Free recoiling

“Man, what are you talking about? Me in chains? You may fetter my leg but my will, not even Zeus himself can overpower.” ― Epictetus, The Discourses

Some time ago I exchanged comments with @smithlabs over a comment I'd made about free recoiling. I get a great deal of sense from Toby because he's legit-intelligent and a pretty good chap to boot. I said I'd do a post and I've finally gotten around to doing so.

---

Free recoil

This is a technique of firing a rifle without bracing it firmly in one's shoulder which is typically done to manage the recoil and for additional stability. There are circumstances where snugging the rifle butt up against the shoulder is appropriate but benefits to not doing so in certain circumstances also.

I'm a long range shooter first and foremost and often shoot in practical situations including off barricades and objects that are non-conventional rather than just shooting prone as one may see a sniper do in a movie for instance; one needs to adapt to the conditions and situation.

Removing operator transmitted movement

Shooting accurately at great distances requires many elements to combine all at once and the smallest error or miscalculation can cause inaccuracy which, in a real-world field or competition scenario, will always come with consequences. There's so many elements that will affect accuracy with user error amongst them; the slightest amount of user-transmitted-movement to the rifle could mean the round lands metres off target down range.

With this in mind I'm always looking for improvement and the concept of free recoiling has been an area I've developed and become accomplished at over the years.

Free recoiling is a process of mitigating movement the operator potentially transmits to the rifle by touching it less; a very simple concept but one that takes much practice and will only work in particular situations and with specific equipment. Free recoiling a .50 calibre rifle might end with painfully for the operator due to the amount of recoil but with other systems it can be a nice option.

In practical rifle shooting [PRS] at short, medium or long-range, operators usually engage targets after activity that increases one's heart rate through exertion and bursts of adrenalin. With long-range shooting especially this can dramatically affect accuracy. Working around one's breathing and heartbeat is usual but when time counts, in combat or competition, one often needs to take shots quickly so techniques to do so are sought. Free recoiling is one of them, particularly for competition...But there's limitations.

Free recoiling - The elements that make it work

For the purpose of this post I'm going to refer to competition shooting because in truth free recoiling with larger calibre military-specific rifles isn't very comfortable or practical.

In long range practical rifle shooting [PRS] most shooters look for calibres with lower recoil - it doesn't mean they have none - just less.

Most use 6mm-based calibres; indeed the rifle you see in the image above is my 6.5mm Creedmoor competition rifle. The ballistics of these calibres are great and recoil is much lower that other alternatives. Most shooters use muzzle-brakes which help manage recoil also; I'll do a post on brakes at some point I guess. Rifles are generally quite heavy as long range shooting is usually done with the rifle rested on something rather than free-hand; a barricade, roof, window frame, vehicle, tree, a tripod or other such solid object, or the ground when prone. We look for heavy rifles also as they manage the recoil much better.

Most shooters will also use a bag of some sort to rest the gun on; a soft buffer between the rifle and hard surface it rests upon is preferable. I use one of these as pictured below and, again, will do a post on it at some stage. Typically it's a tough fabric bag filled with a lightweight filling much like a small beanbag; some are simple like what I take culling although they can be quite technical purpose-made things these days also. Costly too.

Further to this is a light trigger-pull which most long-range shooters will tune to their specific needs. I use Timney triggers on my long guns as they are superior to factory triggers, very adaptable and are smooth to operate; this is all essential to sending accurate shots at long range. I use a light to medium-light pull on my triggers.

In summary: A lower recoil calibre [6mm-based cartridge usually], heavy rifle, shooting bag and lightweight trigger-pull are elements that make free recoiling an effective option.

One of my rifles sitting on a shooting bag called the 'Game-changer'. I use this bag in competition a lot, but it has its limitations and will only work in specific situations. It's a little bulky and heavy to run around with so is a 'sometimes' bag - I have other smaller and lighter options. All get used though.

How to free recoil

Imagine I'm shooting from a low window ledge. I'd be resting on my knees with them splayed wide to form a triangular-position with feet also touching the ground behind me; I'd be relaxed and settled. The shooting bag would be placed on the ledge with the rifle placed upon it, balanced so that it stayed there by itself, pointing down range at the target. I should be able to leave the rifle untouched and have it still remain on target.

The idea is to touch the rifle as little as possible so I'd use my left hand to steady the rifle, forward on the barrel shroud or sometimes even on the top of the scope resting lightly and just enough to fine-tune my aim. Only the fingertips of my right hand touch the rifle: Thumb on the back of the handgrip, middle finger on the front and forefinger on the trigger. As I was experimenting I found that it was better to have my cheek ever so lightly to the cheek-rest. Touching the rifle so lightly and little brings less chance of user-introduced-movement. No other part of my body, besides as explained above, touches the rifle. From there I simply pull straight back on the trigger and send the round.

Keep in mind that a rifle like my competition rifle-system has recoil; it's unavoidable. The rifle kicks backwards as the shot breaks but I've eliminated almost all other potential movement that my body might otherwise transmit so the shot goes where intended. Some don't even touch it with their cheek but I found that best for me. My shoulder is there to eventually catch the rifle and whilst it can punch hard on the shoulder the shot is accurate which is what counts.

Free recoil or not

When shooting at long range I always watch the projectile strike the target through the scope but sometimes the shots have to happen so rapidly that it's not possible; one needs to find new targets or send multiple rounds onto the one target rapidly. This is one of the times when free recoiling isn't that great.

I recall a stage where competitors had to twice hit a target at 700, 1000, 1200 then 1600 metres but could not engage the next unless the previous had been hit twice. It was a timed stage of course, so speed was necessary. Free recoiling was far too slow for this stage, and besides, it was shot lying prone. Just one example when free recoiling isn't preferable.

At 1000 metres I can have an accurate second round in the air before the first strikes the target. [I practice a lot.] At 1000 metres the flight time of my 6.5mm rounds to target is 1.41 seconds, enough time for me to reload, aim and send the next. At 700 metres it's only 0.92 seconds so not enough time for me to get that second shot into the air. Interestingly, at 1600 metres flight time is 2.58 seconds, ample time for that second shot, but at that range a lot mote care has to be taken with the shot. In all these cases above free recoiling [for me] isn't appropriate.

On another stage the shooter had to start 40 metres behind a trench, run to it and shoot two targets at 750 and 1000 metres and when each was hit shoulder the firearm, drag a dummy-person weighing 85 kilograms 20 metres to another trench, wrap a bandage around the dummy's thigh, then hit three more targets at 700, 950 and 1100 meters. All of this was done as quickly as possible as scores were time and accuracy based. It's at times like this when having an edge helps and on that occasion free recoiling was relevant; I was panting heavily with effort and isolating that from the rifle helped me make the shots. A case where free recoiling was relevant.

---

So that's a little piece on free recoiling and how it can work in certain circumstances. It is certainly not something that is applicable for every situation, rifle-system or shooter but once mastered can work very effectively saving time and improving accuracy through mitigating user-transferred movement.