Rifle Recoil vs Felt Recoil: Shoot Smarter Not Harder

Posted on by

Some of my readers wish to know what the recoil is for a given rifle and bullet weight.  A great question! Perhaps they may word it differently, like “how much am I going to get beat-up by that rifles recoil?

Below is a website which shows up under NH Rifleman’s Menu for calculating recoil. In order for it to work you need to know the rifle weight in pounds, bullet weight in grains, speed in fps of the bullet and the amount of powder used in grains. Enter these quantities and your result is shown. 

http://www.shooterscalculator.com/recoil-calculator.php

That said, for many years there have been screw-on permanent or temporary recoil pads on the market which can cut the felt recoil in half or more.

I shoot a 375 Ruger at 9.5 pounds and a 300 grain bullet and say 55  grains of powder. Recoil for this 375 Ruger is around 38 ft-lbs. but with a recoil pad designed to cut felt recoil in half, the felt recoil is like 19 pounds, more like the .270 Winchester.

I can shoot my 375 in a T-Shirt off hand. However, if I am bench resting, I recommend a strap on shoulder pad too if I am shooting several rounds.

So don’t let published recoil stop you from shooting bigger, more powerful rifles.

Shoot smarter not harder!

© 2020

This entry was posted in Big Game Hunting, Bullet Tests and Reviews. by Ed Hale. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ed Hale

I am an avid hunter with rifle and Bow and have been hunting for more than 50 years. I have taken big game such as whitetail deer, red deer, elk, Moose and African Plains game such as Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok, Blesbok, and Impala and wrote an ebook entitled African Safari -Rifle and Bow and Arrow on how to prepare for a first safari. Ed is a serious cartridge reloader and ballistics student. He has earned two degrees in science and has written hundreds of outdoor article on hunting with both bow and rifle.