I'm sure this has been brought up a million times but I got a question.  If any of you all do extended periods of 12 gauge shooting with, well really any kind of load, but especially the harder kickers, what type of pad do you guys use for the shoulder if at all?  Or I've seen shirts that have it sewn on.  Do those help?  I may be whimpy because when I shoot trap I get a little mark on my shoulder and it definitely is a little hard on the ol' muscles.  Nothing terrible but I after two rounds of just trap it starts to bruise a little.  And that's just with #7, 2-3/4 or whatever light load it is.  I'm going to keep trying to build my shoulders up with some  weights but I was just curious if anyone has some kind of pad they use and if it helps.  I'll get one if they're worth it but the ones I've seen aren't really that cheap and I want to know if it works before I invest.  I'm sorry but like I said before.  I'm pretty tight with my money.  Tight budget.  

Pachmyr Decelerator is a good reco8l pad, yes, a shooting vest with a pad will help.

The bruise is half the fun.... when I was in my teens I used to have a bruise covering my right shoulder for pretty much the duration of Dove Season, ah, the good old days of hunting everyday after school and having money to buy endless amounts of 12 ga shells

Get the shotgun fitted to your body and the bruise will not show again.

MT

I used to dread sighting in for slug season every year - there aren't to many guns that kick harder than 3" deer slugs out of a pumpgun... When I bought my .300WM, it was pretty stout, too - then one day at the range, another member loaned me a Past Recoil Sheild - what a difference!!! Now, shooting either gun is a pleasant experience -I can shoot them as long as i want, without any discomfort whatsoever - and I've noticed that I shoot both better now, too... Trap shooting doesn't bother me much, but if it did, I'd probably pick up one of those jackets that are padded up - I don't think the Past pad would be that great for trap...


 - georgestrings

- there aren't to many guns that kick harder than 3" deer slugs out of a pumpgun... Im gonna have to disagree i think my autoloader kicks more with 3" deer slugs

Quoted: I'm going to keep trying to build my shoulders up with some  weights

IMO, that's your best option. It might take some time depending on how you're built but it's definitely worth it.

aaaaah so brewsky is a tough guy, eh?  

I would make sure you have the gun mounted correctly - cheek down on the gun and the buttstock against your shoulder. Don't try to hold the gun out away from you - get into the gun and it won't briuse you.

You might also consider a gas operated autoloader - Remington, Browning, Beretta, and the like. The gas guns really do cut down the recoil.

Another option is to get a HEAVY trap gun.

I like the kick eze recoil pads myself. I had one fitted to a Browning O/U and it did help.

Another option is to use reduced velocity or reduced payload target loads, say 1150 fps and/or 1 oz  shot.

Thank you for the replies.  I don't necessarily want an autoloader and on top of that I don't really have the money for one.  Well I do but that's not where it's going becuase I already have a pump and it is a proven system.  I'm sure the autoloaders do kick less though.  I may get one of them shirts with the pad in the arm.  Bass pro's got some for like 25 bucks.  And they don't look too bad either.  Plus when I hunt I wear a backpack and the strap may act like a recoil pad.  When I'm sighting in for slugs, I'll just wear it since that's how I may be shooting in the feild.  Unless I took it off while sitting.  Or eventually I'll buy one of them recoil pads.  It only makes sense that it would help.  But what I want to know is has anyone taken one of them shotgun courses and shot a whole bunch of buck in a short period of time??  I don't see how you could do it without some pain and agony on the old shoulder without some kind of protection.  

I don't really understand how shortening and lengthening it would make a difference.  Plus how do you know what is suppose to fit you right.  It feels good to me.  Plus you said you  used to get bruises when you used to shoot.  Did your guns change??  Or maybe I am not holding it tight enough.  My cheek never hurts so that part must be tight enough.  Regardless, I didn't really mind it.  It wasn't unbearable.  And plus I didn't get a bruise after one round.  Last year after I shot two rounds it started to.  But still, no tough guy has said if they've shot buck shot to any extent and how that affected their shoulder.  Probably not too many people shoot up a lot of buck for no reason.  I'd like to use it on coyotes later on (when it's legal, my state is weird, you can only use it half the year) but if you're training with it, seems like that buck would get to ya.  Wouldn't it?  I probably just need to step up the old weights a little ( I don't do it a whole lot now, but I'm getting into it more and more)

I have attended several Shotgun Instructors schools where we fired from 300-400 rounds of Buckshot...no such thing back then as "reduced recoil" buckshot loads...in two or three days using standard 870 pump guns. Some of the guys would show up the second day so padded-up they looked like the Michellin Man! The closest thing I can offer as a "secret" is to make certain you hold that shotgun TIGHT to your shoulder. If I take a 2x4 and hold it away from your shoulder then slam it in, it will hurt a whole lot more than if you hold it tight against the shoulder and I shove it with the same amount of force...right? The shotgun stock is little more than a rounded 2x4 with a thin rubber pad. Lean forward agressively against the gun with your whole body, about 80% of your weight on the leading foot in a "boxer" stance...bend the front knee a little. This will give you a starting point for static shootibg, but obviously won't help a lot for shooting on the move. I am trying now to get comfortable with the newer method of pushing forward hard with the support hand while using the "trigger" hand only to hold the weapon against the shoulder and fire it. So far I am getting mixed results...sometimes it works great and sometimes not so great, but that is almost certainly inconsistency on my part.

