I was wondering if anyone could give me their opinion and advice as to whether or not to have a Mercury Recoil Reducer installed in my .470 NE Double Rifle, along with a decent recoil pad? Your sound advice and wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

Unless your double has interceptor sears, use of a mercury recoil reducer could increase the likelihood of doubling. A .470 NE with a proper recoil pad doesn't kick that much, so I would focus on the pad not on mercury. On a bolt gun, mercury reducers really help, in combination with a good pad.

UEG,

Listen to 500 grains. All the doubles from 45 up to, but not including 50 cal, are about the same and weigh enough so you can handle recoil with a decent pad. Rifles weigh 10-1/2 lbs and a bit more. Recoil is not a problem. Weight is between the hands and, if you are in any kind of shape, they raise themselves to your shoulder and hang there steadily as you make haste to squeeze the trigger slowly...
Regards, Tim

Thanks to 500 Grains and Tim for their sage advice. I will have a good recoil pad installed and will pass on the Mercury Recoil Reducer.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Thanks to 500 Grains and Tim for their sage advice. I will have a good recoil pad installed and will pass on the Mercury Recoil Reducer.

Aahh, but what constitutes a good recoil pad? A hard rubber Silvers or a gooey Pachmeyer?

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:

Aahh, but what constitutes a good recoil pad? A hard rubber Silvers or a gooey Pachmeyer?

A 10 lb. 470 double with the exaggerated butt drop kicks like a mule. Even a decelerator doesn't help much. If you don't mind ugly, get a Pachmayr F990.

P.S. I was going to say Mickey can't spell. But I sort of like him, so I'll pass.

I suppose recoil is in the eye of the beholder. I think a .470 NE kicks just a little more than a .375, and less than a CZ550 Euro .416 Rigby.

A Pachmyr Old English 1" will be fine for a .470. If you want to be a traditionalist and get the snot kicked out of you, use a Silvers hard pad.

(I wonder if Will likes my spelling.)

Ok, I'll continue to be a traditionist and shoot a Silvers pad...My shoulder is numb to recoil, its the rearing up and the trigger guard thumping my middle diget that gets me..I have a bumper on my trigger guards.

Anything one puts in the butt or forend of his stock, just ruins the balance of a good rifle and makes it very heavy to carry...Carrying a rifle all day long in the hot climate of an elephant hunt is a chore for even the toughest of the internet strong and anything over 10.5 will wear you down if you really hunt. I would prefer a 9.5 lb. gun on a elephant track, then after walking 15 miles I can still hopefully lift it and shoot....I don't do that any more, age and a booking agents lifestyle wore me down...that and I really like my second love, team ropeing steers with my grandson and daughter. Elepnant hunting is WORK if done right and there are few shootable bulls left IMO..

Now if someone had a 100 pounder located I would be there in a heartbeat and hunt him until hell froze over, but that ain't likely in Tanzania these days or anywhere else short of perhaps Botswana or Mozambique IMO, and I don;t have a $100,000 plus to hunt one.

I use a Mauser 416 Rem Mag with a synthetic stock, which I filled up using polyurethane with a tube in the middle.
Then I filled the tube with 2,40 mm shotgun pellets.
I can now even sit on my heels and shoot.

The joy of a well made double rifle is it's balance. Having a truely balanced double allows you to point and shoot. Adding a 1 lb. mercury recoil reducer to the stock will muck that balance up and you might as well use a bolt rifle.

465H&H