best recoil reduction device

[iceboxx7]

I am wanting to get a Remington .308 . what device would suppress the kick from this gun . I am disabled in the right arm, so my muscle mass has decreased some . Would a muzzle brake help or is there something else that would do the trick .

[Doyle]

A brake helps to tame muzzle jump but I don't think it does much to curb recoil push-back. The best antidote to recoil is weight (i.e. a heavier rifle). You can also reduce the load (either by using Managed Recoil ammo or by downloading the ammo if you handload). With ordinary factory ammo, keep your bullets light. A 150 grn bullet kicks less than the same brand of ammo with a 180grn bullet. Finally, a good recoil pad helps. It won't reduce the amount of recoil but it will make it feel less noticable.

[Doyle]

Another thing. Are you really tied to a .308? There are several other calibers that are as effective for shooting most game or targets but have much less recoil. 7mm-08 comes to mind first.

[Buzzcook]

A muzzle brake will reduce felt recoil as will increased weight. A good recoil pad such as limbsaver helps a lot. Of course what clothing you're wearing makes a difference.

Shooting off hand instead of off a bench lessens the amount of recoil you'll feel.

I have heard of devices inserted into the stock that work on inertia.
Here's one.
http://www.mercuryrecoil.com/

Of course the best way to reduce recoil is to start with a lighter cartridge.

[Clark]

A parabolic taper on a hydraulic recoil can make for constant force over the recoil travel.

Hotter loads have a higher constant force, but stop at the same end of travel.

The cylinder knows how much force to use to end up at the right place.

A derivation of the optimization algorithm was sold to RIA, but before that Rock Island Arsenal used empirically derived tables. That formula is not secret, it is in US patent 4353285.

Too expensive?

Use a limbsaver recoil pad.

[mxsailor803]

A muzzle brake will help with felt recoil if it is properly designed. The problem is it will increase muzzle blast (noise). I've got a .243 Rem 788 my dad put a muzzle brake on because he had a severe neck injury that required surgery and a neck collar for 6 months. My dad was not going to miss hunting season, so he had our local 'smith find a very good brake and installed it. Now the recoil with 100gr Sierra ProHunters running around 26-2700fps, kicks like a .22 magnum. Its a really easy rifle to shoot. Just make sure you wear double hearing protection.

[Roadkill2228]

I'd just get a good recoil pad installed. The .308 is not a particularly ferocious gun to begin with. Muzzle brakes help but more so with more overbore rounds. The kick you feel when a gun goes off is from 2 things, the bullet itself and all the propellant gas escaping violently. The brake only acts on the gasses, so the effect will be more pronounced in cartridges in which there is a great deal of powder burning in proportion to the weight of the bullet your shooting. The .308 is a very efficient round that way, so I'm not sure a brake would benefit enough to offset its major drawback; NOISE!!!!

[Picher]

I'd recommend a 7mm-08, 6.5x55 or .260 Rem in that order.

I set up a used 7mm-08 Rem. Model 7 for a woman neighbor and she absolutely loves shooting it. It has a Rem-plastic stock that I pillar-bedded and shortened for her. That little rifle is comfortable to shoot and does cloverleafs at 100 yards with relatively cheap Core-Loct ammo.

A Limbsaver or similar soft pad is the way to go with most deer rifles. When sighting-in deer rifles from a bench, I often shoot with a PAST shoulder pad, as I don't have as much shoulder muscle as I used to. Leaning-in at a bench increases felt recoil (but not as bad as leaning back against a tree trunk).

[swmike]

I shoot a lot of load development and targets with my .308. After a day at the range and 100 rounds even a .308 can be uncomfortable.

I installed a Witt Machine clamp on muzzle brake on my 24" barreled .308 three things happened. First was a huge reduction of felt recoil. Second, due to the design of the Witt Machine Brake, muzzle jump and "bipod bounce" is not gone. Even with my heaviest bullets and stoutest loads I can keep the target in my scope view throughout the recoil.

The Witt Machine clamp on is a good looking unit when installed (a shark gill design with flat top and bottom) which not only manages the recoil and muzzle jump, on my rifle it's acted like a Barrel Tuner. Even my best groups shrunk by a very noticeable amount and when doing load development I find that the "accuracy nodes" are a lot wider. When I hit the mark on a charge weight it performs the same day after day in a wide variation of ambient conditions.

As for weight? It's a matter of "ounces". While it IS a Clamp On, you'd be surprised at how well designed it is and also how well it fits. Unlike some (the Kahntrol units), it is machined to the barrel dimensions YOU provide from YOUR rifle. Mine fit like a glove and when checked with a rod, it lines up perfectly with the bore. The clamping screws are on the bottom and are barely noticeable.

Yes, it is louder to the sides. But that's what ear protection is for.

Even if you order it with Cerrokote finish the cost is right at the $100 mark.

[Savage99]

Welcome to the forum Icebox,

When you shoot a rifle grip the forend firmly and that arm will take up some kick.

The new Decelerator pad I have is the best one I have seen.

[RC20]

I too would go with a multiple approach.

First and foremost would be to consider a caliber reduction, that gets you all sorts of benefits in that the relatively heavier action is heavier to caliber gun.

Something I have considered for target shooting is the 243. I may go with 308 as it is more in line with my 30-06 components but otherwise a 243 looks like a great Accurate gun that uses a lot of the same powders I use (not a factor for yo maybe)

Recoil pad is the next one. Huge help.

I don't like muzzle breaks and don't have an opinion as don't get the difference between perceived and actual in your case might not be whats needed.

[CarJunkieLS1]

Go to Walmart and buy you a slip-on recoil pad. It will reduce the felt recoil. Plus it can be removed if it needs to go to a different rifle.

[kilotanker22]

i am pretty sure that all the new Remington rifle already come with the R3 pad hich is made by sims already so a limbsaver will be a waste of money.

i vote muzzle brake because whether or not any one likes it the average muzzle brake design does reduce recoil, and does indeed increase noise.


if i may suggest if you want a Remington 308 buy a vtr they have a muzzlebrake built in

[RMLamp]

EvoShield shirts have a custom form fitted recoil pad that goes into a pocket on your shooting shoulder. I won't shoot a belted magnum without one, it reduces recoil force to a dampened push.

[Jack O'Conner]

For deer hunting I suggest switching to reduced recoil ammo as offered by FEDERAL and Remington.

Jack