Many people's "understanding" of firearms comes from movies, television, books and, more often these days, video games. I've had many people tell me about a particular weapon-system with great enthusiasm only to find out they got that information from a video game. Hmm ok.
The information gained from those places may not be as accurate of course; Sure, it may suit a person to say, "Call of Duty is based on real fact," but in reality a person thinking they're gaining firearms knowledge from watching Strike Back on TV or playing a video game would be the same as a learner-driver thinking that watching the Indianapolis 500 will teach them to drive. For the record, it won't.
I get asked many questions about firearms; Most are reasonable. I also get told many things, peculiarly often by those without firearms or with no real clue; The former I answer as best as I can and the latter...Well, I have a face for that...It's rather blank.
Yesterday I was asked a question by a little lad of about eleven years old who plays the game Fortnite, which I literally know nothing about. To the best of my knowledge the lad has had no exposure to guns in the real world...But he asked a great question and I answered the little man with an eleven year old-appropriate answer.
Recoil
The little champ asked what a shooter feels on his, [or her,] shoulder when firing the rifle. He phrased it differently but essentially what is felt on the shoulder when the trigger breaks. Great question.
It's called recoil and is Newton's third law in action; The force needed to accelerate something will generate an equal, but opposite, force or reaction. It's physics don't you know.
The bullet moving forward due, to the exploding gasses, will be balanced by an equal and opposite momentum exerted on the gun. This recoil will be absorbed by the shooter and eventually make it's way to the ground. In rifle and shotgun shooting it's the shoulder that takes the initial impact usually, with handguns it's the wrists, arms, shoulders and so on until the momentum reaches the ground. I've always called it recoil but the term kick is also relevant as it can feel like one.
Here I refer to hand-held firearms but the same can be said for field-artillery pieces, tanks and ship or ground mounted guns. With those the platform on which it is mounted transfers the momentum to the ground. Quite often these systems use counter-recoil measures like buffering springs and hydraulic mechanisms, it's the same principle as a shooter using his body to ground the momentum. This short M777 Howitzer live fire-mission will demonstrate an artillery piece and the recoil.
When shooting at long range I usually assume a prone position, I'm sure you're all familiar with the position a sniper may assume; Laying down behind the gun, legs splayed very wide to left and right, toes of the feet pointing outwards left and right, inner-foot flat to the ground. It's not done for comfort because it isn't that comfortable! It's done to ground the body for stability and manage the recoil better, among other things I don't need to go into here; Stealth for one.
I want as much of my body touching the ground as possible. It means my own movement is at a minimum mitigating potential error. Of course one needs to breathe which affects the shot too but that's taken care of by the breathing process and timing the shot around it. That stillness, being so grounded, also helps the trigger-pull which is critical to the shot. The position also helps manages the recoil. Above you can see me firing a .300 WinMag, well known to kick like a mule; Note the shooting position.
Why manage recoil
I like to watch my rounds arc away into the target...Yes, one can see the displaced air as the projectile flies provided the conditions are right. If you advance to 2:30 on this video you will see it. It's very cool.
The recoil can be violent though and managing it effectively will allow a shooter to maintain a good sight-picture down range and ensure follow-up shots are quick and accurate and one is back on-target quickly.
A mistake people make is to angle themselves off to one side behind the rifle. It may be ok for a rifleman with a smaller-calibre rifle at short range but for a sniper and long range it's not legit. I lay directly behind the rifle despite it being harder to do as I get older; Old bones you know - Don't get old, it sucks.
The problem in being angled to the left [right-handed shooter] is that the recoil moves the body too much as there's not as much body-mass behind the shoulder to absorb the recoil.
With the position I use all of my shoulder, torso, middle and right leg is directly behind the gun in line with the recoil force and grounded. This means my body takes the recoil and transfers it down into the ground quickly. The rifle is more controlled, the recoil, and I can stay on target more easily. I can see the impact and know the target is down or requires me to send another.
This short video above is me shooting a .308. The range was at about 700 metres and you can see how the recoil is managed, how fast I am back on target for the follow-up shots. Keep in mind I was not looking for new targets here, just impacting the same one. If you look closely you'll see I load the bipod forward with my shoulder to help steady the shot and manage the recoil - This is why a good bipod is required (I use Atlas bipods only). Also see where my left hand is...On the butt-stock, another method to manage recoil and steady the shot. I took this to look at my trigger-pull in greater detail, a training video as such.
