Recoil

[kurts]

shoot it off your forearm not the shoulder that's where a curved butt plate should be.

 

[jamesthomas]

shoot it off your forearm not the shoulder that's where a curved butt plate should be.

I think you meant upper arm! between the Bicep and where it joins the shoulder, in that "hollow" is where you want to put one of those curved steel buttplates.

 

[Walks with fire]

Most of mine are .50's but I do have 1 .54 and even with a modest load of 80 grains I can tell the difference. Not enough to make it uncomfortable but it is noticeable to me. My rifles all have flat butt plates and the .54 Lyman Deerstalker has a recoil pad and it's short at 24" barrel length so that does add some to it.

I thought I might want a .58 so I bought a barrel but never set it to a stock. The .54 does all I need and for some odd reason I want another one with a longer barrel. I wouldn't own a rifle with a curved butt plate that was over .45 caliber myself. I like my .50's and still hunt with them but I have to admit the .54 really appeals to me. It's the perfect blend of ball weight; recoil and power for deer here in PA. I use my .50's at the range more though.

 

[Billnpatti]

I have .50s and .54s and there isn't a whole lot of difference in the recoil so long as you stay with reasonable loads. For target loads, you won't notice any significant difference in recoil but if you, like many, want to load up their .54 to "magnum" loads for hunting, you will pay the price in recoil. Actually, there is absolutely no need for those heavy loads for hunting deer size animals, you can kill them only so dead. After that, the magnum loads will only cause you to pay a greater punishment in recoil to kill your deer. The deer won't know the difference. Heck, truth be told, they won't know the difference between a .50 and a .54. So, if you have your heart set on a .54, go for it.

 

[Pete44ru]

Thanks.
I was contemplating between a GPR in 50 or 54, but it would be mostly for target shooting and I didn't know if it would be more punishing going with a 54.

A .50 would use less powder & lead than a .54, and still have enough power to penetrate a paper target............ :wink:

 

[Boomerang]

Well guys, I made the 200 mile trip to the Log Cabin Shop in Ohio and picked up a 54cal GPR! I know I paid more for it there than I would have mail order, but at least I was able to handle it before I bought it. That place is a really neat store! The only problem is my wife says that is my Christmas present. So I will have to wait about a month before I actually get it. It's going to be a long wait for me. Oh well, that will give me more time to dream about it. :grin:

 

[Billnpatti]

Half the fun is in the anticipation. Hang in there. :thumbsup:

 

[nkbj]

Even with .62 it just shoves you around. http://vid791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/62Rifle600RB120grFFg1533FPS_zpsf0b6da1a.mp4

Round ball in a .69 rifle can kinda rattle my eye balls around but for me .62 and below is pretty much OK.

 

[azmntman]

NO ISSUE HERE :hmm:

Wife goes shopping? Shoot, clean re-wrap :grin:

Merry Christmas!

 

[Tom Compton]

Last year I loaded my .54 at the camp with 90 gr FFg. After shooting a nice buck I reloaded from a recently acquired horn. The older gentleman I got it and the bag from was using FFFg.

I figured this out when unloading into a stump. There was a slightly sharper recoil. Not uncomfortable just sharper. I don't shoot FFF in anything so a buddy got the balance of that in the horn.

Mount a rifle with a crescent butt plate on the upper arm as said above and load with FFg.
TC

 

[DeeDubya]

My Enfield Musketoon is the hardest kicking BP long gun I own. With a 570gr minie and 120grs 2f it kicks as hard as my 300 win mag. Needless to say, I don't shoot that load much.

 

[azmntman]

I shot 120 gr powder and a .58 conical....ONCE :shocked2:

Having killed most elk and my pops luck with buffalo using 80 grains (elk PRB, buff conical) I see no need :idunno:

 

[bpd303]

My Enfield Musketoon is the hardest kicking BP long gun I own. With a 570gr minie and 120grs 2f it kicks as hard as my 300 win mag. Needless to say, I don't shoot that load much.

Can't understand why you are using 120gr. My musketoon shoots 85gr of ffg and a 570gr minie very accurately and it has never failed to put meat in the freezer and pleasant to shoot.

 

[DeeDubya]

Well like I said, I don't shoot that load much. Since we're talking about recoil I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I usually shoot the traditional 505gr minie over 70gr 2F. I have some (don't have the mold) 375gr short (wadcutter looking) minies that work well with 50gr 2F and are very pleasant to shoot.

 

[Mickc01]

shoot it off your forearm not the shoulder that's where a curved butt plate should be.

I think you meant upper arm! between the Bicep and where it joins the shoulder, in that "hollow" is where you want to put one of those curved steel buttplates.

Good advise guys but that's pretty much where I try to hold it. Still upper arm is usually black with bruises. I find that rifles with wide flatter buttplates much more comfortable....Mick C

 

[Beaverkiller]

Go with the 54, you won't regret it. I have a Lyman GPR 54 and really enjoy makin' smoke with it.