Recoil reducers - do they work?

[Longwalker]

I am wondering about putting a mercury or tungsten bead recoil reducer in the stock of my fairly lightweight .375 H&H. I won't use a muzzle brake because of hearing concerns. I have read about the "kickstop" used by some German hunters, and the mercury recoil reducers sued by some American competitive trap shooters, but have no personal experience with them. Do they reduce recoil enough to be noticeable? Change the balance and handling enough to be a problem? I know I will shoot better if I get beat up a little less, but everything as a trade off. What are your thoughts?

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I only have experience with muzzle brakes and would not go down that route for same reason. As far as a mercury reducer goes versus just adding some weight, I'd give a call to Wayne at American Hunting Rifles goes and see what he'd recommend for your rifle.

 

[CLICKBANGBANG]

I have bought two different mercury recoil reducers, but have not installed them yet. I believe many have mentioned that you cannot fly with these because the mercury can distroy aluminum if they leaked (read- "teh plane"). I have not looked into this any more because in the next few years, I don't plan on flying with these two particular rifles. These were more to try and balance the guns to the rear. The guns are lighter with longer barrels, and I like some rear weight for balance. I'd rather have a well balanced gun in the hand, than a lightweight nose heavy rifle. I bought two different weights to try the smaller, and if it didn't feel balanced right, drill deeper to use the longer heavier tube.

Shipping was quick, and the gentleman answered all of my questions. They look exactly like the pictures online.

http://www.mercuryrecoil.com/

 

[CAustin]

Try a slip on Limbsaver or Pachmayer recoil reducer first. I have both slip on and replacement pads on my rifles and find them to be very effective! I have a 458 Lott that has brutal recoil. I put a Pachmayer slip on pad on it and frankly it's a dream to shoot now.
As Phil says adding weight is likely the ticket but you might try the pad first as it's going to be less expensive.

 

[mdwest]

Ive got a 16oz mercury recoil reducer in the stock of my .375 H&H.. (winchester 70 stainless classic with a synthetic stock)..

I can tell a difference.. I havent measured the reduction or run any calculation to be able to tell you how much it is actually reduced.. but my best estimation is maybe a 10-15% reduction.. The rifle still delivers a pretty hard thump off the bench.. but its shootable with the reducer and not painful at all..

I used to have the same recoil reducer in a little short/light custom .45-70 that I built.. The gun had a 16" barrel and weighed about 6 1/2 lbs prior to installing the reducer and was absolutely painful to try to shoot off a bench.. After I threw a scope on the rifle and installed the reducer (brought the total weight up to just under 8 1/2 lbs) it became bearable at the bench, and actually a pleasure to shoot offhand or from sticks..

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I have bought two different mercury recoil reducers, but have not installed them yet. I believe many have mentioned that you cannot fly with these because the mercury can distroy aluminum if they leaked (read- "teh plane"). I have not looked into this any more because in the next few years, I don't plan on flying with these two particular rifles. These were more to try and balance the guns to the rear. The guns are lighter with longer barrels, and I like some rear weight for balance. I'd rather have a well balanced gun in the hand, than a lightweight nose heavy rifle. I bought two different weights to try the smaller, and if it didn't feel balanced right, drill deeper to use the longer heavier tube.

Shipping was quick, and the gentleman answered all of my questions. They look exactly like the pictures online.

http://www.mercuryrecoil.com/

It has been mentioned about not flying with the mercury recoil reducers, but I've never heard of anyone having an issue. Could there be a first time? Well I suppose, but there's nothing that I've seen that specifically says you can't.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/mercury-recoil-reducers-on-airplanes.33467/

 

[mdwest]

I actually called the airline (United in this case) to confirm what I suspected (laid out in the linked thread)..

There is zero problem traveling with a mercury recoil reducer from the US to Africa.

No TSA reg against it. No FAA reg against it. No airline policy against it.


Now, whether or not United will try to bump me off the flight and beat me for refusing to leave... thats a different story...

 

[Shootist43]

I bought a Ruger No. 1 in 416 Rigby that already had a Graco mercury recoil reducer in it. All I can say is that the rifle now weighing 11.5 lbs. was not unpleasant to shoot. Prior to shooting it I was concerned that it would be too much for me. Now I'd have no misgivings about taking it on a hunt. Just the additional weight will "tame" a heavy hitter to some extent.

 

[Spooksar]

I had one installed in a Ruger RSM in 416 Rigby, that rifle used to beat me up pretty bad, now it is easy to shoot. Also have one in my 505 Gibbs that was factory installed.

 

[CAustin]

I bought a Ruger No. 1 in 416 Rigby that already had a Graco mercury recoil reducer in it. All I can say is that the rifle now weighing 11.5 lbs. was not unpleasant to shoot. Prior to shooting it I was concerned that it would be too much for me. Now I'd have no misgivings about taking it on a hunt. Just the additional weight will "tame" a heavy hitter to some extent.

Time to book that 2018 buff hunt with Pieter!

 

[wesheltonj]

I use a AA&E slip-on neoprene recoil pad $10. Makes my 375 feel like my 308. The only problem is it will compress if you shoot multiple times and you need a couple of them to give the foam time to decompress.

