About that recoil…

It’s barely worth mentioning, really. The big 9.3 felt about like a bolt-action .30-06. Yeah, it kicked, but I wasn’t bruised or battered, despite shooting from the typical hunkered-down benchrest position which usually makes recoil more painful.

Why was it so mild? Good stock design, for one thing. CZ’s American-style stock is nice and straight, with plenty of area at the butt to spread the recoil force across your shoulder. CZ also wisely capped off that well-designed stock with one of the excellent Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pads, which spreads out the recoil impulse over time so you get a push instead of a sharp jolt. And while I haven’t weighed the gun since scoping it, it’s probably a good 8 1/2 – 9 pounds now; that helps, too.

… and then there’s the fact that my other big gun is a .416 Rigby, which permanently warped my notion of what REAL recoil feels like :-)

  1. The Pacy F550 Decellerator used to be the “go to” pad for thumpers, but in the last coupla years, new pads have come out that work even better – first the Sorbathane pad made by “Kick-Eez”, and then the current favorite of those looking for recoil mitigation: Limbsaver. Add in a coupla mercury tubes and it should be a real pussycat.

    Of course, if that nasty ole’ 416 is too much, I’d be more than willing to take it off your hands for ya. :)

  2. You should try my .405 Win Encore sometime. Between the light weight and all that drop in the stock, it feels like a punch in the nose.

    They make a .416 Rigby barrel for it… Brrrr! No way. I wouldn’t shoot that thing with your shoulder and someone else pulling the trigger.

  3. Tam, I don’t recall the .405 Encore kicking all that badly.

    Maybe the forend breaking off in my hand took a little of the energy away though :)

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