how to reduce recoil

[jacobthegunguy]

Hey I have a wood stock express 870 and as you know the supercell recoil pads don't fit wood stocks so how can I reduce recoil

[Synchronizor]

Remington makes SuperCell recoil pads for wood shotgun stocks. They're not a perfect fit on all wood stocks, just because so many different ones have been made over the last 65 years, but if you have a fairly recent-manufacture stock, you should look into it. And if you can't find a pre-fit SuperCell, other companies offer pre-fit and grind-to-fit recoil pads that should be an improvement over the stock rubber ones.

But recoil pads don't reduce recoil, they just help soften the blow. If you want to actually reduce recoil, it helps to understand the basic physics behind it. Free recoil energy is proportional to payload mass squared & payload velocity squared, and inversely proportional to the mass of the firearm (this is a slightly simplified look at things, but for non-autoloading shotguns, it's a very good approximation). So, if you want to truly reduce recoil, you should look at using lighter and/or slower loads, or making your gun heavier.

The best approach depends on what you're doing with your gun. For upland hunting where the gun is carried a lot and needs to handle quickly, many folks opt for the lighter loads - often in the form of smaller-gauge shotshells that don't hold as much shot. But for things like trap shooting or turkey/waterfowl hunting where the shooter does a lot less hiking around and heavy payloads and/or high shot counts are called for, adding weight to the gun can be a better way to go. I think I remember you mentioning in earlier posts that you use your 870 for duck hunting, so if you want to further soften the kick of your gun after figuring out the recoil pad, I'd suggest looking at adding weight to your gun's stock and/or magazine tube.

[efriedrich]

[urlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq74aiXn1b4][/url]

Great video, I like limbsaver and supercell recoil pads a lot and light loads are great when shooting clays or high volume wing shooting, but a good fitting shotgun and proper shooting technique is definitely something that once practiced and incorporated into ones shooting style makes recoil much more tolerable if not negligible. Note how short the length of pull is on Rob Haughts weapon.

[John A.]

Use "low brass" shells.

or "managed recoil" or "reduced recoil" or however the company markets them.

Also, slip on limbsavers may help. Won't reduce the recoil but may take some of the bite out of it.

Make sure the butt of the gun is pushed into the pocket of your shoulder well. If it's not, it'll kick your brains out.

[efriedrich]

My Walmart is stocking these now, I tried a box today and if recoil is bothersome these are the cure; not for semiauto's, pump or break action only.

[Scorpion8]

My Walmart is stocking these now, ...

If I had a WalMart ..... just was in my Sportsman's Warehouse today and didn't see these. Will keep looking too.

[Synchronizor]

My Walmart is stocking these now, I tried a box today and if recoil is bothersome these are the cure; not for semiauto's, pump or break action only.

Yeah, I've tried those. Very low recoil, anyone physically capable of holding the gun should be able to shoot them just fine. Another good option for low-recoil practice and fun - especially if you handload - is 3/4-ounce loads. They're more standard-velocity for target loads (1150 - 1300 FPS range), but with the lighter shot charge, they have about the same recoil level as the Winchester 26-gram (roughly 15/16-ounce) load. The Winchester 26-gram, 980 FPS and my 3/4-ounce, 1200 FPS loads feel pretty much indistinguishable in my 870; if you compare the squares of the two momentum figures, they're within 0.3% of each other.

I like these faster 3/4-ounce loads because they duplicate the ballistics of your normal target loads, so you can practice with them for less recoil fatigue, but still deal with the same range, drop, & lead considerations. The patterns aren't as thick, obviously, but you can just choke down a little and they work fine, especially if you're looking to improve your skills. If you can break a clay with 3/4 of an ounce of shot and a Modified choke, you can definitely score a hit using 1 1/8-ounces and an IC or Skeet choke. Also, they're super cheap to reload, since they use very little shot and just a pinch of fast-burning target powder.