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How to Reduce Shotgun RecoilGun weight is not the only way to reduce recoil. A reduction in muzzle velocity or shot load can yield impressive felt-recoil reductions. Trim your 3-dram, 1200 feet-per-second (fps) shotshell by 10% to a shotshell of 1080 fps, and you could find yourself trimming felt recoil by some 20%. The same with shot load. If you reduce it from 1½ ounce to 1 ounce you could realize nearly 19% less felt recoil. While shot-load correlation may not consistently be 2:1, it gives you a good idea of what’s possible with other alternatives.
Gun weight and shotshells are certainly a good place to start with your felt-recoil problems. But if your shotgun doesn’t fit properly, any gap between the butt stock and your body is going to aggravate that equal and opposite reaction -- regardless of anything else.
For many women, the problem with moving to a heavier gun is their upper-body strength. With the average men’s shotgun weighing 7-8 pounds, shooting a box of 25 shells at clay targets can be downright exhausting -- the problem compounded by the onslaught of that equal and opposite reaction.
Your score and your shooting form suffer. Try to shoot a shotgun that’s too long and you’ll find yourself leaning back -- the complete opposite of a well-balanced shooter who is supposed to rotate off her front foot. Try to shoot a shotgun that’s too short (let’s say a youth shotgun), and you could find your face creeping up the stock, and screwing up the alignment between your eye and the beads.
