Shoulder pain, brake, suppressor or heavier rifle

[optic2]

I have a savage 16/116 lightweight hunter in 270 that weighs 5.7 lbs and it kicks like a higher caliber. I'm starting to get worse pain in my shoulder from some old injuries to the point that I'm hardly shooting this rifle and my muzzleloader and just shooting my 556 and 22.

So I figure I have 3 choices: get a heavier 270, put a brake on my current rifle or put a suppressor on my current rifle

Which one would I get the biggest bang for my buck in terms of less recoil?

[follow maggie]

I think the most sure fire way to address your problem is with a heavier rifle. I’d look for a quality aftermarket recoil pad, also. A lot of he factory recoil pads are worthless.  In fact, you might try a new recoil pad on your current rifle. It might save you a bunch of money & get you back to shooting.

[CP]

I’d say brake, or add some weight to your stock, or both.  I put 6oz of lead into the stock of my 450 Bushmaster.  Made a big difference.

[follow maggie]

How do you add weight to a stock?  I’ve never heard of that & it seems interesting for my .300 win mag

[CP]

How do you add weight to a stock?  I’ve never heard of that & it seems interesting for my .300 win mag

In my case I had room in the cavity that slips over the buffer tube.  I measured that and cast a lead slug to fit.  Some stocks have a similar hole under the butt plate.  In some cases, you may have to drill.  Depends on the situation. 

Get really sophisticated and you could add a spring along with the weight.   

[jrebel]

A brake or a suppressor would likely do the trick. The brake is gonna be a couple hundred bucks and the suppressor is gonna run you 1k. 

Is your barrel already threaded?  If not, that will be a couple hundred dollars.  This assuming you have enough mettle to have it threaded.   

If you buy a brake….just know, not all brakes are equal.  Do your research and buy a good one.  You can reduce your recoil by 40% with a good brake where as a bad brake might only reduce your recoil by 10-12%. 

Might be easier to just buy another rifle that is a little heavier with a threaded barrel.  I shoot a lot of magnum rifles and I have brakes on all of them.  A good break will make a hard kicking rifle very manageable. 

[fly-by]

Start out with cheap and simple. Pull the recoil pad and see if there is a cavity that can be filled with weight.  If that is insufficient you can have it threaded for a brake or suppressor. 

[jasnt]

Brake or suppressor is going to be the best option.   Add weight and you won’t want to carry it for long.  Sounds like it has a light sporter barrel so probably not enough meat on it to thread.
The limbsaver style recoil pads work ok(strongly recommend not going with the slip on version) but if it already has hurt ya the chances of you flinching at the shot have gone up considerably.  If you go that route dry fire practice is recommended.

Great excuse to get a new rifle.  Possibly in a smaller cartridge with a threaded barrel. Shoulder problems typically don’t go away with time they get worse.  7/08 might be a good option for you

[chukardogs]

I'm building a 300 Wthby on an Enfield P17 action. When I received the Boyds stock that I ordered, it already had a hog out in the forearm. Approx 1" wide by 3/4" deep by about 5 1/2 inches long. Honestly, every rifle I own was built in the first half of the 1900s. I've never owned a rifle that I would have thought about adding weight to so I never really thought about what the hog out was for. Since I didn't want moisture to gather in the stock, I filled the void with epoxy and balsa wood. If a person wanted to add weight to a stock, that'd be the perfect solution. A Boyds stock is probably a couple hundred bucks. If you didn't want to alter your original stock, order a new one or if you want, alter yours by boring holes or building a router jig to cut a void in the forearm stock. I've seen multiple rifles over the years with a 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter, several inches deep hole in the butt stock. Again never considered it was for adding weight. Seems like adding weight would be the easiest and cheapest way to start your endeavor. Good luck

[ghosthunter]

I would buy a 7 mm 08 like a Savage 110 Storm, or similar.

Why go to all the fiddling around that may or may not work? 7 mm 08 is a know light recoil caliber which is capable of harvesting anything in this state. 

[Mtnwalker]

A good brake and maybe a lighter bullet would do wonders. Not sure of the contour on that barrel but 9/16 threads might be doable, 1/2" threads are for sure doable but on a .277 some smiths may recommend against that

[MADMAX]

Limbsaver recoil pad problem solved

[b23]

Which one would I get the biggest bang for my buck in terms of less recoil?

I'm all for getting a suppressor and or a new rifle but, 100%, A good quality muzzle brake will not only do the most to lesson the recoil but cost the least too.  The only downside to muzzle brakes is they do make the rifle louder, some, substantially louder so be mindful of that and wear plugs and muffs the first time you shoot it with a muzzle brake on then you can adjust from there how much ear protection you'll need. 

If you don't like the extra noise hunting with them you can do all your range and practice shooting with it on then take it off for hunting since that's usually only a few shots but you'll want to check your zero with it on versus off because POI is likely to be different between the two.  It may or may not be a big change in POI but there is pretty much always some amount of change.

[brokenvet]

Try the Limbsaver first, if that does not work, I would go to a lighter caliber such as 7mm-08, 7x57, 6.5X55, 6.5Creedmore.

Savage guns are easy to change the barrel on, you can do it yourself.   

[Wingin it]

Try a Pachmyer Decelerator recoil pad. Add weight like others have suggested or possibly put a new heavier stock on it. A good muzzle brake can go a long ways in taming recoil too.
Then there is the fact that everyone loves to get a new rifle!

[pbg]

I shoot a Tikka lite in 270 WSM and It kicks like a mule, I have two Herniated discs in my neck, so I added a Limbsaver pad and a Big ported muzzle break problem solved. I can now shoot comfortably

[dreadi]

Is a heavier rifle going to be a solution if you're having to carry it with developing shoulder pain?

A 30 cal suppressor can pull some duty on your small calibers.

Muzzle breaks on the shooting line are uncouth.


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[MeepDog]

A company called Witt machine a great clamp on muzzle brake that you don't need a threaded barrel. It's pretty cheap too and it definitely reduces recoil. You just take measurements of the barrel and they machine it for you. I think it's around 100 bucks

[buckhorn2]

I used to take the butt pad off and put shot in a piece of garden hose and epoxyed it in. Then I bought a bear trap it's a mercury switch you epoxy in the stock it tamed my 338 down a lot.

[royalbull]

I'm thinking I'd still want to stay as light as possible, I'd go with changing the recoil pad and a quality brake like the ec tuner brake from Eric Cortina. I carry a 12lb rifle and it sucks

[addicted]

A brake can take off like 30%, you can drop it in a new stock that is heavier or fits better or has a better recoil pad..... or ad a recoil pad to the current stock.

I bet benchmark can put on a brake and a recoil pad. Their brakes are really nice, we hardly take a rifle home from the store without stopping to drop it at benchmark for a brake.

You could also drop down to a 7-08 or a 6.5 creed or 6 creed and reduce recoil if a new rifle is in the cards.

[pickardjw]

If you're set on keeping the rifle, suppressor and a better recoil pad.

If you're considering a new rifle, drop to a 6 creed. Depending on the bullet you'd be around half the recoil force compared to the .270. And then also get a suppressor, because they rock.

[follow maggie]

A company called Witt machine a great clamp on muzzle brake that you don't need a threaded barrel. It's pretty cheap too and it definitely reduces recoil. You just take measurements of the barrel and they machine it for you. I think it's around 100 bucks

I use this on my .300 win mag and it works

[Westside88]

I shoot an x-bolt 270 that I added a limbsaver pad to. I actually did it because it added 1.25” of length that I needed. This rifle has a brake, but I rarely have it installed. I’d start with a good pad and see from there