how do I control my recoil?

[mnguyen84]

i shoot a 308 bolt from a bench. most of the time, my rifle goes to the left, sometimes to the right, and in rare instances, it recoils only vertically. this seems to affect the point of impact of my shot. I suspect that these changes are due to how i position my body behind the rifle. I try to position my body the same way before taking every shot, but it doesn't seem to work all the time.

do you guys have any tips on how to better control the recoil of the rifle?
When I shoot, my non-trigger arm rests underneath the rifle stock to help level the rifle.

[sargenv]

If you are shooting from the bench, I find that sandbags help stabilize the rifle...

[707electrician]

http://www.accurateshooter.com/shooting-skills/bugholes-from-bipod/

[GeoffLinder]

Recoil will not effect point of impact as recoil only occurs after the bullet has left the bore and un-corked the expanding gas behind the bullet.

The only way you effect shot position after the trigger breaks is by disturbing the rifle yourself before the bullet leaves the bore. Not doing this is called follow-through and it consists of doing exactly nothing to the rifle after the sear let's go until recoil occurs. Bullet is out the bore in a few ten-thousandths of a second so you don't have to hold perfectly still for very long

Quite often the trigger stroke is what does it. It must be done straight back with no twisting or side motion imparted. I prefer very little over-travel and a very light break on my rifle triggers so there is no left-over trigger pull momentum of any real consequence imparting any input to the rifle while combustion is still occurring.

The other thing that will effect POI is over-torquing the rifle itself while holding. You should not be stressing rifle too much unless you are doing it very, very consistently or the rifle action is solidly and properly bedded into a very rigid stock assembly. Poorly bedded rifles with flexy-flyer stocks and barrels that contact the stock beyond the receiver are more susceptible to this than well setup rifles.

Another possibility is that you are not stabilizing the rifle very well and you are not getting a consistent sight hold when the shot goes off. If you are resting the rifle on elbows only, the wobble zone you experience will be very big and very erratic. This translates to very inconsistent groups because you can't really say where the sights where when the shot broke with any certainty because the sights are never still enough to do so with any level of real precision. If this is the way you are holding, then by all means get some sandbags to rest the fore end on or use a bipod and maybe consider a sandbag under the rear of the rifle too.

[Bobby Hated]

what geoff said

[mnguyen84]

...yeah. maybe i'm jerking something.

[Wolfie_AR]

...yeah. maybe i'm jerking something.

It's a common problem. Many of the members here try to enjoy two hobbies at once. Not saying it can't be done but I'd recommend you only jerk at home and shoot at the range.

[JamesY]

It's a common problem. Many of the members here try to enjoy two hobbies at once. Not saying it can't be done but I'd recommend you only jerk at home and shoot at the range.

unless you do a combat jack.

[Matt P]

If you enjoy shooting the rifle, and want to improve your accuracy by throwing a few dollars at it, I suggest the following.
Find a gun smith in your area to cut threads on the muzzle end and re-crown it if necessary. Cost $50-$100
Purchase an effective brake. Having just used the PWS brake, and had loads of trigger time behind a OPS brake, I am really enjoying the PWS on my gas .243.
Cost $100-$150
A good modern brake can tame the felt recoil 30%-40% in many situations. Since the rifle is softer shooting, you will have more confidence in basic control of the rifle during recoil. You may induce less movement into the whole trigger pressing process because you do not need to control it as much.
Taming recoil in my opinion will always be money well spent. Those mods just keep giving every time you fire that rifle.
Think about it this way, what makes shooting 22 rimfire so enjoyable and non threatening?

No recoil right?.............................Put a brake on it, a good one. Not a flash hider.
PWS, OPS, and Battle Comp are 3 that I know of for 308.
I have tried the OPS and PWS...Matt likes..

[0321jarhead]

i shoot a 308 bolt from a bench. most of the time, my rifle goes to the left, sometimes to the right, and in rare instances, it recoils only vertically. this seems to affect the point of impact of my shot. I suspect that these changes are due to how i position my body behind the rifle. I try to position my body the same way before taking every shot, but it doesn't seem to work all the time.

do you guys have any tips on how to better control the recoil of the rifle?
When I shoot, my non-trigger arm rests underneath the rifle stock to help level the rifle.

There is a wide variety of .308 bolt rifles. What are rifles are you using? Is it a Remington 700, Spanish FR-8, Savage 10FPLE or what? And what .308 ammo are you feeding the rifle? Your own reloads? Factory reloads? Please be more specific so us doctors can help you resolve this issue.

[mnguyen84]

tikka t3 sporter. i reload. i was shooting 168gr smk, but i'm now shooting 150gr hornady. i notice that after 50 or so rounds, my cheap scope rings tend to loosen up.

currently, i have a Simmon Classic White Tail mounted on the rifle. although it's flooded with good reviews on midwayusa.com, when i compare it to my Redfield, the cross hair on the simmon isn't as consistent. For instance, with my Redfield, when i look through and scope and move my face around...the cross hair stay locked on the target and i get these black edges. however, with the Simmon... the cross hair moves. Anyways, i bought some new mounts and rings: the 1 solid piece kind. when i have more cash, i'll look into getting a better scope if needed.

[0321jarhead]

As for your scope rings loosening up after that amount of round, use "Locktite 222" on the threads. Before you do anything, be sure to dismount the scope and its mounts. Basically start from the begining on mounting the scope. Hopefully you have (or a friend) scope alignment tool. Some gun dealers have one behind the counter and if they are nice people they may do it for you. This is the one I would recomend...http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=9...ALIGNMENT-RODS

[razr]

Read this:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/muzzle_brakes.htm

[RugerNo1]

... For instance, with my Redfield, when i look through and scope and move my face around...the cross hair stay locked on the target and i get these black edges. however, with the Simmon... the cross hair moves. Anyways, i bought some new mounts and rings: the 1 solid piece kind. when i have more cash, i'll look into getting a better scope if needed.

That is parallax error. Such error can certainly affect your shooting. With a scope that has fixed parallax you must ensure that your are perfectly positioned behind the scope and rifle every single shot. You are experiencing the effects that the inconsistancy causes.