamped with assistance for shooting more comfortably and accurately

Your second paragraph is exactly what you do. Just relax and focus on a smooth trigger pull. A .243 doesn't need anything else don't try and fight anything, you'll end up tensing up just before the shot and pull your shot off target. Relax, let the shot surprise you.

I'm convinced most of perceived recoil is noise and concussion. So if your .243 isn't suppressed, suppress it. DPT do a wonderful job and will sort you out.
If it is suppressed, make sure you're still wearing hearing protection, if just earmuffs or just ear plugs, double them up to plugs and muffs.

a suppressor will sort out a lot - no dont hold rifle in a death grip just steady will do - make sure your scope is set up as far foward as will allow a good sight picture - some practice with decent hearing protection will help and in no time you will be comfortable with the small recoil from a .243

I will try and get this right...
ear protection is a must..the big loud bang is really scarey to the human mind until it gets used to it...ear plugs AND muffs ideal on the range
front hand will be pulling rifle into your body,not downward,back towards you.... it should ne firm,not white nuckled,just firm. breathing is paramount...get on target and let your breathing relax untill your Xhairs anr doing no more than rising and dropping through bullseye..then breath out and when half in,so Xhairs rising through bull,pause breath and fire..PAUSE not stop breathing,or will go all red in race and black out...just a wee micro pause as you squeaze off.
a jumper and jacket will absorb any recoil your butpate doesnt....its a .243 so doesnt have major recoil anyway..just noise..your suppressor will help.
and your on to it..go with it..just hold firm and let it do its thing....its not going to hurt... for last 40 years the 243 has been the girls /ladies young fella,recoil sensitive persons friend...and that was BEFORE suppressors made it tamer still.

I don't think this is something for which there's a definitive right or wrong answer. Find what works for you through experimentation.

A lot of people use a bipod and don't hold onto the front at all. It's mostly the weight of the rifle, the stock shape, and any suppressor or brake that's going to be mitigating recoil. This is evidently plenty sufficient for the countless shooters who are very successful with this approach. So who is to argue it's somehow wrong?

I'm in the other camp and do hold onto the front (or have a hand over the scope) whether I have a bipod or a bag. This helps me stay/get back on target better. Holding in addition to using some pretty hefty rifles with brakes, I'm spotting hits (and misses) with everything up to and including my 338 even at close ranges. Is spotting the be all and end all? No. And I feel that having an arm forward sometimes makes my body position less stable - so there's that. Does it matter so long as I am still more than stable enough to hit what I'm aiming at? Also no.

I won’t reiterate what others have already said, and MD pretty much summed it up, but I’ll add one small consideration. That is in regards to your cheekweld. Of course you need it to be consistent and repeatable, and in such a place that gives consistent eye relief and correct scope picture… however (this is an assumption, because you haven’t specifically said so) the recoil may feel more uncomfortable if the stock is too firm underneath your cheekbone, thus giving you a knock in the face when you fire. My 8x60 did this to me whenever I used the open sights. Even small things like this can make the shot unpleasant and cause a flinch.
If this is occurring, avoid pressing your face too firmly on the stock, and relax your neck/head posture. Consider some kind of stock sleeve or other accessories.
Hope that helps.

Just go with the recoil. If you try too hard to hold the rifle down you will probably end up with a flinch as you anticipate the recoil from the shot, and you will be tensed up trying to hold the rifle down to make accurate shots. If Im shooting off a bipod or front bag I dont even hold the front of the rifle at all, I use that hand under the but to support it.

the 243 is not a big recoil but it is loud, fit a muzzle brake and it gets louder but recoil is reduced

Biggest thing, and Micky Duck already said it, is the rifle is not going to hurt you. Don't let the noise scare you, Don't let the recoil scare you, honestly it's a little 243. One thing that that helped me a lot was having a go on some BIG calibres so everything else is smaller and less scary. I was lucky to have a boss years ago with a 338win mag. 5 shots of that was enough for one day.

Cheers guys. Yep, the rifle is rocking an overbarrel DPT. What ya'll are saying makes sense so now its just taking the theory and doing the practical

Get someone to video you shooting. That will show you a huge amount of what is happening with your rifle.

Firstly, it must fit you - the scope height must match the distance between your cheekweld onto the stock and the centreline of the scope. A lot of scopes are far too high, leading to you having to perch over the stock without a comfortable repeatable cheek weld.

2nd - the length of pull must fit your body size. Typically you use the distance from the bent trigger finger to the inside of your elbow with your elbow at a 90deg bend, this is the distance from the butt to the trigger.

3rd, the shape of the butt. It needs to have a good comfortable and soft butt pad, that directs the recoil back into your shoulder in as straight a line as possible (modern sporting rifle anyone - now banned obviously haha). Check out the Weatherby butt stock design for one I found to be a right bitch, good for cheek slap. Another are the beautiful curved hogsback stocks, can bring the recoil straight back into the cheek. Nice.

A lesser extent is sharp edges in general, that will hurt when shoved back into you i.e. scope eyepieces hitting you in the eye socket or nose bridge. Everything needs to fit you and have sufficient clearance when you fire...

The muzzle blast thing is something that you can minimise your reaction too, but - and it's a bloody big but - your body naturally reacts as unprotected muzzle blast is causing your ears damage. The level of impulse sound energy your ears receive is above the safe threshold so your body reacts - simple as that. To a lesser extent the sound impulse hitting your face and eyes causes a reaction as well, you can't do much for this obviously but the more you shoot the less you can react. Even high-time operators will react to the force of the sound impulse hitting them. Using ear protection, and a suppressor (which slows and spreads the release of sound energy and gas pressure from the muzzle) helps with this. Shooting from a poor position, or with an injury or a poor fitting rifle cn cause you to develop a flinch (a flinch is a subconscious response to the impending exposure to the energy of firing a rifle - linked into the action of pulling the firearm's trigger).

The other thing is the physics of firing the rifle - E=MC2 in other words thanks Einstein. For us, the heavier the pill and bigger the case combined with the lighter the rifle the more recoil we feel. Or, the lighter and slower the pill with a heavy rifle - the less recoil we feel. Increasing the weight of the firearm reduces the recoil, all other things being equal.

Get out and shoot more, rabbits and Goats are a good start. Recoil is all in the mind.

I'll just throw this in there as it seems like most of the points have been covered but if you are shooting at the range with a rear bag it might pay to simulate the rearward force of the shot going off and see if there is anything snagging on the rear sling stud, if it gets caught it can cause issues that you might otherwise attribute solely to the recoil.

Try shooting a .223 instead of the .243, same loud bang but very very little recoil , I went from .22 to 303 , 270 , etc …dropped back to 223 love the gentle kiss, chucked a suppressor on the boom went away, and my grouping and confidence went next level.

That said I’m a rusher, always trying to be my best in the first 5 mins …frustrated when I fail ..angry at myself …as I age I’ve learnt to accept ..Things take time , skills come with confidence and being comfortable.

If your having a shit day, park it up ..come back clean with a better mind set, might have being the wind , the cold / heat ..you , the sandflies etc

Enjoy shooting your .22 try shooting the 10 ring instead of the bullseye , placing your shots , trusting yourself along with your rifle.