 

[matt85]

i have never felt a difference in recoil between 16 ounces of lead and a 16 ounce mercury tube. the lead takes up less room in your stock which means you can add more if needed. in my opinion, if recoil reducers work better then just adding weight then the % of recoil being reduced is so minor that most wont notice.

-matt

 

[mdwest]

I use a AA&E slip-on neoprene recoil pad $10. Makes my 375 feel like my 308. The only problem is it will compress if you shoot multiple times and you need a couple of them to give the foam time to decompress.

Im sold.

Will be picking a couple of those up off Amazon to give a try..

I can manage the .375HH with just the recoil reducer installed in the stock...

But if I can bring it down to .308 level recoil.. thats a game changer..

If I only get it down to 7Mag recoil, that'd be worth an investment in 10 of those pads...

Right now Im good for maybe a dozen shots off the bench, and Im done for the day..

I can pump a box of 20 through my 7Mag and feel no discomfort at all..

Would love to be able to do that with the 375

 

[Ray B]

A friend of mine that shoots thousands of 12 ga trap rounds each year uses a Perazzi that has a two piece buttstock. It is built much like the shock absorber on a car. The recoil pad portion of the stock slides into the grip/cheekpiece portion. On firing the grip portion slides against the butt portion then is pushed back as recoil subsides. The total push of the recoil is the same, but it is extended over time since the shooter absorbs part of the recoil initially, with part of the recoil absorbed by the shock absorber, then the shooter absorbs the remainder of the recoil as the stock is pushed back. the result is that the shooter only absorbs about half of the recoil at one time, so the impact is much less.
I'm not sure if the mercury type reducers work on this principle or not.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Hmmm...Pawprints is probably going to hate me, but I have a factory muzzlebrake that came on my 375 H&H. I have yet to shoot enough rounds off the bench to bother me. Fired as many as 30-35 test rounds not even using my Leadsled. But I use foam plugs and head set. I don't know if I can even take the brake off. Guess I should look into it.
I have had no problems shooting my 300WM in my Tikka T3 Lite, but a bud (very experienced shooter of an 8mm Rem mag and a Ruger 416 Rigby) hates shooting it.
I'd rather carry a light gun all day and get beat up by 1-2 shots than carry a heavy gun all day and not be able to hold it up. JMO
Best of luck.

 

[matt85]

Hmmm...Pawprints is probably going to hate me, but I have a factory muzzlebrake that came on my 375 H&H. I have yet to shoot enough rounds off the bench to bother me. Fired as many as 30-35 test rounds not even using my Leadsled. But I use foam plugs and head set. I don't know if I can even take the brake off. Guess I should look into it.

take your muzzle brake off and stop shooting from the bench. shooting off the bench is absolutely nothing like shooting off sticks so this doesn't even count as practice. get a set of sticks and practice with those (w/o the muzzle brake). while most PH's will let you use a muzzle brake, they all hate them. no one wears hearing protection in the field and muzzle brakes do serious damage to the ears of all people involved.

you will find guns that beat you up on the bench will actually be pretty easy to shoot off the sticks in terms of recoil. I can shoot 600gr pills at 2250fps from an 11 pound 505 Gibbs with ease from sticks or off hand, but it would probably break my collar bone off the bench.

-matt

 

[Ridgewalker]

take your muzzle brake off and stop shooting from the bench. shooting off the bench is absolutely nothing like shooting off sticks so this doesn't even count as practice. get a set of sticks and practice with those (w/o the muzzle brake). while most PH's will let you use a muzzle brake, they all hate them. no one wears hearing protection in the field and muzzle brakes do serious damage to the ears of all people involved.

you will find guns that beat you up on the bench will actually be pretty easy to shoot off the sticks in terms of recoil. I can shoot 600gr pills at 2250fps from an 11 pound 505 Gibbs with ease from sticks or off hand, but it would probably break my collar bone off the bench.

-matt

Guess I should have been a little clearer. I try to shoot at least 5-10 rounds of 375 off sticks, 5-10 of 30-06 or 300 WM off sticks, and 20-30 rimfire (17HMR, 22LR, or 22WM) off sticks each session. Occasionally hard ball 223. Just trying to learn to shoot off sticks. Still not very good as in 6" groups at 100m (375 better, 22LR worse). Hopefully by my next hunt in September I'll improve.
I do a lot of experimenting (illness I'm plagued with) of loads and that requires benching a gun. I have between 300-400 rounds through my 375 since I got it a few months ago.
I drive 1 1/2 hours to a range to shoot, so I pretty much spend the day.
Hope this sounds better?

 

[lcq]

I can't wrap my head around the physics of mercury reducers other than added weight. I do what most do and put a slip on limbsaver over the existing pad. It not only makes a big difference but increases the LOP by an inch which I need. A good set of steel bases and QR rings will provide added weight. The following site shows exactly how much difference changes make for comparison

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

 

[Ridgewalker]

ICQ, interesting website. I'll book mark that.
Thanks

 

[Shawn.54]

I being 1 cheap and 2 a machinist made this contraption it weighs in just over a pound bolts to my synthetic stock where factory butt originally did I even made extre plates so I can make stock longer if needed and put a slip on Limb Saver. I don't know if springs that hold brass weight do anything or not but the weight stays put no rattling around.
Shawn