The feel
Imagine getting punched in the arm...It's sort of like that, of course, it's all dependant upon the weapon-system and calibre. Also, getting a punch in the arm is different to getting one in the collar bone where it's all bone, (trust me on this). To be honest it's a difficult thing to describe as the pain, or impact, of it is so different for each of us. I'd have to punch you to demonstrate. (I'd never though, of course.)
The recoil is why the rifle or shotgun needs to be snugged up to the body...The pain of banging on long-range guns without doing so is much greater...It'll bruise most shoulders after a few shots. Which reminds me of one of the funniest, and most painful things, to see to be honest.
Not bracing the rifle correctly upon one's shoulder will almost certainly result in scope-eye. This is a painful thing and keeps on giving for a few days.
Essentially it's when the recoil pushes the rifle back to the shooter and they have not got the rifle braced properly. The eye-piece/ocular lens smashes into one's eye, brow or ridge of the nose, all three if you're unlucky. It'll hurt a lot, draw blood and leave a black eye mostly. There's no hiding that it happened either. A trap for young players and kind of funny to the old ones. Ok, so it's not that funny as it can be very painful and off-putting for a new shooter...But...Listen to the instructions y'all...And no, I don't think video games cover this aspect.
So, the feel of shooting is really so dependant on the rifle-system or handgun, calibre and how its held. There's other ways to manage the recoil also including a thing called free-recoiling which is a more advanced method I might talk about some other time.
I'd love to take that lad and his parent for a shoot as I think they would really love it and probably not have the chance to do so otherwise. I also do not have a child of my own and I wish I had someone to pass on my skills to, not just in shooting but in everything. Maybe it'll happen one day.
It really impressed me though, the question. It was intelligent, inquisitive and gave me the idea for this post. He could have asked a hundred other questions but he asked this one...It was a pleasure providing him a response and through this post maybe you learned something too.
If you have any questions feel free to comment below.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Discord: galenkp#9209
This is not designed as a training document or exhaustive text on the subject and the information contained here should not be relied upon. You are strongly advised to do your own research on the subject matter.
I also went to an Atlas bipod 2 years ago, and simply love them. I now have 2, and put sling swivel to picatinny adapters on nearly all my rifles so I can easily move them about since I don't like using my other ones any more.
Nice to see the action video, can certainly tell the muscle memory and timing on the bolt movements, just long enough to not disturb the shot, yet fast enough to be quickly on target again. Making me crave a range trip!
They are pretty good, take the forward load well and are quick to deploy or to adjust mid-action. Not cheap, but sending rounds down range without the other elements all coming together isn't either right?
I've worked a lot on working the bolt, loads of dry-fire in the back yard. Also, on removing as much of the operator input as far as movement goes. I only use fingers on the rifle now, not the palm of my hand. Thumb along the top, tips of fingers and trigger-finger are all that usually touches the rifle. Bloody snow mate, you need that to bugger off so you can get into it again!
!ENGAGE 15
ENGAGEtokens.We always referred to scope-eye as idiot rings, never had it myself but know a few people who did. They didn't seem to appreciate our amusement at their misfortune...
You've piqued my curiosity, now I am going to have to learn about free recoiling!
idiot rings. I like that.
Free-recoiling is something I do a lot of barricades in. It has it's uses, takes out a lot of the user-input as far as movement and allows for better shots. It has to be practiced though, doing it for the first time in the field without practice won't go so well. Here's a little vid I just found real quick. I don't know how good this guy is but it'll give you a starting point.
!ENGAGE 15
ENGAGEtokens.That was one way the Drill Sergeants and everyone else knew who listened to the instructions and who did not. For most people it was a one time only occurrence, some just could not get a proper grip though and missed out on using/taking the scoped shooting lessons.
When you use the scope do you use one eye closed or both open? It took me awhile when target shooting but I did get to where I could shoot with both eyes open, today, not likely due to failing eye sight and differences in one eye over the other.
I like the video choices.
!ENGAGE 15
Scope-eye is a flag for sure...I shouldn't laugh as it can be quite a painful thing and has happened to people I actually like. These days if I'm instructing, or just showing someone how to shoot for the first time I'm really careful to make sure it doesn't happen. And I ~~rarely~ never laugh about it when it does.
Super-good question.
I was a one-eye shooter for the longest time and began to train myself to shoot with both open as it affords one a better idea of what's going on down range. When shooting as part as a team, shooter/spotter, that's not so critical but when operating along knowing what's going on down there can be very important. So, I can do both and will change it up depending on the situation. At very long range, say 1000m+ it's almost always one eye (right) and under that both open.
