Proper shoulder pressure for a rifle.

[Badlandoutdoors]

Hi. I’m looking to get some advice on something that through my search efforts I have not been able to obtain. Can someone explain to me the proper amount of pressure you should have on the butt pad/recoil pad of a rifle when pressed against your shoulder? I have been given so much advice my head is spinning. I’ve heard firm pressure, light pressure, just place it against your shoulder, pull the stock in tight, lean against it to name a few. What is best for consistent accuracy and recoil management? I’m no expert with rifles but does this even matter? Do I need to be more worried about mastering other aspects of my shooting form?

Thanks you for all input.


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[hereinaz]

Drive the rifle. It matters a great deal for hunting weight rifles, especially as recoil increases. It’s not so much shoulder pressure alone, but positive control of the rifle.

You get a little more wobble in the aiming but you reduce significantly movement of the rifle after recoil but before the bullet leaves the muzzle.

Pull into your shoulder firmly, and balance too firm that makes the wobble increase and not enough so recoil exploits the lack of control.

Also, the advice you read probably depends on the shooting position. For positional hunting, practice with a firm pull, some say about as much as it takes to hold the rifle up. Or, a firm handshake.

Bottom line, the more control the better, as long as is doesn’t increase the wobble.

 

[Cmf88]

Best way is to go shoot. Try different pressure and pick which best one for accuracy.

 

[juju]

It varies by rifle and shoulder. It depends on how the rifle fits you.

 

[FalconDriver]

Hunting weight rifles I like a soft but firm seat into the shoulder, maybe 10lbs of pressure or so. Comfortable and repeatable, helps control recoil and keeps the scope out of your eyebrow.

Heavier target rifles, like a 22+ lb PRS rig with a muzzle brake, I use light shoulder pressure and lighter cheek weld to reduce wobble off barricades etc because there is so little recoil.

 

[Wrench]

Whatever you do.....be consistent. Accuracy comes from the elimination of variables.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Whatever works for you.

I hold light rifles a hellofa lot tighter than I do heavy guns.

 

[TaperPin]

I have an old school technique that works just fine, but newer popular techniques often have much lighter pressures, which is why there are so many different suggestions. You are well served to not mix and match, but follow someone who shoots well and master their technique before tweaking and experimenting with changes. Everything is testable to determine what works best for you, but it requires a decent amount of shooting.

With repetition the shoulder pressure will get more consistent over time. Tighter than normal pressure resists movement of the rifle and it will shoot slightly lower on target. Same for less pressure - it allows slightly more vertical movement and groups will hit higher. I get the best groups if the pressure is just firm enough to flatten out any clothing, which also helps keep recoil from slapping the shoulder. It doesn’t requiring straining, but is firm.

Some use light shoulder pressure from the bench or when using a bipod and heavier pressure with other positions or faster shots. I’m a believer in making the shot feel as consistent as possible across all positions so when a high stress situations pops up there’s less chance of an inadvertent mess up. When someone is rushed and literally drops the rifle off the shoulder at the shot, that’s a clue they mixed it up.

The “handshake pressure” on the pistol grip works great for me, but many shooting light recoiling rifles do well with less and I can’t say they are wrong if the target shows good groups. Like shoulder pressure, I’ll always be in favor of consistency and the same handshake pressure.

One step further, I’ve found the best groups and fastest recovery of the sight picture when my off hand is on the forend, beit bench, bipod or shooting off a pack. With heavy recoiling rifles letting the forend go to just flop around at the shot causes many issues, none of which are good.

Anytime your hands are locked onto the stock and the stock is pulled into the shoulder, there’s an art to relaxing the arms enough that subconscious twitches aren’t throwing shots. It can be as bad as a flinch if you’re tensing up as the shot brakes. Smooth follow through is hard to describe, but comes naturally with enough repetition. If someone were to carefully shoot and measure groups off the bench (or bipod) every 1000 rounds, it should show an improvement as muscle memory gets more consistent and the body learns to relax.

 

[XLR]

I would add a lot of it depends on the rifle and whether the forend is free floated or not. For example if you are shooting a factory Weatherby or Ruger which has bedding points on the forend, You will want less pressure than a rifle in one of our chassis that is completely free floated. With pressure points in the stock a different amount of pressure in the recoil pad will transfer into those contact points on the forend causing a point of impact shift. Free floated barrels allow you to put different pressures into the rifle and not see large point of impact shifts.