Anyone have any knowledge/experience with Mercury Recoil Reducers?

Specific question: If one was to put mercury recoil reducers in the stock and forend of a wooden stocked 458 Lott, would it increase or decrease the possibility of the stock cracking? Would two in the rear and one in the forend significantly reduce recoil? Not interested in brakes - only got two ears and plan to be able to listen to my ipod on the plane coming back home.

TIA. Jeff

I put I mercury recoil reducer in the magazine in place of the plug in my 3 1/2" Mag 12ga.

It makes a HUGE difference. I can shoot 3 1/2" shells out of the duck blind no problem.

As far as your stock question goes, a wood stock may be an issue. Bottom line is you have to remove wood thereby weakening the stock to add the recoil reducer. A synthetic stock would give me more peace of mind.

I have two recoil reducers in butt of my unbraked 458 lott with a wood stock. I don't have any in the forend but that might be a good idea - if nothing else it would improve the balance.

I haven't seen any cracks developing yet but if they did I would switch to a synthetic stock and still put the recoil reducers in it.

Jeff - I have a C&H in my Ruger Lott, and it does balance better including when carried over the shoulder. That and the Decelerator took some of the "sting" out of the Lott. I think (2) might be a bit heavy for carry, when you add in 4-rounds and the scope w/mounts. At about 11.5lbs - I personally wouldn't want to add any more weight to mine, and I don't mind a heavy gun. However, the Ruger is a heavier gun, and if you are on a M70 this may not be an issue. But think about the trade-off. And what feels good on the bench can feel like crap in the field.

With a Ruger I would not be concerned with the stock. I destroyed my scope mounts working with some stout loads (which Ron from Warne stood behind, sending me two in replacement, I should add), and the stock has held up fine so far. If it was going to split, it would have done so. Again, I don't know what you are shooting...

The slight "swishing sound" took a little getting used to, but it is barely noticeable and far from being noisy.

Bill

Jeff,

I have two DeadMule recoil reducers in the butt of my .470 Capstick. I'd hate to have to shoot that thing without them.

George

Two in the buttstock of my Lott work like a charm.

Balance is the key. Need a good 'smith to keep it right.

Jeff,
There is one in the stock of my 470 double, which you have shot. Wouldn't think that one more would hurt in the Lott!

The high stress area in a stock seems to be in the pistol grip, and that's where cracks generally develop. Taking a little more wood out of the rear of the stock shouldn't make much of a difference. At least, that's the point I would make in taking it to a gunsmith and asking about it.

Here in the San Diego area, Lazlo at Duncan's in San Marcos seems quite a capable gunsmith, by the way.

Cheers!

H T

Jeff,

I had one (4'' Breako, standard, 13 oz.) put in the butt of my Ruger RSM (in the back near the butt pad) and it made a VERY big difference in the recoil. I also put a 1'' Kick-eez pad on her at the same time.

While she's not a "pussy cat" it tamed the recoil down to somewhere near 375 H&H levels. Well maybe, as it's hard for me to tell as I'm not very recoil sensitive. But I will say the darn thing was real bear to light off before the changes.

It also helped with the balance as now the weight is right between the hands instead of feeling barrel heavy and comes up and points very "naturally" now.

Hope this info helps

Roi

I put two Breako Mercury tubes in the butt of my Krieghoff 470NE. It improved the balance and really "civilized" the recoil.

I have three in the butt of my synthetic stock on my .585 Nyati....I also have a muzzle break which I could live without due to noise. I have not fired it without the reducers so I do not know how well they work.

the totally throw a gun out of balance or make it considerably heavier, so I'll pass on them...I prefer a muzzle brake with a take off feature...I don't really care for either but a muzzle brake on a fully loaded Lott, 505 or 500 Jefferys ain't all that bad IMO.

Many big bores, especially double rifles, are muzzle heavy, hence addition of recoil reducers in the butt usually improves the balance. The addition of weight to the buttstock of my 458 Lott Ruger #1 greatly helped its balance and tamed the recoil some.

I'm a wimp and was wondering the same thing. My .458 Win Mag is under 9lbs. and gave serious thought about adding one the forearm and one to the butt, also. Back to the question, will it marginally weaken the stock?

I'm not sure there's enough room in the forend for a mercury tube, but there is enough room to cut a channel in the bottom and add some lead/epoxy mix if you want more weight up front. You can add merc tubes to the butt without significantly weakening it, just don't drill into the wrist or the fastener hole. My rifle weighs 10.25lbs, any heavier would be too much to carry for long, for me anyway.