[Savage+Nightforce]

i may sound foolish for asking this... but i was wondering what i can do to reduce recoil on my .308.... not that its a permanant thing but i am in need of help with the possibility of flinching(not sure if its this but something)


thanks
SN

PS.... i shoot a savage model 10

 

[subThermal]

A lot of things can reduce recoil, muzzle breaks, better recoil pads (ones with sujustable spacers are nice too), shooting often, heavier weapon.

 

[Jeff_850]

how heavy is your rifle?
you shoudlnt have a problem with the .308 Win
take the rifle out more, get used to it
if that doesnt work, you can get a recoil pad.. id reccomend that over a muzzle brake since a muzzle brake is gonna cost a lot more and can skrew up your barrel if not installed right

 

[Scopes]

One thing that may help with flinching and has nothing to do with recoil is to make or buy a snapcap and practice dry firing. I became real familiar with my trigger by laying on the floor watching TV and dry firing all through commercials.

As far as recoil goes, I believe the decelerator pads are some of the best. I don't know about a muzzlebreak. Yes they work but as Jeff_850 made a good point; expensive and need to be installed by a competent smith.

Changing the stock and adding weight to the stock may also be an option.

Hope this helps.

 

[Savage+Nightforce]

ok here goes.... i thought that i was flinching when i shot, but only because my groups were not as tight as i hoped... like 2 inches at 100yds

so i asked my father and brother to shoot it as well... they did not get good groups with it either... both have shot the other "target/sniper rifles" and came out with groups at like 1/2", as have i...

i dont know what to do... it is really making me angry because i have taken it out and got groups at .75 outside to outside for 3 shots... can someone help me out with this please

:x :x :x :x :x :x :x :x :x

thankyou for your help

 

[SpEcTeR]

I believe you came to the right place. There are several guys here that can help you as I will try. Please begin by answering the following questions to eliminate possiblities and to see what could be happening:


First off, what type of rifle to do you speak of? Has it had any work done and if so what exactly. Have you had it accurized or had any fine tunning done to it? From what position or surface are you shooting your rifle? What type of ammunition are you using? How many rounds have you put through it thus far? Did you buy this new or used? My last questions is what type of scope and rings are you using? This might seem a bit extensive but since we cannot see your equipment or watch you shoot, we will need some backround info in order to assess the situation. Look forward to your response.

 

[Jeffvn]

I will add only one question to the list:

Is everything on the rifle torqued to the proper specs?

(I ask this question because my two most frustrating days on the range recently were cured by simply tightening the scope bases to the base and tightening the base to the rifle - ooops and oops)

Apparently putting 600 rounds through your .308 will slowly loosen some of the screws.

 

[Savage+Nightforce]

here you go.....

First off, what type of rifle to do you speak of? Savage 10fp(choate stock, with accutrigger)
Has it had any work done and if so what exactly. no work
Have you had it accurized or had any fine tunning done to it? none
From what position or surface are you shooting your rifle? off a bench... with bipod(does not fit into our rest)
What type of ammunition are you using? i have used winchester supreme150, surplus fmj147, black hills168, and remington150
How many rounds have you put through it thus far? i would venture i have put 300+ rounds through
Did you buy this new or used? new
My last questions is what type of scope and rings are you using? nightforce scope and i believe nikon rings(not sure though, the smith did lap the rings and i assume he torqued everything to spec)((garys gun shop of sioux falls sd is where the smith was from))

This might seem a bit extensive but since we cannot see your equipment or watch you shoot, we will need some backround info in order to assess the situation. Look forward to your response.

 

[badshot]

I think I remember seeing that your using the same scope I am? NSX 5.5-22x56? I found that my Leupold rings were not holding up to the recoil of my RUM. I dont know what your rings and base look like but if the design is like the Leupold design then I would say to check your rear ring (the one closest to you when your shooting) and see that those dovetails are not deforming. I'll to get a picture of mine and get someone to post it for you so you can see what I am talking about.

 

[Savage+Nightforce]

it is almost the same... nsx 3.5x15-56.... i will have to check that.... altough i am only shootin a .308( this is a very good possibility though... i will have to check)

thanks.... mark

 

[boisedarc]

I'll offer up a couple suggestions. First I would use Federal Gold Medal in either 168 or 175 until you get the problem worked out. The surplus ammo, Remington 150, and winchester are not near the ammo that the Federal gmm is. The black hills should shoot well, but I'd stick with the Fed GMM to eliminate the possibility of the ammo being any part of the problem. Another thing to check is your parallax, I've seen it be the case many times even on the best scopes made. Look through your scope at your target and move your head around slightly, your crosshairs should not move on the target, if they do you've got parallax problems, begin adjusting until the crosshairs do not move. Another area to check very closely is the crown, if its nicked or scratched it'll never shoot. Lastly check the torque on the action screws, it should be around 65 inch pounds.
Hope this helps.

 

[badshot]

Savage,

I cant post pictures here so I have asked Jeffvn to post a couple to show you what I was talking about on those leupold rings. When he gets the time to do that I will explain from there.

 

[SpEcTeR]

Savage,

These are great suggestions and I believe you should exercise all of them with the added detail of somekind of log and the added benefit of consistent practice.

What I mean by this is that you should try to eliminate all these extra factors you have floating around such as the wide variety of ammunition being used. Stick to a quality consistent ammunition type such as FGMM or Black Hills. I'm not saying you shouldn't experiment with different types of ammo, distances or equipment but in order to fully evaluate the exact performance of your rifle you need to keep as many factors consistent. The less variables you have the better your evaluation will be and the better the reading will be of your precision and accuracy.

This is where a log would work wonders for you. :wink:

 

[Savage+Nightforce]

ok here goes... i shot tonight... not with fgmm but with the others....


gave my rifle a good cleaning(has been done 3 or 4 times in roughly 300 rounds), used three ammo varieties, and had two groups at 1 inch and one at 1.25... i think that is not bad considering they came from the surplus ammunition... now if i use the fgmm i should be able to get them down to smaller sizes...

i believe the person that said the parallax was not right... hit the nail on the head... i moved my head around and the crosses moved on the target... i adjusted till i got almost no movement.... and it worked quite well... i will try(as soon as i get somewhere to buy it the fgmm((175's???)) and see if that works any better)..

thank you for all of your help... i do believe most of the error was myself and not the equipment...

again thanks for the help

MARK

 

[Savage+Nightforce]

WOOO HOOO

thats all i can say.. i found some black hills 168grain BTHP's and man will they group...... average .75inch at 100yds...

i know what your thinkin, those groups arent that good... but with my box rifle i think it will work

i dont know why i couldnt group even close to that with other ammos... even the other bh 168's i was using... maybe it was because the bullet type... went from barnes x bullets to boat tail hollow points(it says that both are match grade so i dont know)

thanks again for the help and will try to post pics of groups if at all possible....

MARK

PS: still have to try some other match ammo, but havent had time nor interest in driving 60 miles to get it........

 

[SpEcTeR]

Glad to read this good news!

If you stick to FGMM or Black Hills Match you should see better results than almost any other factory produced ammunition. Good luck.