am I exaggerating 44 mag recoil

[mickbr]

I decided to put some full power stuff through my 20" barrel 44 mag rossi , 240 gn at 1900fps or so. Have to say I was flinching with that little steel buttplate after a while. Once upon a time I used big game rifles in the 375h&H class, sold them off a long time ago and I have been spoiled with small bores since . I admit I didnt think the 'little 44mag' would have much in the way of kick. I might adjust hold to get the stock more onto the arm next time, maybe even find a slip on recoil pad. Am I being a big crybaby here?

[flightsimmer]

Why not just reduce your loads or shoot 44 special?

[GunnyMack]

Steel or hard plastic butt hurts. No two ways about it.
I'm working on a model 70 in 308 now. It has a hard plastic butt and I cut a chunk of pool noodle to put between me and that plastic. I still get a bruise after shooting groups.
Get a slip on for your own comfort!

[Griff]

Back when I had a mdl 94 Winchester in 44 Mag, I used to feel like it recoiled harder than my .30-30s in the same model!

[wvfarrier]

I added a recoil pad for my wife on her Win 92 44 mag. She says it kicks harder than her 30-30. Oddly, she doesnt complain about 45 colt +P loads that are the same velocity

[buckeyeshooter]

I decided to put some full power stuff through my 20" barrel 44 mag rossi , 240 gn at 1900fps or so. Have to say I was flinching with that little steel buttplate after a while. Once upon a time I used big game rifles in the 375h&H class, sold them off a long time ago and I have been spoiled with small bores since . I admit I didnt think the 'little 44mag' would have much in the way of kick. I might adjust hold to get the stock more onto the arm next time, maybe even find a slip on recoil pad. Am I being a big crybaby here?

Frankly, I would say ... YES. Compared to a 45/70 shooting a 400 grain at the same speed or a 50 Alaskan shooting a 535 grain at the same speed, the 44 Magnum has no recoil at all.
Your idea of an added pad will help. The most uncomfortable lever action I have to shoot is an 1895 Winchester Carbine with the steel curved butt plate. With hot loaded 180 grain bullets the steel point bites into my bicep. I added a leather buttcuff which helps, but I would rather shoot my ruger 77 in .458 than it some days.

[44shooter]

Small light carbine with a hard curved butt. Fairly stout loads. For perspective you are firing loads that are above 38-55 ballistics and getting into 375 Win territory in a carbine built for the likes of 44 WCF. Probably manageable for a while but over time that punch can build up. A pad will help as my Marlin doesn’t hurt even with 300s but so would shooting something a bit milder. Cowboy level loads and Specials are a lot of fun in a long gun.

For me the 44 magnum recoil is dependent on the firearm. My Vaqueros are pretty obnoxious with mag loads although I can handle them for a while. The Marlin is pretty sweet. you can tell you are shooting something with 270-300 grain loads but it’s entirely manageable. A scoped Super Redhawk is very tolerable as well

[JimT]

Rifle Rifle weight (lbs.) Free Recoil Energy (ft. lbs.) Free Recoil Velocity (fps)

30-30 Win. (150 at 2400) ....... 7.5 ............. 10.6 ........................... 9.5

.44 Rem. Mag. (240 at 1760) ....... 7.5 ............. 11.2 ........................... 9.8

.45 Colt +P (250 at 1500) ....... 6.5 ............. 11.1 ........................... 10.5

[marlinman93]

4 decades ago I bought a 629 S&W revolver, and bought a couple boxes of factory Remington ammo to start out with. It was so hot I didn't get the first 6 shots fired. I took it home and bought some empty brass and bullets, and made up my own lighter loads. I really dislike the .44 Magnum in factory ammo loads.

[Blaine]

Yepper it does. I don't know the numbers, but my shoulder takes a beating after a couple dozen full power 240 grain loads thru my Marlin. Worse than 100 rounds of Sporting Clays....

[Alan Wood]

My only regrets with my model 94 in 44 magnum are the pains in the shoulder and the wallet after shooting a box of 50 rounds in 1 session.

[Alan Wood]

50 rounds because it is too much fun to stop sooner! Should have gotten a Marlin in 357 instead.

