Dealing with power, part II: Recoil.

Yesterday I took advantage of the unseasonable warmth to get out to the range and have a bit of fun & practice:

Yeah, those cans jump pretty good when popped with .45 Super rounds, particularly out of my Cx4 Storm.

Which, this time out, was a lot more fun to shoot than when I last took it out. Because I had gotten around to adding a slip-on recoil pad to it. Specifically, one of these: Pachmayr Decelerator® Slip-On Recoil Pads (Not a paid ad, and I got mine from a different seller.)

Because while you want to take steps to manage the power of a round like the .45 Super on the INSIDE of your firearm, you also have to take steps to manage the recoil you experience on your body. Or you’ll avoid practicing. Or will develop bad habits (flinching, grimacing & closing your eyes, etc). Or you’ll be spending money on painkillers, bruise ointments, and massages that you can more profitably spend on ammo/components.

While I like the overall design and ergonomics of the Cx4, the thin rubber ‘recoil pad’ it comes with doesn’t actually do much to tame the recoil, particularly out of .45 Super rounds. So I spent some time looking over different products to help with that, and settled on the Decelerator. Here’s how it looks on my gun:

And:

I was really pleased with the difference it made. Easily knocked off at least half of the felt recoil. Probably more like 3/4ths. And the added lengthening of the stock isn’t at all a problem for me with my long arms.

And of course, if one of my friends wants to prove how macho/masochistic they are, it’ll slip right off … 😉

However you do it, take into consideration how best to manage recoil in your firearms. I’m not recoil-shy. Never have been. But it just makes sense to be kind to your body over the long haul.

 

Jim Downey

PS: the optic is a Vortex Venom holographic red dot sight. So far, I really like it.