Armory Sponsor
Posted: 10/12/2008 12:14:08 PM EDT
| I am thinking on getting a shooting jacket but having a hard time finding a good one or a mil spec one ... I have a M1A and would like to soften it up some . |
Perceived recoil is 90% mental in most cases, particularly with gas guns like the M1A. That is to say that most users of the M1A don't have major problems with rcoil. Some do, and that is almost always due to improper handling of the rifle. Most important is to pull the buttstock into your shoulder. Don't even think about trying to take up the recoil with your arms--you can't react that fast, and trying to do so will ruin your accurate shouldering and holding of the rifle. Pull that sucker back firmly into your shoulder pocket, and most of the recoil will be absorbed by your body with little hurt. You'll feel it more in prone, but if you let your body roll with the recoil, instead of fighting it in advance, you will be on the right track. You do that ONE thing, and you can shoot your M1A for an afternoon, wearng a sweatshirt, with no ill effects. If I can do it, so can you. My skin's no different than yours. Now, where shooting jackets come into their own is in a couple of ways. The expensve Match jackets have a lot of padding in diferent places, and have a provision for strapping up the jscket to as to improve your off-hand shooting score. You have to re-adjust the jacket for sitting and prone. The GI jackets are simply vehicles for carrying a little bit of padding for your shoulder and elbows. An experienced shooter, without a shooter's jacket, will be forgetting about the recoil, but wanting to pad his elbows in prone shooting. So, before you make a decision on an expensive shooting jscket, pull the rifle firmly into the shoulder pocket, and go to WalMart and buy some inexpensive elbow pads. The M1A projects a powerful round at long distance. Part of the price the shooter pays for that capability is a certain amount of recoil. Our grandfathers shot bolt-action Springfield rifles all day and won WW I without too many complaints. Looking at it that way, mebbe we have an advantage. Forget the recoil, and concentrate on where the bullet hits. If I was your shooting coach, I'd be giving you lots of ball-and-dummy drills right now. I'm just guessing, but I'll bet you're flinching, among other things. No problem, and you are no different fom lots of other folks. ALL of this can be fixed. |
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