[Walt]

If you want to continue shooting full power loads, the solution is to change that curved buttplate to a straight one. I have done that by forming a piece of dense foam to the shape of the curvature on one side with a straight edge on the other and then mounting a butt cover or a recoil pad behind that. My rifles with curved buttplates are now a joy to shoot. If you put only a recoil pad on it instead of adding a filler, you give the rifle a space to get a running start on whacking your shoulder.

[OldWin]

The biggest problem with the 44 Magnum, is the word magnum. Many shoot loads that are hotter than necessary.
Many times, a given load will max out in a rifle before it will in a handgun. People will choose a load that is fairly stout in a handgun, then run it through a rifle and are shocked with the recoil. Like mentioned above, these are usually lightweight carbines.
I tend to compare my 44 magnum with 44-40. If I'm sending a 240gr bullet a couple hundred fps faster than a 44-40 sends a 200gr, how bad can it be? Lot of stuff was killed with the 44-40. I don't shoot these carbines very far. No matter how hot you load it, it's not a long range rifle, so what's the point?
I load between 22 and 24 grains of IMR4227 over a 240gr XTP. This gives me around 1500fps out of a carbine. This is more than enough speed an energy. It doesn't beat you up, and is quite accurate. It works great in my handguns too, even a 3" round butt 629.
Shooting and hunting is supposed to be enjoyable.

[ollogger]

i find as i get older every thing hurts, my 2 favorite guns at one time was 375 & a 300 H&H not no more
45 colt in a carbine hurts with a heavy load & 300 gr. bullets, 44 mag in carbine or hand gun gets light loads
for plinking, shot my 250 Savage 30 times last evening, no ill effects today
no cry baby in my books!!

ollogger

[barbarossa]

Only problem I had with recoil in 44mag was shooting both a Ruger no 3 and a browning 92 was my knuckles use to get rapped by the lever on both guns.Not bad for hunting but for target shooting it was an annoyance

[RIDERED350r]

Stout handgun loads in a light carbine are definitely punchy.

I have a Win 94 Trapper (16") in 45 Colt. My loads are consistently clocking 1700fps with a 250gr XTP and they get your attention. For the record, these loads do not exceed published max for Ruger handguns.

Interestingly, the same rounds fired from my wife's Henry Big Boy with a 20" barrel are 100fps slower. You reach a point of diminishing returns with more barrel length, relative to the cartridge capacity

Everyone has different tolerance for recoil.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Everyone has different tolerance for recoil.

This is the answer. I developed the ability to shoot relatively heavy recoiling rifles by shooting a lot of rifles that really kicked. Today, I am not bothered by a .44 magnum in a carbine, but I don't shoot it well in a revolver.

[44shooter]

I think it is much more well behaved in a rifle than a handgun but I was used to 30-06 bolt actions and the like before I got into 44. In handguns I was more used to 40, 357, 38, 45 auto. I still prefer to shoot something a bit less than magnum in the Rugers. The Marlin I can shoot comfortably quite a while with most anything

[mickbr]

i find as i get older every thing hurts, my 2 favorite guns at one time was 375 & a 300 H&H not no more
45 colt in a carbine hurts with a heavy load & 300 gr. bullets, 44 mag in carbine or hand gun gets light loads
for plinking, shot my 250 Savage 30 times last evening, no ill effects today
no cry baby in my books!!

ollogger

Same ollogeer for me. I had a 375H&h in CZ550, when they first came out in about 1999. I havent owned a heavy rifle in a long time. These days looks like 44 mag in a 6.5lbs gun for 1-2 boxes is as good as I get. Thanks for the suggestions above folks, and reality checks.

[JFE]

Those carbine buttstocks aren’t designed for heavy recoil, plus it’s a fairly light weight rifle. One of those lace up stock sleeves will help but the comb is still thin and not well shaped.

On my B-1886 SRC I found the carbine buttstock made heavy loads hard to handle. I acquired a takeoff buttstock off a Win-oku 1886 EL - it’s shotgun butt style and has a fuller shaped comb. I had this fitted to my Browning and it made a huge difference to the fit, handling and comfort.

[AJMD429]

.
There is the pure 'physics' of bullet weight, velocity, gun weight, etc...

But then there more subtle physics of things like the angle of the stock, the shape of the buttplate, the material the buttplate is made of, the length of pull, and how an individual mounts/shoulders the weapon individually.

Then add the 'psychological' factors - how much 'into' shooting are you at the moment? Is the gun unusually noisy? Are you having a good-shooting day otherwise, hitting targets consistently, and so on? Do you already have a headache?

