{"id":704,"date":"2020-01-21T15:39:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T15:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ammoforsale.com\/ammo-club\/?p=704"},"modified":"2020-01-21T18:01:12","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T18:01:12","slug":"shotgun-recoil-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ammoforsale.com\/ammo-club\/shotgun-recoil-chart\/","title":{"rendered":"Shotgun Recoil Chart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shotgun Recoil Chart<\/h2>\n

\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Gauge, Length & Ounce Shot with Muzzle Velocity<\/th>Weight of Firearm<\/th>Recoil Energy (ft. lbs.)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
.410, 2.5\" - 1\/2 oz \/ 1200 fps<\/td>5.5<\/td>7.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.410, 3\" - 11\/16 oz \/ 1135 fps<\/td>5.5<\/td>10.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
28 Gauge, 2.75\" - 3\/4 oz \/ 1200 fps<\/td>6.0<\/td>12.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20 Gauge, 2.75\" - 7\/8 oz \/ 1200 fps<\/td>6.5<\/td>16.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 oz \/ 1220 fps<\/td>6.5<\/td>21.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 1\/8 oz \/ 1175 fps<\/td>6.5<\/td>25.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20 Gauge, 3\" - 1 1\/4 oz \/ 1185 fps<\/td>6.5<\/td>31.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 oz \/ 1220 fps<\/td>7.0<\/td>21.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 1\/8 oz \/ 1200 fps<\/td>7.0<\/td>27.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 oz \/ 1180 fps<\/td>7.5<\/td>17.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 1\/8 oz \/ 1200 fps<\/td>7.5<\/td>23.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 1\/4 oz \/ 1330 fps<\/td>7.5<\/td>32.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 Gauge, 2.75\" - 1 1\/2 oz \/ 1260 fps<\/td>7.5<\/td>45.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 Gauge, 3\" - 1 5\/8 oz \/ 1280 fps<\/td>7.5<\/td>52.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 Gauge, 3\" - 1 7\/8 oz \/ 1210 fps<\/td>8.75<\/td>54.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10 Gauge, 3.5\" - 2 1\/4 oz \/ 1210 fps<\/td>10.5<\/td>62.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Table of Expected Shotgun Recoil<\/h2>\n
\nSir Isaac Newton was a clever fellow, but in spite of popular opinion he did not actually invent gravity. But we\u2019ve got to give Newton credit where it\u2019s due. He did come up with the third law of motion. It states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.<\/p>\n

Recoil: It’s the Law<\/h3>\n

Newton’s third law<\/a> explains the phenomenon of recoil, or \u201ckick.\u201d When you fire a shotgun, it is going to jerk backward with the same force as everything that comes out of its barrel: propellant gasses, wad, shot\/slug. This means that not all shells deliver the same amount of recoil, nor do all shotguns. It is possible to measure a shell\u2019s recoil with the help of this unwieldy formula:<\/p>\n

(mshotvshot + mwadvwad + 4,700 * mpowder) 2\/64.348* mgun<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Basically, this equation takes into account the mass and velocity of the shot and wad, the mass of the propellant, and the mass of the gun. Plug in the right numbers, and you can calculate recoil energy. We measure recoil energy in foot pounds. That’s the same unit we use to measure muzzle energy.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s compare a weak 12 Gauge load<\/a> with a powerful one, but we\u2019ll keep things simpler by omitting wad weights and approximating propellant charge weights.<\/p>\n

A Shotgun Recoil Example<\/h2>\n

\"12-gauge-shotgun-ammo\"<\/p>\n

Here is a nice 12 Gauge shell<\/a> with \u215e oz of shot and a 1,200 fps muzzle velocity. If we were to fire it out of a 7 lb Winchester Model 101 Field, it would generate 13.9 ft lbs recoil energy. Now, check out this 12 Gauge shell<\/a> with a 1 oz slug and 1,560 fps muzzle velocity. When fired from the same Model 101 Field, it\u2019s going to generate 27.0 ft lbs recoil energy. As you might have guessed, the more powerful load with the bigger projectile weight is going to have a lot more kick to it. In general, recoil energy greater than 15 ft lbs is when shooting starts to get uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

Role of Shotgun Weight<\/h4>\n

The weight of your shotgun plays a big role in just how much recoil you will be subjected to when firing. It\u2019s a proportional relationship: the heavier the gun, the lesser the recoil. That\u2019s part of the reason why a pistol chambered for 25 ACP can fit in your sock. At the same time, a Barrett M82 has to weigh about 30 lbs. The M82\u2019s bullet is 14 times heavier, so it would tear you to shreds if you fired it out of a derringer.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no different for a shotgun. If you\u2019re firing a powerful shell, a heavier gun will help to mitigate its recoil. This is something you especially want to bear in mind if you keep a shotgun for home defense. A Mossberg 590 Nightstick, which weighs only 5.25 lbs, is going to deliver more recoil than a 7.5 lb Mossberg 500 Combo Field\/Security when you fire the same shell in either. Recoil can throw off your aim, so when rapid fire comes in to play a beefier shotgun will help you to stay on point.<\/p>\n

What Do You Feel?<\/h4>\n

Recoil energy is objective, but just how much recoil you\u2019re going to perceive is pretty much subjective. If you\u2019ve got a good recoil pad and muzzle brake, the butt of your shotgun is not going to jar your shoulder as violently. If you\u2019ve got a semi-automatic shotgun, its ability to spread out recoil over time is going to make firing it feel gentler than a pump action or side-by-side. They require that their shooter absorb a greater amount of recoil energy. Some shells also have hinged wads, which collapse during ignition to reduce felt recoil. It\u2019s good to do the math, but math alone can\u2019t tell you exactly how much recoil you\u2019re looking forward to. That\u2019s something you learn in practice.<\/p>\n

What is Recoil Velocity?<\/h3>\n

\"shotgun<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another element involved when it comes to recoil. While recoil energy describes how hard the kick is going to be, recoil velocity describes how abrupt that kick is going to feel. Recoil velocity is a product of gun weight, projectile weight, and muzzle velocity, and it\u2019s measured in feet per second. A recoil velocity of over 10 fps is about the point at which shooting starts to get uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

To summarize, if you want to fire a shotgun comfortably over an extended period of time, like during trap, or more rapidly without losing too much accuracy, as you would for home defense, then you want to bear recoil in mind. Even if you hope to fire your shotgun only once while you\u2019re out deer hunting, you don\u2019t want that sole shot to hurt your shoulder. There\u2019s just no need for it!<\/p>\n

The following is a table of shotshell recoil energies. The data approximate, as we\u2019re estimating each hypothetical load\u2019s propellant weight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shotgun Recoil Chart Sir Isaac Newton was a clever fellow, but in spite of popular opinion he did not actually invent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ammo-insights"],"yoast_head":"\nShotgun Recoil Chart | AmmoForSale.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This shotgun recoil chart explores and compares the different recoil levels of 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 16 gauge, .410 more in an easy to use resource.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoforsale.com\/ammo-club\/shotgun-recoil-chart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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