"- there aren't to many guns that kick harder than 3" deer slugs out of a pumpgun... Im gonna have to disagree i think my autoloader kicks more with 3" deer slugs "


Okaayy - what kind of auto-loader are you talking about, and what kind of pump??? I have shot both gas operated(1100 and 1187) and recoil operated(11-48 and A-5), and all kinds of pumps(870s, 12s, 500s, 37s, 1300s, etc...), and in my experience, no shotgun exhibits felt recoil more than either a pump or a bolt type - unless you count single shots, that is...


I also agree that proper stock fit is important for long term comfort, and will buy more than a few clay pidgeons over the course of a day of trap shooting... Probably the most shotgunnig I've done in a day was 200rnds of trap - my whole body was a little sore the next day, but I wasn't bruised any... That was with an 870 with a factory rubber recoil pad, and little else...

For hunting purposes, I wouldn't worry about padding up - you'll probably never even feel the recoil when shooting at an animal, and don't typically fire that many shots in a day, anyways...

Odds are, making sure you're properly fit, padding up at the bench, and just plain shooting more to get "used" to it more will take care of everything...


  - georgestrings

Where do you get that ezpad you're talking about?  Does it take a lot of know how to install it?  Grinding, etc?  I know a gas gun would be easier on the old shoulder, but there's got to be a way to overcome this.  As the other gentleman stated most guys have trouble with it, "padded up, etc".  Maybe not.  I am willing to try different things as long as they don't cost me as much as another shotgun.  Then I might as well get another one.  I did take the current buttpad off and mounted the gun to my shoulder just to see, but it's way too close then.  My thumb would definitely hit my nose.  The reason I did that is because I was debating on getting the bantam stock.  But I think it would be too short.  Maybe that kick ez pad can be made to different depths???  Regardless the factory recoil pad is pretty "hard".  I also wondered about remington's new g3 pad or whatever it is.  But it only says you can mount it on synthetic stocks????  Thank you all again.  

btw, I used to want to stay away from hard kicking guns.  Afraid I might develop a flinch or something.  But this is such a fun type of weapon and I think useful in many ways that I'd like to learn how to shoot it well.

Thank you george, good advice.  I'm not mainly concerned about hunting.  I'm more concerned if I do more long term shooting with it especially with buck for like a class or something.  You know?  But yeah, probably padding up at the range would help.  I've never shot 200 rounds of trap.  But I will definitely keep in mind the tightness of my gun to shoulder thing when shooting again.  I've got to try out some slugs I got so I'll pad up and keep it tight.  I've shot the managed recoil and they're peice of cake.  But the ones I got this time are brenneke multi purpose, which states a velocity of 1510.  Not overly hot but not slow either.  Well we'll see how that goes.  Plus I may look into getting a different butt pad.  But I'm still confused as to how you know if it fits properly???

Stoeger model 2000 and  a mossberg 500. no matter what i shoot the 2000 hits harder

JJREA - You're very welcome... maybe you just need to shoot it a little more to condition yourself to it... A 12ga shotgun is one of the most versatile weapons one can own - I've always owned one since my teens(Now 41) - up until a year or two ago, I never owned a semi - always pumps(mostly 870s)... During that time, I killed LOTS of deer, turkeys, pheasants, rabbits, and more than my share of clay birds, too... Simply put, and 870 is made to last several lifetimes - and with the right barrel, will do it all, and well...

As for a replacement recoil pad, if I weren't refinishing the stock, I'd bribe a gunsmith to fit it to your gun - I wouldn't think he'd charge more than $25 or $30 for that service, and it's well worth the cost... If you're refinishing the stock, it isn't all that difficult to do it yourself - I've done a couple, and they turned out pretty good, actually... How tall are you??? Production stocks are made to fit the "average" person reasonably well - so, if you're between 5'8" and 6'2" - you should be able to make it work OK - although there certainly is no substitute for a well fitting stock for someone who's serious about their shotgunning... Hang in there, and let us know how you make out...