There are times when I've fired a lightweight 12 gauge breakopen with a heavy slug load, or my 375 Ruger, or 500 S&W levergun, and just felt 'inspired', and other times I've fired a 308 mid-weight bolt-action or 44 Mag Marlin 1894, and thought 'wow - that was not all that pleasant'.

Many factors affect that resultant impression, for sure.

[mickbr]

you are right about mindset doc. I'm pretty sure when I take it back out again I will make some adjustments to position and so forth.

[Grizz]

this is interesting. I reply every day, I just don't post 'em...

[Blaine]

And then, there's the Marlin .444......

[Grizz]

that's my baseline of exaggerated recoil, anything less is nil . .

[RIDERED350r]

And then, there's the Marlin .444......

How about an 1886 with a crescent buttplate chambered in 45-90 They start to sting a bit if it's warm weather and you don't have a jacket on. And that's a 10lb rifle

[JB]

Am I being a big crybaby here?

Maybe try a wear a bra with a built in recoil pad next time Just kidding, but that slip on recoil pad isn't a bad idea.

[Blaine]

And then, there's the Marlin .444......

How about an 1886 with a crescent buttplate chambered in 45-90 They start to sting a bit if it's warm weather and you don't have a jacket on. And that's a 10lb rifle

I had one in "just" 45-70....what a brute. It went down the road pretty quick.

[mickbr]

Am I being a big crybaby here?

Maybe try a wear a bra with a built in recoil pad next time Just kidding, but that slip on recoil pad isn't a bad idea.

I'll leave the thread to you tougher fellas then

[Griff]

I decided to put some full power stuff through my 20" barrel 44 mag rossi , 240 gn at 1900fps or so. Have to say I was flinching with that little steel buttplate after a while. Once upon a time I used big game rifles in the 375h&H class, sold them off a long time ago and I have been spoiled with small bores since . I admit I didnt think the 'little 44mag' would have much in the way of kick. I might adjust hold to get the stock more onto the arm next time, maybe even find a slip on recoil pad. Am I being a big crybaby here?

...the steel point bites into my bicep...

You're mounting it wrong, it shouldn't be in contact with your bicep. that crescent buttplate goes up on your shoulder.

[buckeyeshooter]

I decided to put some full power stuff through my 20" barrel 44 mag rossi , 240 gn at 1900fps or so. Have to say I was flinching with that little steel buttplate after a while. Once upon a time I used big game rifles in the 375h&H class, sold them off a long time ago and I have been spoiled with small bores since . I admit I didnt think the 'little 44mag' would have much in the way of kick. I might adjust hold to get the stock more onto the arm next time, maybe even find a slip on recoil pad. Am I being a big crybaby here?

...the steel point bites into my bicep...

You're mounting it wrong, it shouldn't be in contact with your bicep. that crescent buttplate goes up on your shoulder.

Yep I know how it is suppossed to be mounted, but it wasn't made for a 52 inch chest and 20 inch arms and a guy with limited flexibility from lots of weightlifting.

[Griff]

I decided to put some full power stuff through my 20" barrel 44 mag rossi , 240 gn at 1900fps or so. Have to say I was flinching with that little steel buttplate after a while. Once upon a time I used big game rifles in the 375h&H class, sold them off a long time ago and I have been spoiled with small bores since . I admit I didnt think the 'little 44mag' would have much in the way of kick. I might adjust hold to get the stock more onto the arm next time, maybe even find a slip on recoil pad. Am I being a big crybaby here?

...the steel point bites into my bicep...

You're mounting it wrong, it shouldn't be in contact with your bicep. that crescent buttplate goes up on your shoulder.

Yep I know how it is suppossed to be mounted, but it wasn't made for a 52 inch chest and 20 inch arms and a guy with limited flexibility from lots of weightlifting.

A problem a skinny lil' stuff like me doesn't have.

[44shooter]

My very first shot with a firearm at seven years old was a H&R 20 gauge. The stock was too long and it kicked my skinny little bicep so hard I cried. I didn’t shoot again until it was shortened and the only with a lot of “pressure” from the old man. Once I did and peppered a half pint milk carton I was hooked though.

The gun had a spare 30-30 barrel. Wish we had kept that set up. I outgrew the stock at twelve and got a Ithaca M66 20. Still have that one