There is some good discussion about mercury tubes on the Big Bore Forum.



I have two Breako Tubes in the butt of my 470 double and as I stated there(big bores) it really civilized the recoil.



I also put one in my 416 Rem Mag (M70), they really help out.

Depending on the thickness of your fore arm on the stock, you may not have room for a recoil reducer in it. Instead, I'd look for a tungsten rod about 3/8" in diameter and maybe 2-3" in length. You then inlet it and glass it in place depending upon how much weight you need up front to go with the recoil reducer in the butt. Another alternative is to get some lead and do the same as the tungsten rod.

HT,JBoutfisn,&475Guy,
Thanks for the input, I intend to try the merc tube and decelerator to start. But if anything else comes to mind I am still looking to add weight to this rifle. Most of the tubes weigh in at around 6oz, so I am still short on my weight objective of 10 1/2lbs by a considerable margin. Thanks again and God bless. P.S. Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!!!

cordell

Cordell,



If you want you can put 2 mercury tubes in the butt of the rifle, and a slender tube in the foreend. I had a .458 with that setup and the recoil was 30-06 level.



Tube for buttstock:







Tube for forend:

cordell,

There is plenty of room in the forend for a reducer to fit in. In fact, there's enough room to route out an additional cavity to fill with lead. Glass everything in place once the cavities are filled. This will even out the balance of the rifle to compensate for whatever you wind up putting in the buttstock. You can also drill an extra deep hole or an extra hole in the butt for some additional lead. Best of luck with your project!

Hi 500grains, and gwindrider1,
I will contact Breako in Gravette AR in the morning and get some prices. I think I will need 2 in the buttstock and 1 in the forearm with a little additional weight in both. I thank both of you for taking the time to respond I will keep you posted as this rascal is "tamed" gwindrider1, welcome aboard we are glad to have you. Take care both of you and God bless.


cordell

I've got the identical gun, and have chatted with my local 'smith about it. He suggested the inletting and lead in the fore-end and has done it on others. I'm also considering a replacement recoil pad.

My biggest concern is harming any possible collector value on this gun. It's about 95%, and is first year production, so...

Anyway, I'm leaning toward having it done. No matter what I do to it, I'll still get my original money out of it. And, I prefer shooters to wall-hangers.

Dear cordell.

I fitted one recoil reducer in my .375 H&H and one in my .416 Rigby.

I had the .375 H&H tested at the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards). The scientific test indicated a 30% less recoil after the reducer was fitted.

I was so impressed that I became a distributor for the South African manufactured Mercury Recoil Reducers.

You are most welcome to contact me for more information with regards to importing the products and how it must be fitted.

Best regards

Wilhelm
wilhelm@zingelani.co.za

Hi all,
Well not much to report, I called BreaKo (Breako) and the listed # has been disconected, however Graco carries both types (buttstock and forearm reducers) at $47.50 each. I will check with them on friday. Fischer, I am glad to hear that it isn't all in my mind!!! Have you fired solids in yours without a scope? and if so did it light up your life?? I was also concerned about the collector value but I figure with a 75% gun (primarily the blue) I don't have much to loose and the next guy will have the benefit of my labors. I plan on adding weight in the buttstock and forearm, along with whatever reducers I put in. Please let me know about the first time you fired your Browning it had to be a hoot Compared to my .450 Barnes which has caused a few Christians to use heathenistic words, my Browning w/o scope has probably 40% more recoil. However the Barnes is 11lbs 12oz compared to the Browning 7lbs 3oz. so I am blaming most of this on weight. I am looking forward to hearing about yours. Zingalani, thanks for the input, can you send me a PM with prices and who makes your reducers?? Thanks in advance and God bless.


cordell

I detest them as some detest the muzzle brake...I believe that all they do is add weight and thats why they reduce recoil for the most part....Two of them make a gun too heavy and one of them will put the rifle out of balance...

I much prefer a muzzle brake, but I don't normally use either...A good stocking job is the best route IMO, but expensive....

If the recoil of a 458 is too much then a 375 or 416 is in order IMO.....

I haven't fired it with solids, yet. Didn't have a lot of range time this summer, so just had time to get loads for the .375 and .300 worked up. So far, I've only shot 400 gr hot loads that I had loaded for my Ruger 77. The recoil was "interesting". Off the bench, to sight in, I used a foam pad under my coat. Off-hand, I certainly didn't find it bad enough to put me off the gun.

I just put a Leupold 1-4X on it, so will have to re-sight it in. I'll try the 500 gr. solids in it then. Got some Woodleighs from 700 Nitro a while back.

When I first got it, I inquired on the Big Bore Forum about converting it to a Lott. I was talked out of it, for several reasons, but most importantly because I was told it would "kick the snot" out of me as is, much less as a Lott. They were right.