  - georgestrings

I'M 5'8" AND 3/4.  I ALWAYS GOTTA ADD THAT 3/4'S IN. HE H EH EHE HE HE.  OH SHOOT I FORGOT TO LOOK AT THAT LINK.  HANG ON, I'LL LOOK AT IT FIRST.

ok, I'll try that excercise.  I'm not at home right now.  I'll have to do it later.  Thanks for the advice.  I'm still interested in knowing where that ez pad can be found.

Limbsaver pads are nice and come in slip on models too.

sorry mike, I should've noticed it the first time!  duh.

mike, that website doesn't do it much justices as far as the picture goes.  Do you gotta grind them down??  They give sizes and I'll measure but  well like I said, I'm tight with my money and I only want to spend if it's worth it.  You think it's worth it though eh?  I'm not sure what depth to get.  I took the spacer off my mossberg pad and it seems to fit better.  I could go with the depth it is now.  Did you do the fitting yourself????

I thought I saw a kick-eze pad on the Remington.com site, not sure though.

I fitted a pad on the butt of a AK not to long ago so my 12 year old could shoot it a little more comfortably.

It wasn't very hard to do. I took the pad and screwed it to the butt of the stock so it would be exactly the way it would be when mounted. Took a fine marker and outlined the end of the butt onto the pad. Removed the pad and used a borrowed belt sander with a new belt on it, turned the belt sander on its side and just took my time and held the pad against the sander and sanded it to the shape of the outline. Turned out perfect. Use a painters mask if you do this. Also the way some pads are constructed you may not be able to fit them this way. But I worked perfect for me.

Mike103, thank you for all the advice.  I'm not done asking yet but I wanted to respond.  I have not really picked trap as my game I just do it because there's a place 10 minutes from my house I can do it for $3 a round on sunday's.  I'm mainly interested in the shotgun for hunting and self defense.  As far as hunting goes, my state has regulations for deer.  In about 1/4 of the state hipower is not lawful and I'm trying to hunt more closer to home and that's where these hipowerless county's are.  And I also would like to do more coyote hunting, and it may be that some areas will not allow hipower for that either.  It's funny, by me there alot of game closer to the city (milwaukee) because the closer you get to the city the less people hunt.  In the city they roam free like kings.  You should see how many geese we have in the city.  It's riciculous.  In all of milwaukee county you can't  use a firearm for hunting.  And that's where alot of these animals are.  Sucks.  But I'm trying to figure out how to capatilize on this situation and hunt closer to the city in the outerlying counties where you can hunt with a firearm but it's sometimes more restrictive with your choices.  Hence the shotgun.  It is usually accepted in most places.  I have to check each municipality I hunt in.  This is 21st century hunting.  My great grandpa would hunt any where the hell he wanted, granted if it wasn't anyone elses land, and there was one story that a young dnr guy tried to slap a fine on him for shooting a pheasant to where he challenged the young dnr guy by pointing his shotty at him and refusing.  Try that nowadays.  You'd be in jail forever and they'd take your kids away.  I'm not saying it was the smartest thing but he was a character.  And yes, I'd like to get into shooting more birds(both live and clay).  Time is a precious commodity though so I choose my time wisely.

Now, beyond all that ranting, I'm affiliated with bass pro in some sorts and I see they have the LIMBSAVER pad.  It looks like it doesn't requiring smithing because it asks you to specify model.  The other interesting thing is the LIMBSAVER looks exactly like the Remington G3 and they even say that uses limbsaver technology.  I'm thinking it's the same thing.  I could be wrong though.  But I've read good things about the g3 in various articles.  Do you have any experience with the LIMBSAVER pad.  Not the slip on one.      I'm leaning that way.  Thanks for your time.

Thanks for listening to me ramble!!!  I'll try that limbsaver and report back to you!!!!  I'm going to order it tomorrow night!!!

Mike, I ordered my limbsaver last night.  I'm kind of excited to see how this works out.  If I could figure it out, I'll make a picture of it when it's done.  I do appreciate all the help.  I may be asking for more when the thing comes in.  We'll see.

If it dont work spend $60 and get you a hogue comstock. It does work and well. Other than that get the barrel ported.

+1 for the Limbsaver pads. Last year I bought an 870 Express for 3-gun matches. I hadn't fired a shotgun since I was 10-12 years old (trust me it has been a long time). The first box of shells (light target loads) didn't really hurt, but left a mark on my shoulder. The factory pad was promptly replaced with a Limbsaver and I haven't had a mark since. It seemed a little pricey, but IMO, it was worth every penny.

FYI: Limbsaver does not list replacement pads for Remingtons. I read somewhere that the pads were designed jointly with Limbsaver and Remington, so Limbsaver sells the technology to fit all other guns, but Remington sells the same pads as their R3 replacement pads.

I knew it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They look identical!  Thanks for the report.  I'm waiting with baited breath.