Discussion Forums

Scott Struif

Thanks Vince. Your observations and the video were most informative. My curiosity about recoil pads was piqued recently looking at photos of the current offerings from Ruger. Their high-end Hawkeye wood-stocked models have a thin rubber butt plate, whereas all their synthetic-stocked models feature a thick recoil pad with the appearance of “venting” reminiscent of the Pachmayr pads of yore. My guess is it’s all driven by cosmetics. Even if they had evidence the thick recoil pads helped reduce recoil, were they to stick one on a walnut stock, someone in marketing would say, “Looks like shit,” and that would be the end of it. As to muzzle brakes, I was amazed at the results. 75% recoil reduction is impressive. A 300WM is tamed to 243 levels. A 308-based cartridge would presumably fall somewhere between a 22 rimfire and a 223. As you said, recoil really makes no difference in the field . . . just at the bench. Another interesting point from the video was the brake designed to inhibit “muzzle enlargement.” Most guns now come “threaded.” Makes you wonder if the supplied thread protectors are designed to protect against the possibly dire consequence of weakening the muzzle by cutting threads in it.