Matt Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 I got a wild hair and decided to build for myself a slug gun. I've got an 870 fitted with a 20" smoothbore barrel with rifle sights. The stock and forearm are wood. I'm very happy with the groups I'm getting.I understand that shooting my slugs 1oz @ 1765fps, expends 3026 foot pounds of energy. The shotgun weighs 7.68lbs.I regularly shoot a .30-06, which with it's 150 gr. bullet @ 2910fps expends 2820 foot pounds. The rifle weighs 9.56lbs. While I understand there should be a difference because the shotgun expends more energy and weighs less, I did not anticipate the dramatic, night and day difference in recoil between the two guns. I've never shot anything that honestly hurt, but this does. I can shoot my rifle all day long with no trouble, but this shotgun just KILLS me. It fits me well and I have proper form, so it's not that.When I got the rifle I refinished the stock and replaced it's old, stiff recoil pad with a Pachmayr Decelerator. The shotgun still has a cheap, hard, solid black 1" recoil pad that is original to the gun (ca. 1990). It does NOTHING. I'm really not looking to add any more weight to the shotgun, so it looks like I need to get myself a new pad. I understand that there's no substitute for adding weight, but since that's not an option what do you guys think is the very best recoil pad out there for this application? What's worked for you in an extraordinarily high recoil gun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-MAN Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 Launching 1 oz lead slugs out of a 7.5 lb gun is going to beat you up no matter what. Even the best recoil pad is just going to soften the blow somewhat.In the defensive shotgun class I took a couple weeks ago one exercise was firing five slugs rapid fire, reload, fire five more and I felt like I'd just stepped out of the ring with a prize fighter. All in all I fired around 100 rounds of slugs, 00 buck, and birdshot and my shoulder was black and blue at the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryinIN Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 Shorten the stock.I know it may sound like it would make it feel worse, but it lets you bring the buttplate/pad in closer to your centerline. This gets onto more meat/muscle and out of the "pocket" we have been told is the place to be forever. The pocket is a pocket alright- a pocket of skin and bones that gets rattled with every shot.The first defensive shotgun class I took was three days and a few hundred rounds. The instructor started off teaching us this and nobody got beat up. I got one little lightly bruised spot and it was when I didn't have the gun in the right place (I had it in the usual spot out of habit).If you look at "tactical" shotgun stocks, they are usually shorter than standard (or at least available in short length), and this is why.If you don't want to cut your stock off- and I can't blame you for balking at doing a permanent alteration for what sounds like a crazy idea- buy another stock to experiment with. Shotgun stocks, especially plastic ones, are fairly plentiful. The junk boxes of gun shops often have old stocks for popular shotgun models and I've seen Remington plastic stocks at WalMart. If you can find a "youth" stock, they are usually about right for most people, and maybe a bit long still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 G-Man - that sounds fun! Maybe one day I can take such a class.Barry - I've got a shortened police stock and an old ventilated recoil pad that I can fit to it. I'll give that a shot next time I go out and see what it does. Couldn't hurt any worse, that's for sure.Thanks for the replies guys.So, what is the very best pad in your opinion? Limbsaver? Decelerator? Maybe one of those new remington ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryinIN Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 I think the Decelerator and Limbsaver feel about the same consistency, but the Limbsaver is thicker from what I've seen. That may not be true across the board, but the ones I've seen for the same guns were that way.Sometimes thick is good and other times the thick and soft ones feel too "squirmy" to me when the gun is in place. I'm not sure what new Remington one you mean, but the ones I think they called "R3" looked to be a Limbsaver in a Rem package, and maybe even still had the Sims Vibration Labs logo on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLH70 Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 I know several people who like Kick EEZ pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 You may be right about the R3. I haven't actually seen one in person yet, but it does sound a lot like a Limbsaver. I'm worried about getting something too squishy because it may compress too quickly and reach maximum compression before the recoil is complete. EDIT: You're right!That says "LimbSaver Pat. Pend." under the big R. Well that narrows it down...I'll look into KickEEZ and see what they've got. I've heard the name before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwillson Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 I've used both the R3 and the Kick EEZ on my 12ga 870. I shoot several rounds of trap a week and have for years. The Kick EEZ is really good, but the R3 is the best recoil pad I've ever used period. The only problem is that they both like to grab hold of your clothing!Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.