Was shooting my son's new Mossberg 500 12ga. today(Christmas present). Well, he had already fired a few 2 3/4" 00 buck rounds, no sweat. I had brought a box of Federal Premium 3" turkey loads, and I'll tell you, they about loosened my teeth! (I pretty much knew what to expect, but it had been a while). I imagine if this were a rifle, I would have to be very careful pacing my practice to not develop the mother of all flinches.
So my question is, what rifles/calibers have an equivalent level of recoil as this shotgun? The load was a 2oz. 4dram eq. 3" Fed. Prem. Turkey, and the gun a Mossberg 500 pump, weighs 7 1/2lbs. I suppose if I knew the shot velocity, I could figure it out, but maybe someone has some experience in this area. Thanks, Mike.
Well, the Federal site showed that load at 1175fps. What I guess I really want to know is where this falls on the recoil index chart in the FAQ section on Recoil Observations.
If you can tell me how much powder is in the load I can calulate the recoil.
From personal experience, I would say that a 3" shell with a one ounce slug generates more felt recoil than my 30-06 with 150 gr. bullets (my 06 has a decelerator pad, my shotgun is just a hard rubber pad). A two ounce (are you sure they are two ounces, thats 875 grains!!) Turkey load has to be close to a 416 Rigby. I guessed that the load you mention has around 50 grains of powder. That gives it 67 pounds of recoil! A 7.5 pound 30-06 has around 20 pounds of recoil.
Posts: 130 | Location: Montana | Registered: 08 October 2003
I have a .375 JDJ shooting 260gr. bullets at 2400fps and the whole rifle goes just under 6 lbs. It will get your attention, but stock shape and design mean everything when the recoil gets up there. The straight stocks on shotguns aren't good for putting up with recoil.
Posts: 192 | Location: Kentucky | Registered: 15 February 2003
Felt recoil: 1949 model 70 30 06 with original checkered steel ,meat tenderizer butt plate, 180 gr bullet , light T shirt , no pading. 20 rds .
Might not be real heavy felt recoil , but it sure did chew up my skin on my deltoid. Need another stock with a recoil pad . Dont want to cut that stock......Terrible situmacation
I know what the recoil calculators say but in my very personal and subjective opinion (Felt recoil is always personal and subjective)the "PUSH" factor is left out. What I mean is that a low velocity load hurts me much less than a high velocity load even when the gun weight and projectile weight balance out to give similar recoil calculations.
Quote: I know what the recoil calculators say but in my very personal and subjective opinion (Felt recoil is always personal and subjective)the "PUSH" factor is left out. What I mean is that a low velocity load hurts me much less than a high velocity load even when the gun weight and projectile weight balance out to give similar recoil calculations.
I know what you mean! When I first started shooting a HP rifle (.30/'06), to me, the 150-grain load kicked worse thanm the 180-grain load, although we all know the reverse is true. It had to be due to the difference in time over which the recoil was applied, the 150-grain causing the rifle to snap back more sharply!
Part of the equation is the speed of recoil. We have all seen the recoil force numbers but the speed at which the force is applied is a big factor. similar recoil forces will feel vastly different if one acts over twice the time. More of a push versus a hit.
Posts: 513 | Location: MO | Registered: 14 March 2003
The free recoil velocity will be about 22 fps. A recent Handloader article noted 16 fps is about what most people can take with a shotgun. That 22 fps is equivalent to dropping the gun on your shoulder from 8 ft up. However, a good hold will lower the speed at which the thing actually thwacks your skin.
Posts: 980 | Location: U.S.A. | Registered: 01 June 2003