Dumb question... Is there a noticeable difference in recoil between a full size shotgun and one with a shorter barrel such as a home defense one. Both slugs being equal?

not in my experience

Heavier gun = Less Recoil. Lighter gun = More recoil. Is it noticeable? That depends. Are you specifically measuring it? Yes, you can definitely feel it. Pick up one, then the next, it's quite noticeable. Shooting at a crazed bath salts zombie that invaded your home in the night? You'll never feel it.

Heavier shotguns have lighter recoil. Lighter shotguns have heavier recoil.

 

There are little tricks to mitigate the recoil - recoil pads, sensible clothing, tailoring the load to what you can stand.

 

But if it hurts on your end - just imagine the other end.

I have a full sized Winchester SXP that I use for trap and I just picked up an 870 tactical. I was going to take my wife to shoot trap and give her the 870 cause it is lighter but don't want to to be uncomfortable. She has never shot before and want to start her right.

 

Thoughts??

Get a limbsaver slip-on from walmart. I put one on my double-barrel for my son. They work great

John.. 12gauge as a first gun to shoot may not be the best idea. But target loads for skeet shooting are reasonably low recoil so she should be ok

Semiauto shotguns also eat up a portion of the recoil in thier operation. My Benelli M1 Super 90 was softer recoiling with an eighteen inch barrel then my current Mossberg 590A1 with a twenty inch tube. Reduced recoil loads also make the scattergun more pleasant to shoot by taking some of the edge off of the recoil. In our guns at work, they proved to group a little tighter, as well.

I have a full sized Winchester SXP that I use for trap and I just picked up an 870 tactical. I was going to take my wife to shoot trap and give her the 870 cause it is lighter but don't want to to be uncomfortable. She has never shot before and want to start her right.

 

Thoughts??

 

If that Riot Gun has a cylinder-bore barrel (as I believe it does), shooting REAL Trap from 16 yards in back of the trap house will be a bad joke being played on her, so don't even think about doing it!

 

Most Newbies wait forever to snap the trigger, so the clays will be a mile away and fly right through a cylinder bore's pattern without a scratch. A "Tactical" Shotty is the exact WRONG thing to shoot clays with. A Youth Model fits women well, and something like a Remmy 11-87 Youth with gas operation is IDEAL. Find a friend who has one (or something similar in size) and take her then. She'll have a better time if she can actually HIT something.

 

Now IF that 870 of yours has screw-in chokes, I'd suggest getting one in FULL CHOKE. To compensate somewhat for the short tube, and to allow her the time she'll take to snap the trigger.

 

Also, you may want to teach her how to shoot UNDER the birds if they're dropping at the end of their arc, so she scores some hits.

 

Dave

I think shooting trap/skeet/clays with a short barrel is a bad idea, especially for someone who has never done it before. But thats just my opinion. As others have said, it's not so much barrel length that contributes to recoil, it's the weight.

Actually it's a combination of factors, with gas operated semi's being the lightest-recoiling, especially when combined with low-brass target loads around 2 3/4 dram Eq. (in 12 ga.) or 2 1/2 dram in 20 ga.

 

I teach all sorts of Scouts, kids and women how to break clays. I can shoot a semi as a pistol, using strong-hand ONLY and break birds with it.......

If you want to help mitigate recoil on an 870 or 500 HD gun, try one of these: http://www.blackhawk...ck,1808,165.htm

 

I have one on an 18.5" 870 and it makes a noticeable difference. And less recoil means back on target faster.

Thanks Guys.

I have a single barrel 12ga and a versamax 12ga. The single barrel will kick your butt even with target loads. The versamax isnt so bad. The versamax weighs about 1 lb more than the single barrel. Weight and self loading reduce recoil.

Ken