Free recoil vs hard hold

[grinnergetter]

Wondering where there might be some info on the differences between the two methods.

thanks, Grin

 

[J E Custom]

Wondering where there might be some info on the differences between the two methods.

Just an opinion but I think a lighter hold can be more accurate.

The harder the hold the more inconsistant the hold will be.

This is most evident when shooting a pistol or a bow.

A relaxed and light hold is very repeatable and there fore your groups will be more consistant
because trigger control is also more consistant.

J E CUSTOM

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I also prefer the lighter hold. It tends to be a little hard on me with my heavy recoil rifle when shooting prone in hunting situations. I have a scab between my eyes as I type this. Went out last weekend to shoot rocks and got myself twice. I really don't like the brakes because of the noise, but I don't like the pain between my eyes either. I think it may be going to visit Kirby this summer for a pain killer brake.

Steve

 

[Buffalobob]

You can go to the link and watch her shoot a moderately heavy 308. Watch how she absorbs the recoil. She does not have a death grip on the rifle but it is FIRMLY into her shoulder. Watch her hand and see she is not pulling it into her shoulder really hard but just enough preload on the bipod for consistency. She is PUSHING on the rifle with her shoulder.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f73/long-range-f-class-41573/

 

[AJ Peacock]

+1 BB,

I have found a firm hold on more powerful rifles give me better performance, especially when shooting from field positions. When shooting off a bipod in a field position, if the bipod isn't pre-loaded, the recoil of the rifle will behave differently shot to shot.

AJ

 

[grinnergetter]

I agree with those replies but I was reading a article by a fellow who off the bipod, shot lights out with a hard hold.
I dont like it either but I have hard time duplicating group sizes from bench to prone position.

Any suggestions on the occasional flier?

Thanks for your time, Grin

 

[gebhardt02]

I tend to hold hard for nearly all my shooting, which is mostly field positions. I shoot mainly 300WM, 190 SMK's at 3000 fps. I don't think I've fired a round from a bench in over 4 years or more. But my technique is different on my 308, which isn't free recoil, but not exactly a hard hold either. I've found that my 300WM needs this technique for best results. I've actually tested out the different holds at the range, from 100 - 300 yds.

Geb

 

[LRHWAL]

I'm no expert at this - still learning as I go.

As I try to get the hang of my bipod technique I'm finding a firm hold is working way better.

As BB says - I'm trying to lean into the rifle, preloading the bipod a little and at the same time pulling the rifle into my shoulder a little with the left (weak) hand. I've not had much success with trying to pull too (light is ok) hard with the strong hand (the problem it seems moves to the strong side shoulder and chest).

 

[Seven Oaks]

When shooting pistols in competition I had a firm hold as you had to control recoil to quickly line up the next shot.

When shooting my rifle I am more relaxed. It's been my experience that a tight hold introduces more movement.

Just my experience,

Dee

 

[eddybo]

If I cannot shoot free recoil, with the rifle basically riding the bags not even touching my shoulder,.....then it is in a white knuckle death grip. I have gotten a lot of training from a very respected BR shooter. He says do whatever works for you. It did not take me long to learn that for me it is either full on kung fu death grip or touching only the trigger. I exaggerate slightly, but I do hold the big boomers very firmly.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

If I cannot shoot free recoil, with the rifle basically riding the bags not even touching my shoulder,.....then it is in a white knuckle death grip. I have gotten a lot of training from a very respected BR shooter. He says do whatever works for you. It did not take me long to learn that for me it is either full on kung fu death grip or touching only the trigger. I exaggerate slightly, but I do hold the big boomers very firmly.

I should. Mine hurts. I can put a pretty good grip on it at short range, and all is fine. Long range I can't relax enough to hold the target well. The only way I can hold the target is to fully relax and talk myself into letting the rifle smack me. It's pretty much a mental wrestling match.

Steve

 

[Vinootz]

Wondering where there might be some info on the differences between the two methods.

thanks, Grin

-

 

[BallisticsGuy]

Folks should define their terms.

True free recoiling is pretty much only done in benchrest competition. The concept is also popular in sports where guns that basically don't kick are de rigueur such as in PRS but, I've never seen a PRS shooter doing true free recoil as they always have at least one hand in positive control of the gun. Free recoil means just that, you're not even there for it and the rifle will not return or even attempt to return to the position it was fired from unless your benchrest rig has a return mechanism in it.

Then you have what I call minimum biological input which I teach mostly to new long range prone shooters. It's not quite free recoil but the bipod loading is meant to be only sufficient to keep the butt pad on the shoulder throughout the firing and recoil cycles. The kind of "free recoil" you see PRS guys doing is what I call minimum biological input. MBI is not about always using as little pressure as possible, it's about using no more pressure than necessary.

From there you have gradations of truly positive loading of the bipod. The more effort you put in, the less consistently you'll do that and the worse your long range groups will be.

Bipod loading and muscular tension are also important to decouple. Pushing hard into a bipod doesn't necessarily tense up your muscles. Tensing up always does. A lot of people will push hard into a bipod and then tense up their muscles trying to not get the snot stomped out of them by a hard kicker. High muscular tension will add shake and in my experience makes the perceived recoil very much more severe (since your normally flexible body is made rigid you won't flex, you'll just take damage) and punishing. The best tip I ever got about this was, "Don't try to stop your rifle recoiling son. You can't stop the machine." The second best advice on that topic was "Don't run from the recoil. Manage it." If someone can't manage recoil, they're probably inflexibly applying desire over require.

 

[bdlesh]

When I was 15 I bought a 7mag. The recoil made me flinch until one day I told myself, "if you are going to pull the trigger, you will feel the recoil. Sso you might as well make it count". After that I've had no problem with recoil. I was just a mental thing.