Im seriously frustrated with being a wuss with a rifle...

Amazon.com: Ultimate Arms Gear Tactical AK-47 AK47 AK 47 Rifle 1 Inch Extended Recoil Reducing Ported Non Slip Black Rubber Buttpad Butt Pad For Original Wood Stock: Sports & Outdoors why not try a simple solution...slip on pads are a poor solution. Looking at magpul stocks be hard pressed to get a slip on on them. Magpul are designed for tactical use with tactical clothing ect ect. You need a recoil pad that's not ridgid with pointy tips all over it.
Be it the Ak or the ar....try a decent replacement screw on recoil pad and at least a heavy cotton shirt first.
 
Sounds like lots of folks pointed out the possible cause.

I've never thought much of it before, but I guess I've always gotten red marks on my shoulder which go away after I get home. I'm relatively light on the natural padding there, too. Usually some soreness too from shooting lots of high-powered rounds, but it goes away by end of the day. Feels good to me... Like being sore from a good workout. Consider it a mark of pride from exercising your 2nd Amendment rights.

You mention that you were holding the rifle relatively loose on some shots. You should *always* hold it tight to your shoulder. Tight enough that if you release your trigger-hand grip then the rifle still stays in place on your shoulder by just your forestock grip alone. On the AR and AK, your face ends up being closer to the rear site than on a bolt action and the AK is really tucked in close. Looks like several folks pointed that out. You'll have to get comfortable with the action cycling that much closer. That'll come with increased trust in shooting your rifle.

mac1911 gave a link to the M1 marksmanship training video. That is a good one to watch. There is a USMC training vid for the M-16 from early 70s era which will be helpful, too.

Take advantage of folks offering to help your shooting form at the range! Would hate to think you were discouraged to the point of not shooting rifle again. Besides, if you like ARs and AKs, then there's a whole world of milsurps out there waiting for you to overcome the shooting shoulder issues!
 
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Ive decided... Im just not a fan on centerfire rifles at all, im going to stick it in the classifieds and just get a .22 ruger takedown and practice with it .
 
i will happily take any centerfire rifles from you which frustrate you. i will even bring my own paper FA-10s. i want to make this transition as easy as possible for you. [wink]
 
Queen Bee said:
Ive decided... Im just not a fan on centerfire rifles at all, im going to stick it in the classifieds and just get a .22 ruger takedown and practice with it .
Click to expand...

I dunno to me it sounds like you need to learn how to hold the rifle, sounds like an ergonomic issue to me. Also you might want to consider plugs instead of muffs as well, muffs often cause serious stock interference problems with rifles.

-Mike
 
Queen Bee said:
Ive decided... Im just not a fan on centerfire rifles at all, im going to stick it in the classifieds and just get a .22 ruger takedown and practice with it .
Click to expand...

Don't give up quite yet. Try some of the solutions we suggested first and see if that works out for you. Pick a rain-date?
 
I will be meeting with a few nes'rs when i can to see if i can get over the centerfire rifle recoil. But while i wait i will be looking for ruger 10/22's for a good price
 
Queen Bee said:
I will be meeting with a few nes'rs when i can to see if i can get over the centerfire rifle recoil. But while i wait i will be looking for ruger 10/22's for a good price
Click to expand...

Fs has some of the best prices that I know of . Think my dad paid around 250 for the stainless model with a scope and bag . They also have the take down model too at a good price .

Tewksbury's shooters warehouse , has a some of the special models like the weird green lamented one .
 
Queen Bee said:
I will be meeting with a few nes'rs when i can to see if i can get over the centerfire rifle recoil. But while i wait i will be looking for ruger 10/22's for a good price
Click to expand...
Great idea. Buy a new rifle, and don't sell the old one! [wink] That's why I have no more room in my safe!
 
Update : thanks to donvinn and f2blica we got my issues fixed , it was a combination of short LOP, with a hard metal buttstock. F2blica put a limbsaver on his mak90 and it helped immensely. Was able to shoot the ak47 with ease. Still red marks but not bad and no soreness in my shoulder . With the 2 inch limbsaver added it made the ak a real good length of pull for me. So much so with funds from selling the 74 , im getting one.

Shot the AR was less recoil and will prob buy one sooner or later.

What was really interesting was i shot the 308 win Didnt like the recoil. F2blica brought with him a large peice of an old tempurpedic mattress with him and i shot it with that. What a world of difference . Tamed it down enough to finish a 5 round mag.

Thank you to you both for helping me out and getting over my rifle issues. I did double ear protection as well.

Im sure f2blica will be here shortly to pop up a video lol
 
I am sure i will buy an AR eventually . The bolt action was really fun though. Having to cycle it was a blast Maybe one in .223 would be good for me
 
Queen Bee said:
I am sure i will buy an AR eventually . The bolt action was really fun though. Having to cycle it was a blast Maybe one in .223 would be good for me
Click to expand...

