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
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.
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.
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