Managing Recoil

Help Women Reduce Shooting Flinch

Written By Mia Anstine

2021

If women can adjust to recoil, it will encourage repeat participation in the shooting sports. If your
store can be a trusted resource in this transition, you’ll benefit with another long-term customer.

Thanks to businesses like yours, 21 million background checks were conducted last year. According to NSSF, more than 8.4 million people became gun owners, with women making up 40% of that total. As we welcome new and experienced ladies to the gun counter, it’s crucial to help them have a positive experience and learn proper shooting.

Recoil is a significant issue shared by women who are new shooters, and your shop can help these ladies start off on the right foot. Offering gear, training and accessories to help women manage recoil will help them enjoy their shooting experience and lead to future sales.

Shooters feel the recoil as it punches the stock of the rifle into their shoulder. How many new shooters have you seen get knocked backward as they learn to mount a firearm?
In past issues, we’ve covered the topic of selling guns to women (this column’s namesake, of course). Go a step further by ensuring you’re prepared to sell them the appropriate caliber round and tools to deal with the energy it disburses.

The Right Gun For The Job

For starters, you should have the contact information of firearms instructors on hand. Be ready to suggest a basic shooting course to any ladies who are new.

DIVA-WOW (Women Outdoors Worldwide) Founder Judy Rhodes holds women’s range-day events throughout the year. She suggests starting new shooters on SIRT (Shot Indicating Resetting Trigger) guns and airguns.

“We teach ladies the basics without using costly ammunition,” said Rhodes. (Especially pertinent today.)

Interested DIVA participants have the opportunity to transition to hunting and self-defense events.

Stocking various calibers of rifles, shotguns and handguns is a starting point to dealing with felt recoil. If the lady gun owner plans to hunt big game, does she need a .338, or will a 6.5 Creedmoor suffice? If the shotgun buyer plans on a shooting trap, a 12-GA Winchester 101 Ultimate Sporting with a ported barrel might do, but her needs are different if she intends to hunt turkey or geese.

A woman’s choice of handguns will depend on whether she’s carrying for self-defense or planning to tag an elk or a cougar — although, a few carry guns will work for both. Your shop might consider carrying the airgun-model versions of top-selling handguns so customers can train by pressing the trigger and working on form without using up ammo.

Dummy Rounds

Olympian, competitive shooter and firearms instructor, Gabby Franco recommends throwing random dummy rounds into the magazine during live-fire practice. With dummy rounds, she’ll openly see any student flinch and practice clearing malfunctions with them.

Cartridges are tough to keep on the shelves nowadays. Consider sharing the differences between match rounds and high-velocity hunting rounds; the new customer will be able to learn with one and then sight-in and hunt with the other.

Shooting Benches

Heavier rifles provide less felt recoil, but they’re also difficult for someone whose muscles need conditioning to hold a gun in a proper shooting stance. Tom Gresham once mentioned an old shooter’s trick, “Put a bag filled with shot behind the back of the rifle and you’re essentially creating a heavier rifle.” Make sure your shop is carrying lead sleds or other forms of shooting benches.

We’d been practicing shooting positions when my daughter commenced with the shooting flinch. To overcome the effects of recoil, we took the rifle back to the sled on the bench. She shot from there and before we moved the rifle to rest on the shooting bags for additional shots, we added some padding.

Shooting Pads

When I visited with Rhodes, who hosts hundreds of new shooters each year, she mentioned the importance of teaching women to get the butt of the gun in the shoulder pocket. Having a shotgun hit the wrong spot causes pain, which leads to recoil anticipation. Adding a recoil pad to the gun’s stock and wearing a shooting shirt will reduce the impact of a poorly mounted gun.

Recoil Pads & Shims

At Hi-Power Sports in Bloomfield, N.M., Manager Matt Head shared, “We carry recoil pads that slip over the stock of the gun if it needs a little more shock absorption.”

An appropriate length of pull will help the lady shooter mount her gun with proper form. Added shim kits will also help her get her cheek onto the comb and line up the sight when she shoulders the firearm.

Suggested Recoil-Reducing Items

• Airguns
• Bipods, Tripods & Shooting Sticks
• Dry-Fire Training Aids (MantisX)
• Dummy Rounds
• Ear Protection
• Large Targets
• Laser Sights
• Lead Sled
• Low-Velocity & High-Velocity Ammunition
• Muzzlebrakes
• Recoil Shields
• Shooting Bags
• Shooting Pads
• Shooting Shirts
• SIRT Guns
• Suppressors

Shooting Sticks

With a padded vest and cushy recoil pad, I worked to help my daughter change her focus and overcome recoil anticipation. We moved the rifle to shooting sticks and refocused her attention from what the gun was doing to what was happening down range. I hung large targets and then talked her through hunting scenarios: “The bull just walked out. He’s broadside. You are going to shoot once. The elk didn’t fall, so you need to quickly cycle the bolt to reload, reacquire your target and shoot again.”

Rehearsing this scenario not only helped her for real hunting situations, it also took her mind off the recoil and her shot grouping was much better.

Value Of Lasers

Your shop needs to carry weapon-mounted lasers as a training tool and a means of aiming at the target.

Years ago, I attended a women’s shooting camp where IPSC Handgun World Shoot gold medalist Kay Miculek was one of the instructors. She led us through the usual safety briefings, taught us to draw and then led dry-fire drills before we headed to the range. After a morning of shooting live-fire, it began to rain and Kay took us inside to teach us the value of lasers; when used during dry-fire drills, the lasers help the shooter recognize recoil anticipation, trigger pull and other shooting errors.

Muzzlebrakes & Suppressors

Muzzlebrakes are an ideal way to direct recoil away from a woman as she shoots her firearm. Gun manufacturers like Tikka International and Bergara include brakes with new guns and other companies are threading their barrels to accept a muzzlebrake.

Add various muzzlebrakes to your inventory and develop relationships with gunsmiths. You’ll be able to direct female gun owners who are coping with recoil to have the barrel of their firearm threaded for a brake.

Ultimately, suppressors can be a dream for women working to manage recoil by diminishing the flinch-causing muzzle report. If your shop hasn’t already become an authorized dealer, you may be interested in acquiring authorization for sales of suppressors (legal in 42 states).

The End Goal

With the thousands of women and other new shooters joining our industry, take advantage of the opportunity to develop relationships with the added clientele. Helping them embrace shooting will encourage them to come back to you for additional guns, gear and training.

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