rifle recoil

[Curly]

http://www.limbsaver.com/all-recoil-pads/

[mazama]

I put limbsaver recoil pads on my guns I also use a strapon pad on my shoulder,when I first shot my 338rum it bruised me from my chest to elbow,limbsaver stopped the bruising.

[RadSav]

  I DONT HAVE BIG SHOULDERS TO SPREAD RECOIL OUT ON.  WILL LOOK INTO A PAD.  ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Sims is far and away my pad of choice.  I do have a few magnums with the 1-inch Pachmayr Decelerator.  It's pretty good too.

[M_ray]

I just switched my set up after 20 years of shooting a 300wm with a break. I am building a 7mm mag without a break and have never been happier. IMO I would do anything but add a break  We get our ears checked once a year at work and the thing I'm learning is that ear damage doesn't correct itself once you loose it, its lost forever so don't be a geezer and protect it now while you got it! 

[M_ray]

The 7mm mag I'm building has a Pachmayr Decelerator and my 300wm has a sims ... Both are good   

[elkaholic123]

I shoot 2 different rifles with brakes and always wear ear protection at the range but not when hunting, I do not even notice the sound out in the field, no ear ringing or loss of hearing so far. If your gun kicks and your working up a load, the brake is one of the best ways to tame recoil in my opinion.

[Skillet]

I hate brakes. Ugly and not worth the hearing damage. I had a T3 Lite SS in 270WSM as my mountain gun for a while.  Had a Limbsaver on it. Felt recoil with 140 gr Accubonds was a much less than my recoil pad-less M70 FWT 30-06 with 165's.

Get a good pad. 

[splitshot]

  please explain decelerater.   does it only come as pachmyer?   mike w

[JimmyHoffa]

Brakes can also be a pain in the field as they can collect dirt, needles, snow, etc that an un-braked barrel wouldn't--so you either have to clean them often or cover them.

[M_ray]

  please explain decelerater.   does it only come as pachmyer?   mike w

It's just what they call their recoil pads

http://www.pachmayr.com/home/prefit-pads.php

[M_ray]

I shoot 2 different rifles with brakes and always wear ear protection at the range but not when hunting, I do not even notice the sound out in the field, no ear ringing or loss of hearing so far. If your gun kicks and your working up a load, the brake is the only way to go to tame recoil in my opinion.

There are many examples of other ways to "tame" recoil on here so I don't agree that it is the only way ... And also hearing loss doesn't start when you first start noticing it ... most likely if you are shooting with a break you have already done irreversible damage you just don't realize it yet! 

[JDHasty]

  please explain decelerater.   does it only come as pachmyer?   mike w

Limb saver and Decelerator are both similar pads.  I think both are made of Sorbothane a proprietary elastomer and they are both very good.  I use them. 

IMHO the Decelerator looks a bit better usually.

I commented above and have been kinda sitting back to see what others have to say and I agree with a lot of people that a muzzle brake is not something I will ever tolerate.  The person who states no damage to their hearing is simply fooling themselves.  Beside the fact that I will leave the range if someone shows up with a high intensity rifle fitted with one of the things and I cannot get away from them by at least four benches.  It is not only the noise, it is also the blowing of stuff off of my bench and in some cases it was dirt from a guy shooting prone.

That being said:

My cousin's husband manufactures rifles, his name is Kirby Allen.  He is in Ft Shaw Mt, try emailing Kirby and see what he would reccomend.  I do know that Kirby puts brakes on all of his rifles and practically all of his customers' rifles.  It's easy to find him by doing an Internet search.  I am on one side of the muzzle brake issue, but what is best for me may not be best for you and I can't think of anyone who has more experience with muzzle brakes than Kirby.  I think Kirby may hunt with hearing protection in, his rifles are chambered for extremely high performance oriented cartridges. 

Don't worry about Kirby trying to sell you anything.  He is like three years back logged on custom rifles and he doesn't even do anything except complete rifles any more. 

[Bob33]

OSHA sets standards for acceptable noise levels in the workplace. The standards run from 85 to 115 decibels, with decreasing amounts of allowable exposure as the level increases. Decibel levels are logarithmic: an increase of 10 decibels is a 100 fold increase in noise intensity.

A braked rifle produces noise levels in the neighborhood of 160 to 165 decibels. That is 32,000 greater noise intensity than 115 decibels. Louder than a jet taking off 50 yards away. One thousand times louder than a jackhammer. If shooting a braked rifle without protection does not produce permanent hearing loss, you are either lucky or in denial.

[RadSav]

  please explain decelerater.   does it only come as pachmyer?

Decelerator is Pachmayr's  trade name.  A pretty good name too as that is really what and how good recoil pads work.  You can't eliminate recoil unless you add weight.  But you can delay that recoil making it transfer into your shoulder over a longer moment of time. 

Pachmayr uses a special Sorbothane material and Sims uses NavCom material.  They act rather similar but are not the same.  Both have separate patents so they definitely do not have the same recipe.  As I understand it Sorbothane uses a synthetic plasticizer and Sims uses an organic plasticizer.  In my experience Pachmayr's Sorbothane pad lasts longer and Sims NavCom controls recoil better.

Most of my guns have Sims pads on them.  But as mentioned I do have a few magnums that had Decelerators when I bought them and I didn't feel the need to change as they do work well.  I do have a few shotguns that see A LOT of blackberries, rotting corn filled sloughs and overall general nastiness.  I have Pachmayr pads on those guns.

I have ruined a few NavCom pads and archery products over the years.  Every one was my fault or the wife's fault.  One pad was ruined when we used the shotgun stock as a platform to make our sandwiches for lunch.  The wife got a little carried away with the mayonnaise and it turned the pad into jello in about 24 hours.  Tillamook cheese I carry for the dogs wasn't as bad but still had an effect.  And I can tell you that throwing your Jack in the Box - Ultimate Cheeseburger wrappers willy-nilly over your shoulder into the back seat isn't too good for the life of your NavCom either.    Just remember to wash up after handling vegetable oil or animal fats and they should last a very long time.

[JimmyHoffa]

OSHA sets standards for acceptable noise levels in the workplace. The standards run from 85 to 115 decibels, with decreasing amounts of allowable exposure as the level increases. Decibel levels are logarithmic: an increase of 10 decibels is a 100 fold increase in noise intensity.

A braked rifle produces noise levels in the neighborhood of 160 to 165 decibels. That is 32,000 greater noise intensity than 115 decibels. Louder than a jet taking off 50 yards away. One thousand times louder than a jackhammer. If shooting a braked rifle without protection does not produce permanent hearing loss, you are either lucky or in denial.

Maybe I'm misreading a technicality, but 10db is a 10 fold increase.  130 db is 10X 120 db.  Braked rifles (design dependent) should usually be between 3-10 db higher than unbraked counterparts.  3 db being double and 6 db being four time the pressure level.