I'll admit...Those videos took me a long time to choose. Not because I couldn't decide, but because I got caught in a space-time-continuum looking at one YouTube video after another. There was a moment when looking at tanks firing that I thought I'd never break free. 🙂
Sucked into the youtube vortex almost, I kind of know that feeling, I get sucked into Amazon Movies some days, one zombie killfest after another, although I did find a great Russian series to watch, I had to read it, (sub titles), but it was good. Not sure what your Movie likes are but if you like the One Man Army kind check out Flint and Flint:Redemtion, 4 episodes each, it took me awhile to figure out why it was called Flint, but I enjoyed them.
It doesn't happen often but...You know, artillery and tanks man.
I'll check out your suggestions, Flint.
ENGAGEtokens.Congratulations @galenkp! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Your next target is to reach 40000 comments.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPI think the difference between 'movie guns' and IRL guns is amusing - the reality is it's a bunch of people being very calm and serious about the very real possibility of injuring themselves if they're dicks.
Personally I'd be shit scared of recoil, it's precisely the kind of thing that would injure me if I ever shot anything.
I am quite tempted to have a go. We have hunting here - two days a week is the way its managed and you can put up different colour signs around your property to signify if you want hunting or not.
I've only ever seen a couple movies/TV shows that seem to get it right, and even then they're running light-loads as there's rarely any recoil. I watched one of the Jason Bourne movies the other night, good movies, but got it pretty wrong...Small stuff most would not pick I guess. It's just entertainment, but a person thinking they know about it all by watching...Yip, pretty dumb.
Firearms aren't a toy and I hate them being pitched that way to be honest; It's irresponsible. With the right training it can be rewarding though and I've never taken anyone shooting that did not love it. You should look into having a try, I mean at least then you'll be able to say you've had the experience. It's not for everyone, but to have a crack will put it into perspective. I'd take you if you were here.
If I'm ever in Aus I'll hold you too that, something to look forward to...
Lol...And this exactly what you'll look like.
Yeah, I'm pretty buff and ripped to shreds atm!
Just make sure you pack your headband and you'll be gtg.
You’re my fact checker and my obscure information source 😜
Sounds like a smart kid, going to take them shooting if you have the chance and if they want?
(Apparently peakd on mobile hates me)
Oh yeah, I'll take them...The opportunity will present itself one day and it'll happen. :)
I'm sure peakd doesn't truly hate you...Try switching nodes.
It was a bit flaky on mobile, the preview just kind of stopped after a while and then that would be all that posted but I kept not noticing then would have to go back and edit (as I also wasn't getting visual feedback that it had actually posted).
Back on the big rig now :)
Big rig - Let the good times roll.
So you can get a black eye and a bruised shoulder? Ouchiee.... But I bet that this little fellow would love some actual experience than Fortnite. I have heard of this game too, but you know me, I am no gamer lol
!ENGAGE 20
Scope-eye is a real thing for those who don't listen to instruction...Experienced people who get it deserve it.
This is pretty cool of a question he asked of you. It’s always interesting to think why they picked the one they did.
The strangest recoil I worked with was my dads AR15, I thought it would have been way more intense than it was but it was surprisingly mild on the shoulder. The gun can fire two rounds, .223 and another, I think we were using the larger rounds when we were using it though I’m not sure what it was.
The craziest recoil I had was a .357 magnum. I went to the range with a girl I was dating many years ago and she wanted that thing. She shot it once and I had to finish it, damn my wrist hurt lol.
The range video was cool to see, fluid motions between each shot and stuff, pretty cool.
Thanks mate, I was poring through my videos to find something short enough that shows the recoil to good effect for that young tacker and that was the winner. I work hard on making everything smooth and controlled, a lot of dry-firing. Slow is smooth smooth is fast, is a term that comes to mind. It really is. That rifle was a joy to shoot but I don't have it anymore. I'm not sure if you recall but I was mentoring a young lad (still am) and that's the rifle he begged me to sell him. It's a great shooter and he is putting it to good use, and I get to send a round or two with it too on occasion although it's his rifle.
The .357 magnum has some kick for sure, not the sort of gun I'd put in the hands of a new shooter but can be fun to shoot I guess. It's not really my thing to be honest but I've had some experience. When are you off to the range next mate? It would be good to see you do a post or two in The Pew: Guns & more community.