Just got back from the range shooting my 404 Jeffery. It's a pre-64 Model 70 rebarreled.

It was busting the heck out of my middle finger nuckle.

Besides wearing a glove, does anyone have a suggestion as to what to do?

It will sure make you start to flinch!

Tight grip? Seems like you are letting it be too free to smack you. Wrap your knuckle up before you shoot? Does the rifle have too short a LOP?

It is strange, to me at least, but I own or have owned several different rifles, up to and including two different .458's, and none of them ever barked my knuckles.

On the other hand, so to speak, both my single shot 12 gauge and my 10 gauge double chew the knuckle on the middle finger of my right hand into hamburger, even after removing the trigger guards when using waterfowl loads.

I have no real idea what the difference is, but in my experiences, I can hold on to the pistol grip of a rifle, even a large rifle, better than I can a shotgun.

The "bumpers" that third bite refers to have worked well for me on the two rifles I've had that were a problem.

An alternative, or addition, is the Wonder Guard:

www.wonderguards.com

These also help and are inexpensive.

If one has big hands, large fingers, the swept back bolts of most guns do not work so well if the gun is chambered for are hard recoiling cartridge. One with large hands needs a bolt without the swept back bolt. My .338/.378 Weatherby banged up my trigger finger really bad, but after I had the bolt altered, it is not so bad.

its breaking your grip .. a 404 doesn't kick much, at 404 nominal loads (not ego, just having a higher scale) ...

pay attention to your right and if it breaks the grip, it might hit you ... is it checkered? do you have small hands on a large grip, or large hands on a small grip?

Thanks to all who replied with advice. I'll try some or all of it.

Jeffeosso,thanks for the reply because it made me think about what was happening. Yes I was breaking my grip. I was thinking more about the target than gripping the rifle tightly. I did check the grip on my model 70 and it is larger than my other rifles and therefore I can't wrap my hand totally around it.

I also discovered, and this is probably the main contributor to my problem, is that when I grip the rifle my middle finger is only 1/4" from the rear of the trigger guard whereas on my 375 H&H and 338 WM my middle finger is at least 1 1/2" from the rear of the trigger guard.

I'll just have to protect my finger!

Proper grip and a straightened bolt handle should help.

It's not the bolt handle. It's the trigger guard.

quote:

Originally posted by lrich:
It's not the bolt handle. It's the trigger guard.

Ah. Sounds like this rifle has a more closed grip. Pics might help with a diagnosis.

It does have a closed grip.

As far as "it takes a shooter to build and design a rifle", as I stated in the beginning paragraph, it is a pre 64 model 70.

They were designed to handle the 458 Win mag

My .500 Jeffery does the same thing to me because I tend to hold it a bit loosely (probably due to arthritis in my hands) so I took an old neoprene glove, cut it up and stuck a little strip on the inside of the front of the trigger guard and another piece on the outside of the trigger guard at the back and it cured the problem completely.

FWIW, I used an ordinary contact adhesive and I think I've renewed it onece or maybe twice in 13 years.

Thanks Shakari

quote:

Originally posted by lrich:
They were designed to handle the 458 Win mag

Actually the Win Model 70 was designed in the 1930's and the 458 Win Mag cartridge was designed in the 1960's so more properly it should be said that the 458 Win Mag was designed for the Model 70.

Sounds like LOP to me. Duct tape a 1" recoil pad on see what happens. I am 6'. 35" sleeve and like a 15" pull on rifles and 16" on shotguns. Way too long but I'm a stock crawler.

New stock with a more open grip.

I was getting the same thing with my 404 and thew remedy was to have the fingerpiece of the trigger cut off and extended to the rear of the TG and the 1/4 relief was all it took to fix the problem. It allowed me to shift my hand on the wrist of the rifle and that shofted my second finger far enough from the rear of the TG that I never got it hit again. Broad hand but short fingers.