Mossberg makes a bolt action .223 that uses ar/m16 mags . Best of both worlds , you get more then 5 rounds if you want and you got guns that can share mags .
 
I did like the .223/5.56. it will definitely be my american caliber of choice .

Though i might pick a savage bolt action rifle in .223 before i build an AR. We will see.
 
I had the pleasure of spending a few hours today with Queen Bee and Donvin (thanks for hosting us today) to try to assist QB with her rifle shooting issues. First I must say for someone relatively new to the sport, I give her a lot of credit for seeking out any info she could find about the rifles she was interested in and then take the time to try the different rifles out. On our last range trip she shot my MAK-90. It was awesome seeing how excited she was shooting the MAK-90 and I was quite impressed with the groups she shot. Although she loved the platform, I could sense some disappointment as I noticed her rubbing her shoulder after each mag. This disappointment was confirmed when she pulled her shirt sleeve aside to reveal some pretty substantial red marks on her shoulder. Although in pain, she insisted to continue shooting. The stock butt pad on my MAK-90 is basically a piece of hard rubber. It really shouldn't be called a butt pad. After talking to her a bit I told her I may have a Limbsaver butt pad laying around from a previous project. I installed the Limbsaver last night and agreed to meet her and Donvin at the range so she could try the MAK-90 again. After the first few shots it was evident that the Limbsaver was in fact doing it's job as I didn't see QB grimacing after each trigger pull. Instead of a grimace, a great big smile appeared on her face along with, "Wow, that's so much better!"
Reading some of the suggestions on previous posts, fellow NESers suggested she wear a shirt with some type of pad underneath. Just as I was about to leave the house QB texted me that she had forgotten her light shirt. I promised her she wouldn't go home with a sore shoulder this time. I remembered I had a piece of 2" thick memory foam down in the basement so I cut off a piece and tossed it into my range bag. She took one shot with the .308 without any pad then slipped the memory foam between her and the gun. Again, BIG smile. BTW she shot more than the 5 rounds she said with the .308 It wouldn't surprise me if she comes on here in the near future with a "Which .308 rifle should I buy? thread. lol Check out the video, that little piece of memory foam totally stopped her from flinching. The last shot she took, (where it went "click") notice the gun didn't move at all. Great job QB! It was nice spending the day with you and Donvin playing at the range and helping you sort out your "issues"

Queen Bee said:
Update : thanks to donvinn and f2blica we got my issues fixed , it was a combination of short LOP, with a hard metal buttstock. F2blica put a limbsaver on his mak90 and it helped immensely. Was able to shoot the ak47 with ease. Still red marks but not bad and no soreness in my shoulder . With the 2 inch limbsaver added it made the ak a real good length of pull for me. So much so with funds from selling the 74 , im getting one.

Shot the AR was less recoil and will prob buy one sooner or later.

What was really interesting was i shot the 308 win Didnt like the recoil. F2blica brought with him a large peice of an old tempurpedic mattress with him and i shot it with that. What a world of difference . Tamed it down enough to finish a 5 round mag.

Thank you to you both for helping me out and getting over my rifle issues. I did double ear protection as well.

Im sure f2blica will be here shortly to pop up a video lol
Click to expand...
 
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You could add a shotgun type recoil pad. You could get shooting vest that features a jello-filled plastic bubble on the front of the shoulder. Also, make certain that you are holding the rifle properly. Make some vidoes of your shooting, and have a good coach correct your technique. The 223 gas operated autos are virtually recoilless. A sound suppressor, by means of its weight and its "trapping" of the forward moving powder gases, renders the 223 autos truly as "tame" to use as a .22lr.. But it's about $700 for the "can" and $200 for the Federal tax stamp required to legally possess such an accessory. Some states still wont let you have one, Fed-legal or not.
 
Queen Bee,

Another option for a bolt rifle in .223 is the CZ 527 carbine. I just picked one up and really like it. It's light weight, very accurate. with a very good butt pad built in. You can also get it in 7.62X39.
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but are you holding the rifle tight against your shoulder or are you just resting it there? The tighter you hold it, the less the recoil will hurt.
 
Probably already been mentioned in the thread, but there are two very distinct lengths that the AK stock comes in, NATO and Wwarsaw pact. I'm pretty tall but I actually like the warsaw (shorter) length much better...I find it's easier to really pull the rifle into my shoulder and get my cheek into the crook towards the front of the stock. I have another AK with a NATO length stock (or it did before I put the bumpski on it) and it's definitely longer. Maybe try a NATO length stock with a pad?

I wouldnt mind grabbing pads for my AKs either.
 

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