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Many people's *"understanding"* of firearms comes from movies, television, books and, more often these days, video games. I've had many people tell me about a particular weapon-system with great enthusiasm only to find out they got that information from a video game. *Hmm ok.*

The information gained from those places may not be as accurate of course; Sure, it may suit a person to say, *"Call of Duty is based on real fact,"* but in reality a person thinking they're gaining firearms knowledge from watching *Strike Back* on TV or playing a video game would be the same as a learner-driver thinking that watching the Indianapolis 500 will teach them to drive. For the record, *it won't*. 

I get asked many questions about firearms; Most are reasonable. I also get *told many things*, peculiarly often by *those without firearms or with no real clue;* The former I answer as best as I can and the latter...Well, I have a face for that...It's rather blank.

Yesterday I was asked a question by a little lad of about eleven years old who plays the game *Fortnite,* which I literally know nothing about. To the best of my knowledge the lad has had no exposure to guns in the real world...But he asked a great question and I answered the little man with an eleven year old-appropriate answer.

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#### Recoil

The little champ asked what a shooter feels on his, [or her,] shoulder when firing the rifle. He phrased it differently but essentially *what is felt on the shoulder when the trigger breaks*. Great question.

It's called recoil and is Newton's third law in action; *The force needed to accelerate something will generate an equal, but opposite, force or reaction.* It's physics don't you know.

The bullet moving forward due, to the exploding gasses, will be balanced by an equal and opposite momentum exerted on the gun. This *recoil* will be absorbed by the shooter and eventually make it's way to the ground. In rifle and shotgun shooting it's the shoulder that takes the initial impact usually, with handguns it's the wrists, arms, shoulders and so on until the momentum reaches the ground. I've always called it recoil but the term *kick* is also relevant as it can feel like one. 

<sub>Here I refer to hand-held firearms but the same can be said for field-artillery pieces, tanks and ship or ground mounted guns. With those the platform on which it is mounted transfers the momentum to the ground. Quite often these systems use counter-recoil measures like buffering springs and hydraulic mechanisms, it's the same principle as a shooter using his body to ground the momentum. This ***<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1cJghbWKwk">short M777 Howitzer live fire-mission </a>*** will demonstrate an artillery piece and the recoil.</sub>

When shooting at long range I usually assume a prone position, I'm sure you're all familiar with the position a *sniper* may assume; *Laying down behind the gun, legs splayed very wide to left and right, toes of the feet pointing outwards left and right, inner-foot flat to the ground.* It's not done for comfort because *it isn't that comfortable!* It's done to ground the body for stability and manage the recoil better, among other things I don't need to go into here; Stealth for one. 

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I want as much of my body touching the ground as possible. It means my own movement is at a minimum mitigating potential error. Of course one needs to breathe which affects the shot too but that's taken care of by the *breathing process* and timing the shot around it. That *stillness,* being so grounded, also helps the trigger-pull which is critical to the shot. The position also helps manages the recoil. Above you can see me firing a .300 WinMag, well known to kick like a mule; Note the shooting position.

#### Why manage recoil

I like to watch my rounds arc away into the target...*Yes,* one can see the displaced air as the projectile flies provided the conditions are right. If you advance to 2:30 on ***<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKBxWhNhSQ">this video</a>*** you will see it. It's very cool.

The recoil can be violent though and managing it effectively will allow a shooter to maintain a good sight-picture down range and ensure follow-up shots are quick and accurate and one is back on-target quickly. 

A mistake people make is to angle themselves off to one side behind the rifle. It may be ok for a rifleman with a smaller-calibre rifle at short range but for a sniper and long range it's not legit. I lay directly behind the rifle despite it being harder to do as I get older; Old bones you know - Don't get old, it sucks.

The problem in being angled to the left [right-handed shooter] is that the recoil moves the body too much as there's not as much body-mass behind the shoulder to absorb the recoil.

With the position I use all of my shoulder, torso, middle and right leg is directly behind the gun in line with the recoil force and grounded. This means my body takes the recoil and transfers it down into the ground quickly. The rifle is more controlled, the *recoil,* and I can stay on target more easily. I can see the impact and know the target is down or requires me to send another. 

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This short video above is me shooting a .308. The range was at about 700 metres and you can see how the recoil is managed, how fast I am back on target for the follow-up shots. Keep in mind I was not looking for new targets here, just impacting the same one. If you look closely you'll see I *load* the bipod forward with my shoulder to help steady the shot and manage the recoil - This is why a good bipod is required (I use Atlas bipods only). Also see where my left hand is...On the butt-stock, another method to manage recoil and steady the shot. I took this to look at my trigger-pull in greater detail, a training video as such.

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#### The feel

Imagine getting punched in the arm...It's sort of like that, of course, it's all dependant upon the weapon-system and calibre. Also, getting a punch in the arm is different to getting one in the collar bone where it's all bone, (trust me on this). To be honest it's a difficult thing to describe as the pain, or impact, of it is so different for each of us. I'd have to punch you to demonstrate. (I'd never though, of course.)

The recoil is why the rifle or shotgun needs to be snugged up to the body...The pain of banging on long-range guns without doing so is much greater...It'll bruise most shoulders after a few shots. Which reminds me of one of the funniest, and most painful things, to see to be honest. 

Not bracing the rifle correctly upon one's shoulder will almost certainly result in *scope-eye.* This is a painful thing and keeps on giving for a few days. 

Essentially it's when the recoil pushes the rifle back to the shooter and they have not got the rifle braced properly. The eye-piece/ocular lens smashes into one's eye, brow or ridge of the nose, *all three if you're unlucky.* It'll hurt a lot, draw blood and leave a black eye mostly. There's no hiding that it happened either. *A trap for young players and kind of funny to the old ones.* Ok, so it's not that funny as it can be very painful and off-putting for a new shooter...But...Listen to the instructions y'all...And no, I don't think video games cover this aspect.

So, the feel of shooting is really so dependant on the rifle-system or handgun, calibre and how its held. There's other ways to manage the recoil also including a thing called *free-recoiling* which is a more advanced method I might talk about some other time. 

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I'd love to take that lad and his parent for a shoot as I think they would really love it and probably not have the chance to do so otherwise. I also do not have a child of my own and I wish I had someone to pass on my skills to, not just in shooting but in *everything.* Maybe it'll happen one day. 

It really impressed me though, the question. It was intelligent, inquisitive and gave me the idea for this post. He could have asked a hundred other questions but he asked this one...It was a pleasure providing him a response and through this post maybe you learned something too.

If you have any questions feel free to comment below. 

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Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - *Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind*

<sub>Discord: galenkp#9209</sub>

<sub>This is not designed as a training document or exhaustive text on the subject and the information contained here should not be relied upon. You are strongly advised to do your own research on the subject matter.</sub>