Options for reducing Tikka T3x recoil

z987k

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I think shooting any rifle that’s not suppressed without ear pro is foolish if you want to keep your hearing.

Particularly with the electronic ear plug and muff options available that allow you to still hear normal sounds, conversations, twigs snapping, animals, etc (can actually amplify these if you want) I don’t see why everyone wouldn’t wear them.

Assuming you’re wearing ear pro, then there’s no reason not to throw on a brake (clamped or get the barrel threaded) which will reduce recoil by 30-40%. With a limb saver recoil pad and cheek riser, best of all worlds
If only ear pro could stop the concussive force from a brake to your head and the sound picked up by your jawbone and still put into your ears.
 

atmat

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Sorry to say, but this is pretty much hot garbage. A well designed brake can and does help with recoil.

My advice of choosing option C would be the best plan though.
I agree with you on C.

But I disagree that avoiding a brake is not garbage. While they help with recoil immensely, the sound and concussive blast is pretty off putting. I’d much rather fire an unbraked 300wm than a braked one for those reasons.
 

mxgsfmdpx

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I agree with you on C.

But I disagree that avoiding a brake is not garbage. While they help with recoil immensely, the sound and concussive blast is pretty off putting. I’d much rather fire an unbraked 300wm than a braked one for those reasons.
From the shooter position, if you are dealing with “concussive blast” the brake is a crap design.

Yes it’s loud. Hearing protection is important which I know for a hunting rifle, can not always be ideal.
 

COGuy99

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Your hearing aids when you’re 70 will be a lot more expensive than these if you’re out shooting any 30 cal guns without hear protection, braked or unbraked. Concussion and transmission through face bones is still a consideration, although much more so for someone standing to your side than the shooter yourself (don’t let your hunting buddies stand right next to your gun…)

I still probably wouldn’t go shooting hundreds of rounds of a braked 300 win mag at the range every week, hear pro or not.

 

z987k

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From the shooter position, if you are dealing with “concussive blast” the brake is a crap design.

Yes it’s loud. Hearing protection is important which I know for a hunting rifle, can not always be ideal.
Hearing protection can't come close to reducing a braked magnum to safe levels. The increase of energy to the shooters ear with a brake is about 1000x. I'm not aware of any ear protection that has a high enough NRR to get the db level of a braked magnum to safe levels. Muffs over plugs are not linearly additive.

What's really interesting, is while brakes reduce recoil significantly, a lot of times they don't fix any sort of flinch the vast majority of people have on something like a 300wm due to the concussive force felt in the face. Radial brakes tend to be better about noise and getting hit in the face, but they're less effective at reducing recoil.
 

mxgsfmdpx

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Read closely. My number one suggestion is to take the chambering down. Who said anything about 30 cal magnums? Brake “arguments” are beyond tiring at this point in way too many threads. There are pros and cons like lots of things in shooting guns. Shoot and learn what works for you.
 

Macintosh

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Hijacking the thread. Anyone ever use a mercury recoil absorber? Curious.
Yes, on a trap gun back in the dark ages. They work. They also add significant weight, and they add that weight out at the end of the butt where it has highest potential to affect gun handling. To me its not an especially attractive way to deal with recoil on a hunting gun. You could achieve 80% of the same result simply by taking a couple of lead decoy weights, and sealing them into the stock recesses, both in the barrel channel and the grip and butt area of a tikka, and sealing them in place with silicone. You just added half a pound of weight to your gun (same-ish amount as a mercury reducer), but you reduced the recoil to that of a gun that weighs half a pound more than it did, and you added the weight spread out over most of the length of the gun, so it minimizes the change in how the gun handles. That’s not insignificant right there as the weight itself is a significant portion of the recoil reduction
 
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madcalfe

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just buy a good quality brake and you wont get a concussive blast.... I run a 20" 300wsm and don't have any but if your beside me you'll feel it.
 
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I use to shoot a braked 30-06 and said I never felt concussive blast.

Now that I shoot suppressed, I notice that I was feeling concussive blast and just didn’t know it.
You can't tell the brake lovers anything.
 

Azdbllung

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I mean honestly, I just shot a 2 boxes of 300 PRC 225 grain pills yesterday, I feel you on the kick but it's really not that bad. I would just suck it up and deal with it. That's what id do.
 

z987k

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just buy a good quality brake and you wont get a concussive blast.... I run a 20" 300wsm and don't have any but if your beside me you'll feel it.
If you're not feeling the blast, it's not a very effective brake. It cannot work without redirecting it towards you.
 

ehayes

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May 31, 2020
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I have the TI Pro 4 on my tikka .30-06. It is a really nice brake and I enjoy shooting the rifle now. Very comfortable to shoot.

I’ll be looking into option C myself though.
 

jimh406

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If it is threaded, you can try a brake. Even a cheap radial brake from ebay should reduce the recoil. I'd try that first.
 
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