LR 308 rifle smoothing out recoil

[Seadog]

Just out of curiosity, how far is your brass being kicked out? I know you don't want to change gas blocks, but if you are ejecting empty brass into orbit, you may need to adjust the system anyway.

The only AR pattern 308 I own is an old KAC, and it is mild to shoot, mostly because it weighs quite a bit between bull barrel, scope, and bipod. It is also tuned well. Putting some weight on the gun will help.

I really don’t know how far the brass is going. I had a brass catcher on my rifle so I didn’t lose any of it. I’ve never got around to learning to reloading ammunition yet but I always save my rifle brass for when I eventually get into that hobby

My barrel is a heavy barrel but not a bull.

KAC makes some nice stuff. I’m only familiar with the SR25. Yours look anything like that?

 

[Seadog]

Taming the recoil impulse begins with proper shooting fundamentals. If you’re shooting prone that means getting your entire body behind the weapon perpendicular to the target. If you’re using a bipod, load the bipod with forward body pressure. if you’re using a rear bag adjust it to your bodies natural point of aim. Basically you’re driving the weapon with your entire body absorbing the recoil impulse. You will never eliminate your rifles movement completely but with proper technique you can greatly reduce it.

I shoot a break on both a 7mm and 6.5mm and have never had debris blown into my face. These rifles are used for both hunting and steel shooting.

I would also look at an adjustable gas block and a JP silent capture spring.

Thanks for the informative tips Jcann. There have been other recommendations for brakes. What one do you use on your rifles or recommend?

It’s been a long time since I used a rifle with a break. The last one I used was a Romanian PSL. The break isn’t that impressive on it but I swear that there is a good bit of back pressure brought back. I ended up taking it off and just putting a flash hider on it. For me it made a world of difference and it no longer had that impulse or wave or whatever it is coming back at me. If I had the break on it, it would make me blink every time. I put the flash hider back on it and no more blinking for me.

I swear it was just like if you had a can of compressed air but worse and somebody pointed at your face and shot you with it.

I have a Winchester 300 WinMag and I was wanting to thread the barrel for a break on it. But after shooting that PSL with its break it changed my mind all together and I had no desire for a break after that.

I have a couple pistols that have brakes on them and I’ve never noticed any backblast with them other than them being extremely noisy.

 

[Seadog]

I don't have a .308 AR, but I know how hard the recoil is on my light 30-06 mountain rifle and the .270. The combo of the suppressor and recoil pad makes them both very soft shooting with the recoil pad probably doing the best job of recoil reduction.
The recoil is still there, but the pad spreads it out over a larger surface area and helps deaden it.

That’s cool and interesting.

 

[Jcann]

I use an American Precision Arms (APA) Little Bastard muzzle break on my 260 Remington and a GA Precision Titan break on my 7WSM.
https://www.americanprecisionarms.com/products/gen-3-little-bastard-self-timing-muzzle-brake
All of my shooting is from private property, if I was shooting mostly from a public range I probably wouldn’t use a break.

 

[diggler1833]

I use an American Precision Arms (APA) Little Bastard muzzle break on my 260 Remington and a GA Precision Titan break on my 7WSM.
https://www.americanprecisionarms.com/products/gen-3-little-bastard-self-timing-muzzle-brake
All of my shooting is from private property, if I was shooting mostly from a public range I probably wouldn’t use a break.

Back when I was still stationed in NC, I ran an APA LB brake on a .260 Master Race (.260 Rem) as well. It was great for public ranges because I no longer had to deal with dudes coming up and disturbing me while I was shooting .

 

[diggler1833]

That’s cool and interesting.

I've stayed out of this because I wanted to recommend a brake and adjustable gas block...which I know you were initially set against.

My experience with multiple rifles has been that if you use a brake with 90 degree ports, the blast is not nearly as bad to the shooter as those with ports angled at 45 degrees or whatever. The 'no free lunch' part is that angled port brakes do reduce more recoil by design.

The work around is to double up on ear pro (foam plugs and muffs over). Sometimes I'll wear my ear buds and listen to music with my muffs on too during a range session (private range, my pasture...probably not safe on a public range).

Best of luck.

 

[Jcann]

Back when I was still stationed in NC, I ran an APA LB brake on a .260 Master Race (.260 Rem) as well. It was great for public ranges because I no longer had to deal with dudes coming up and disturbing me while I was shooting .

I’ve shot two times at Banner range and both times I’ve either had dirty looks cast in my direction after shooting or someone will holler, what was that! It’s a different story at Fouled Bore, expect to encounter people shooting with a break or suppressors there.

 

[forindooruseonly]

I really don’t know how far the brass is going. I had a brass catcher on my rifle so I didn’t lose any of it. I’ve never got around to learning to reloading ammunition yet but I always save my rifle brass for when I eventually get into that hobby

My barrel is a heavy barrel but not a bull.

KAC makes some nice stuff. I’m only familiar with the SR25. Yours look anything like that?

Next time you shoot, take the brass catcher off. The brass ejection is a good practical sign of how well the gas system is working. If it is just trickling out and barely functioning, more gas will help. Conversely, if yours is sending brass way out there, it is allowing the bolt to slam back which will definitely cause a recoil increase. My FAL is adjustable and when it has too much, you can definitely feel it. You want nice, consistent piles of brass that is ejecting adequately, but not sending them over the moon.

Mine's an SR-25, but it's not the SR-25 everyone thinks of today. It's an early preban that was called the Match version. Basically an early SR-25, just as accurate, without the tactical stuff of the modern ones.

 

[diggler1833]

I’ve shot two times at Banner range and both times I’ve either had dirty looks cast in my direction after shooting or someone will holler, what was that! It’s a different story at Fouled Bore, expect to encounter people shooting with a break or suppressors there.

At the range I shot at in NC it was extremely common for guys to walk up and lean on the damn shooting bench you were firing from, waiting for you to shoot so they could ask a question about your rig.

You'd inexplicably have your cross hairs move a half-target over and feel a presence at the same time. Man was it hard not to turn into an immediate jerk.

But the APA LB solved that problem

 

[JEVapa]

I’ve shot two times at Banner range and both times I’ve either had dirty looks cast in my direction after shooting or someone will holler, what was that!

That's why they make earpro