Went from this




To this

It is the trigger guard that is hitting your finger, because the rifle is breaking your grip. My 505 does that occasionally when I forget to hold tight. Having no checkering on your rifle (which is what it looks like from the photo) wouldn't help. There are two things you can do. 1.) hold the grip tighter. 2.) tape a little bit of foam rubber onto your middle finger, or wear a glove with some padding.

quote:

Originally posted by 338User:

My 505 does that occasionally when I forget to hold tight.

Mine too; ouch!

quote:

Originally posted by 338User:
It is the trigger guard that is hitting your finger, because the rifle is breaking your grip. My 505 does that occasionally when I forget to hold tight. Having no checkering on your rifle (which is what it looks like from the photo) wouldn't help. There are two things you can do. 1.) hold the grip tighter. 2.) tape a little bit of foam rubber onto your middle finger, or wear a glove with some padding.

Or simply do as I did which was to stick a bit of neoprene on the front/inside and rear/outside of the trigger guard.

quote:

Originally posted by 338User:
It is the trigger guard that is hitting your finger, because the rifle is breaking your grip. My 505 does that occasionally when I forget to hold tight. Having no checkering on your rifle (which is what it looks like from the photo) wouldn't help. There are two things you can do. 1.) hold the grip tighter. 2.) tape a little bit of foam rubber onto your middle finger, or wear a glove with some padding.

That is not the OP's rifle but how I fixed a similar difficulty on my own rifle. Broad hands but short fingers was my own particular cause.

Thanks again for all the recommendations. I did tape some neoprene to the back of the trigger guard and also wore an insulated leather glove.

Problem fixed!

For myself I use an English type open grip with most of my rifles and it works for me and I do hold a bigger bore snugly. Others I know prefer a tight closed grip It just depends on your hand size and shape and body structure. Sometimes a flat or egg shape grip works best for some and a more rounded grip for others..

Probably the best cure if you already have the rifle, and its not a custom stock, is to use the bumper as it's pretty much a cure all for that thump behind the trigger guard, but some folks have short fingers and that increases the length to the trigger and it may not be to their liking...

For me the best option is to cut the trigger off and tig on a new trigger the comes back and follows the curve of the rear of the trigger guard, most triggers are in the center of the trigger guard unfortunately..

In many cases this pain occurs off the bench rest as a proper grip is much harder to get on a bench, so you might try shooting standing up or offhand with a rest such as is used by double rirle regulators and see if that works.

Just some options that have worked for me and others that I have built rifles for.

I agree that a more open grip will cure the problem. I have a friend with a fairly light recoiling .404 that hammers my knuckles. Another alternative is a trigger guard like that on Jeff Copper's rifle, "Baby". There is a photograph in "To ride, shoot straight and speak the truth". It's a filled in trigger guard at the rear with a gradual slope towards the upright part.

Well I finally fixed my problem.

Replaced the original Winchester pre 64 wood stock with a McMillan Echols Legend.

The grip is more open and this stock took some of the recoil out.

Love this stock?

The first time my bro had a go with my double .500NE he was shooting at a big buffalo bull. He didn't hold tight enough, and it seriously hurt his knuckle. It affected how quick he was with the follow-up shooting, but eventually, in agony, he got the job done.

Hello, Irich. I had this problem with my Sauer Hatari in .458 Lott. Although it is not the heaviest recoiling rifle that I own, it has a grip design that I was not used to. In the photo below, it is the third from the top. If you look closely, you will see a little rubber shock absorber attached to the rear of the trigger guard. I would not recommend this as a remedy. It still hurts when your middle finger hits that thing.


Next I tried these the finger guards from this company:
http://shop.wonderguards.com/main.sc

I doubled up on these, and put one on top of the other on my middle finger. This helped, but in the end, the best remedy was a tight grip a little lower on the rifle's pistol grip. Best. Chip.

Thanks CHIPB,

What a nice collection of rifles.

A) I would see if someone could carve a small block of wood, etc to smooth out the rear curve of the trigger guard - similar to how a shotgun's trigger guard is shaped.

B) While an ugly choice, perhaps wrap the rifle's wrist with moleskin or athletic tape?