Marlin Recoil Reduction

[johnwayne]

I resized some cases, replaced the spent primers, and filled the cases with lead up to the base of the neck. Next bullets were seated and crimped, creating very heavy dummy rounds. Each one (35 Remington) weighed about 15 ounces.

Putting four of them in the magazine tube increases the weight of the rifle by almost four pounds. According to a recoil calculator this decreases recoil by about a fourth of what it would be otherwise.
This should make practice more enjoyable.

Is this a reasonable thing to do?

Thanks

[Anduril]

I don't know if it would help tame recoil, but a 35Rem case full of lead plus a bullet weighing 15 ounces each sounds kind of heavy to me. Very curious, I'm going to have to do the math on that one.
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[bilmac]

If they really weigh that much I would worry about damaging magazine parts. I seldom do it, but I have occasionally just put a 5# bag of shot between the butplate and shoulder. It nott only adds weight, but it also makes the butplate area in contact with your shoulder a little larger

[Hairy Chest]

None of the above! Install a mercury recoil reducer in the stock. 

[facetious]

I took the but pad off my rem. 870 and first put a small chunk of foam rubber in the bottom of the bolt hole, I then filled the finger from a large rubber glove with bird shot and tied it off and put it in the bolt hole and toped it off with a chunk of foam and put the pad back on compressing the foam. The shot added one lb.and I had had to work at it a little to get it all in. I do not know how much it it reduced recoil but it made the 870 with a18" barrel balance better and if I should change my mind I can take it out with no harm done.

[johnwayne]

I executed the plan and it was an utter failure. I put 4 leaded cartridges into the magazine and then loaded a live round into the magazine, racked it home, and then loaded another live round into the magazine. The rifle became appropriately heavy. Upon firing the bullet live round in the magazine had its bullet shoved deeper in the neck despite a heavy crimp.

I'm stopping the experiment but if I were to continue I would use a compressed load of powder to prevent setback.

I wish it had gone better as it was so easy to use, was adjustable, and immediately removable. My guess is that it would change POI but quit before testing it.

It would be nice to have a heavy rifle in the tree stand and a light one on the ground. If I were to design a Marlin for my needs it would have a heavy bull barrel 16 1/4" long which is free floated and a short stubby one or two round magazine that doesn't touch the barrel. I would use an LBT cast bullet of whatever Veral recommended for use at a subsonic mv. We can shoot lots of antlerless deer here in IN now and head shots that drop them in their tracks are so sweet as there is no need for tracking and no meat damage. The ranges where I go are more often under 50 yds than over with the maximum range 75 yds.

It is amazing how accurate one can be when blast and recoil are minimized.

[Anduril]

So did the four lead filled cartridges weigh 3 lbs 12 oz total?
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[BBF]

The 35 Rem isn't the best cartridge for a muzzle brake application, it is  better than those dummy rounds in the magazine tube. The Mercury unit that goes into the butt is good. Shotgunners use it.
 
Last but not least, use the fastest burning powder that is appropriate and gives you consistency . The amount of powder used is a factor in recoil.

[Hairy Chest]

Just get some lead shot, put it in a baggy and shove it in the butt stock.  You will see what effect weight has on the recoil.  Weight adds balance to a rifle.  Plus it makes you strong.  Carry a heavy gun.  Don't be a limp wrist.  Try all loads and tell us what worked.   

[BBF]

Don't forget to put a bag of sand in you pack, it helps built up strenght as well.

[Veral]

  Yes it is a reasonable thing to do, but keep in mind that magazine weight effects POI, and POI changes as loaded rounds are used up.  So I recommend that you carry only one or two rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber when hunting, and if you do, or decide to load it full, sight the rifle with the number of cartridges that you choose to carry in the magazine.  What you put in the mag you will be carrying in one hand all day, so if you don't see a need for a machine gun, why carry more weight in your hand than needed.
  I fixed a 30-30 so it will onlly hold two rounds in the mag, shortening the tubes to the minimum length.  It's a nice lightweight gun.

  When ever shooting a heavy recoiling rifle, grip it with both hands as if you it were a root and you were drowning.  The tight grip puts much of the recoil into your hardened arm muscle and hands and everything they get is relieved from the shoulder.  I've found a HEAVY loaded Ruger ! in 458 magnum to be quite tolerable with a tight grip.  My arms are a bit larger than normal though as my life has been spent at hard labor.   But even without strong arms, they still take up recoil, and it doesn't take much reduction from the shoulder to make things easy to handle, especially with your 35 Rem

[johnwayne]

Thank you Veral.

[Veral]

  Just read all the comments and found them interesting. 

  As I age, I find more and more that massive power isn't needed to kill deer quickly.  Bullet performance is the key.   And, recoil becomes more painful at 72 than it was when I was 50 and younger.  In fact I didn't really become sensitive to recoil until about 65.

  So if you are REALLY recoil sensitive, work up a load that kills only out front.  If recoil is only bothering you at a shooting bench while sighting in.  A 25 pound bag of shot between shoulder and butt is unbeatable.   I don't know of any gun that can hurt a well man with a bag of shot in the way.  The coarser shot the better.  Like #2 or BB.  What happens inside the bag is amazing, as the shot are spread sideways when recoil hits, redistributing the direction of recoil out into the shot rather than back, plus of coarse the mass of 25 # of lead in the form of a very comfortable pillow.  It is unbelieavably gentle on the shoulder.

  If you sight a rifle in with a bag of shot you should try a shot or two off hand like you'll be shooting in the field, with a strong grip, to be sure POI is still right.  The worst way to take recoil is shooting prone with the buttplate dlamming into the top of your shoulder and  the whole body weight solidly behind to prevent the shoulder from flexing away.  Second worst is from a bench.
  Being large is a serious fault as well, because of the shoulder getting crushed trying to move a large body mass.  Those who can stand the most recoil with the least pain are those with hard muscle and slight build, who grip the gun tightly.  Their ligher body weight moves away with less pressure on the shoulder then with a heavy person, and hard muscle will  withstand much more impact without pain than  soft muscle and fat.

  I have personally found that the best way to keep packing weight down for hunting is to eat light for a few days prior to a a hunting trip.  It isn't hard to peel off one pound a day, for me anyhow, so a couple weeks of that and I'm traveling quite light.  A heavy gun is easier to tolerate then, especially if I do some hiking while carrying the gun to harden up some.