SHOT GUN RECOIL ?

[flintforever]

I like to ask a question on recoil I was thinking in getting into shooting clays but a few years back I had shoulder surgery so recoil is a major issue.
I was thinking in a O/U in 20 ga. or would a semi auto with light target loads be a better choice.

[pterrell]

20ga shouldn't be too bad, but none of us know the extent of your injuries either. What caliber rifles can you shoot comfortably? The shotgun itself has a lot to do with felt recoil as well.

[Newshooter]

I have attended multiple trap classes with a hall of fame trap shooter who has had surgery on both shoulders.

He still shoots a 12 ga semi-auto. I believe it is a Remington 1100. It has been over a year or so and he has worked back to his single barrel trap gun and is lighting it up all over. pterrell is correct in that the severity of your injury can affect your choice.

Gun weight will have a direct impact on felt recoil. A lot of 20 gauge guns weigh less than 12 ga guns and have more felt recoil than a 12 gauge. My 5' 6", 120# wife can shoot my Beretta 12 gauge semi all day yet can barely shoot one 20 ga shell through her Beretta 20 ga o/u.

[Ducky's Dad]

I think the original Rem 1100 20ga was built on the 12ga receiver, same as the first generation 870 20ga. Pretty nice gun if you can find one, and probably the softest shooting 20ga out there, especially combined with the weight of the 12ga receiver. In any gauge, a gas auto is probably your best bet. Another alternative is to start shooting from the other shoulder, especially if you determine that the other side is your dominant eye.

[CaptnCaveman]

Just got a 20g gas semi for my wife recently. It weighs about 1.5 lbs less than my 20g O/U. When I tested it out before the stock got chopped, it seemed to have about equal recoil, which impressed me, since it feels like a match stick compared to my gun.

The down side was it wouldn't cycle the low recoil loads right out of the box. Does just fine with regular target loads. Maybe it'll loosen up in time.

Fit, weight, gas, & pads are what is going to make shooting comfortable. Your results may vary.

[johnthomas]

My wife is compromised on her right side due to breast cancer.
When we go to the mountains to practice, she shoots from the hip. Granted, she will never shoot skeet, but she can chase pine cones all day long shooting like that. Our goal when we practice is personal and home defense, not competition.

[JagerDog]

Note that lighter payload 12g loads are available. Olympic trap/skeet shoot 7/8 loads albeit the velocity is up there a bit. They may well not cycle autos though.

Gas auto, O/U 12g with 20g tubes should be considered.

[bigbearbear]

You can also consider getting a 12 gauge O/U, but use 20 gauge adapters and shoot 20 gauge light target shells. I've seen people do it for trap shooting and they seems to do pretty well with them.

[NATEWA]

My duck hunting friend is an older guy and has shoulder issues. Not exactly sure what's up but know his 12 aggravates his condition. He picked up a beretta xplor 20 gauge with a kick off stock. Great gun!! Very light and with the kick off stock, very minimal recoil. You can slip a thin, shoulder recoil pad and be good.

[NATEWA]

http://www.beretta.com/en-us/a400-xplor-action/

[NATEWA]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002K2O3Y0/ref=pd_aw_sim_200_of_13?ie=UTF8&dpID=41dDCE49CZL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_SL500_SR100%2C100_&refRID=04RDCP6CFSVBE1FV56CF

[Dano3467]

Yep Rem 1100 or any other gas gun, has much lighter felt recoil.

[CaptnCaveman]

My duck hunting friend is an older guy and has shoulder issues. Not exactly sure what's up but know his 12 aggravates his condition. He picked up a beretta xplor 20 gauge with a kick off stock. Great gun!! Very light and with the kick off stock, very minimal recoil. You can slip a thin, shoulder recoil pad and be good.

Great guns!

I test shot the 20g A400 Xplr Action w/ Kick Off and then bought my wife the version w/o Kick Off because the stock needed to be trimmed more than the Kick Off system would allow (spoke to Beretta about parameters).

I was real worried that the recoil would be significantly greater w/o Kick Off and was researching how to add weight in case it needed it. But when I shot her gun I couldn't say I noticed a difference (maybe because I'm 6' 200+ lbs and there was two months between the shoots).

My wife was really recoil sensitive. She took the NorCal Skeet class and barely got through half a box of low recoil loads through a 20g pump before hanging it up for the day. Last time out with the A400 she shot 3 boxes of low recoil loads with regular loads mixed in and is ready to shoot w/o low recoil loads next time.

[Horrendo Revolver]

I've had three shoulder operations and know I couldn't handle the recoil of an O/U shooting a couple of rounds of any type of clays. Weight and the right fit are my friends.

[Ducky's Dad]

Any Rem 1100 that won't cycle your favorite low recoil load in any gauge, can be tweaked by a competent gunsmith to run your load. Drilling out the gas port is the magic touch, but it needs to be done right. I have a 3" .410 1100 that I had drilled out to cycle 2-1/2" skeet loads.