Posted on 09/05/2018 4:56:55 AM PDT by w1n1
Having a 12 gauge shotgun should be on your list for home defense.
However, for shooters that are not well versed or are timid with the 12 gauge notorious recoil.
That kick can intimidate many gun enthusiasts.
There are some ways to managing this recoil.
The first is coined "hardware" which means modifying the gun or using a special accessories design to reduce the recoil.
The second is using sound technique-based means utilizing good techniques while holding and shooting the 12 gauge shotgun.
Hardware Solutions
One of the the first “hardware” of the many ways to reduce the recoil to save your shoulder is to use low recoil shells.
There are reduced recoil versions of birdshots, buckshots and slugs to choose from at your local gun stores.
Recoil Pads
If you want to cushion your shoulder, get some extra cushion for your stock. They come in thick rubber pad, can help your sore shoulder.
20 Gauge
Instead of using the 12 gauge use a 20 gauge because its smaller, lighter which makes it easier to handle the recoil.
Unfortunately, getting defensive ammo is more expensive than 12 gauge and the availability is limited. Read the rest of the taming shotgun recoil here.
I heard that my childhood shotgun, a 16 gauge (Sweet Sixteen) is being manufactured again. It is a great answer to reducing recoild without having to go all the way down to a 20 gauge.
As posted elsewhere on FR, it would be great if the writers at the American Shooting Journal would pay better attention to grammar, form, sentence construction and word usage in their articles. It really does detract from their message.
When I was a kid in the late 50s and 60s Daddy had a Browning Auto-5. That shotgun really kicked. My best friend’s Father had a Remington 1100. It hardly kicked at all.
I never really understood the reasons, but gas operated autos really do reduce recoil.
Actually the Browning kicked even harder than Granddaddy’s old Essex single barrel which was light weight.
A soft recoil pad is the easiest way to make it hurt less.
I had a Benelli M1 Super 90 which I think is the most brutal kicker of them all. I understand they had done a lot of things to reduce recoil on their newer designs.
I shoot cowboy action. One of the ladies bought a 16 gauge model 97 winchester thinking 16 wouldn’t hurt. I did. We introduced her to a 12 gauge. 97 with FEATHERLIGHT rounds. It was night and day. Of course these are small pellets and not useful for home protection past a few feet. But most home invasion shootings take place at a few feet so…it may be a wash.
Buy a heavier shotgun. Shooters try moving down to a 20ga thinking recoil will be less. A 20ga shoots lighter loads (generally) than a 12ga, but a 20ga usually weighs less than a 12ga, so you still can have pretty significant recoil. No magical solution, you either have to shoot lighter loads, or get a heavier gun.
You need an Adapter for most pumps to feed and chamber these tiny rounds. And I’ve seen these fail to chamber anyway
I own 2 seemingly identical 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotguns.
They were manufactured 12 years apart. The newer one is guaranteed to bruise you with every shot and the older one has no more kick than a Ruger 10/22.
The only thing that appears different is the color of the stock. The new one is darker and the older one is light.
I’ve never figured out why one kicks and the other doesn’t/
Recoil Pad. The best $20 I ever spent on any of my weapons.
I can shoot 50 shells during skeet no problem.
https://www.amazon.com/Remington-Cellular-Polyurethane-SuperCell-Synthetic/dp/B00162MIZQ
My only complaint is the defective off switch.
Just buy light loads...
I think all the major manufacturers—Remington, Federal, Fiocchi— carry low recoil 00 and other loads. I found the Remington shells in particular to be very controllable in my Mossberg 590.
It is loaded with Remington Express 3” magnum 00 nowadays, though. Ferocious recoil, but I’m used to it.
An Iowa hunting buddy would take a .410 single shot to the field. One shell in the shotgun. Two shells in his pocket.
Result: three cock pheasants in the bag.
I would haul my A-5 12 gage. Result: two in the bag and a sore shoulder.
[[How do you Tame that Shotgun Recoil?]]
By having your butler shoot it for you
For home protection,
Change to an 18 1/2 barrel and a pistol grip.
Practice, practice, practice in a gauge you are comfortable with.
No bruising on the shoulder, but people with weak hand grips, they will get their foreheads split open {or at least bruised}.
Cheek and butt pads but mainly just ride the recoil and don’t fight it.
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