Taking the Kick Out of Shooting

From the October 1964 Issue
10
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Remember the first time you fired a shotgun with a big kick?

John Prescott writes about recoil-reducing “innovations” from the 1960’s in his article, “taking the KICK out of shooting” which appeared in the October 1964 issue of GUNS Magazine.

Prescott starts: “FIRST IMPRESSIONS, especially with youngsters, are often lasting ones. This is particularly true where hunting is concerned; let the youngster have a good day the first time out, and he’ll remember the day for many, many years.

“But let it be a day when he misses, even the easy ones, let the gun be uncomfortably heavy, or too big, or too cumbersome, and this too will leave a lasting impression — the sort of impression that won’t induce him to try again. One of the often met complaints is recoil.

“That recoil can be softened, at least to a certain extent, by load selection seems to be a forgotten piece of knowledge. There is nothing wrong with a hunter using all the firepower his game requires, that he thinks he can handle. But too often there is an emphasis on bore-size for its own sake, as if it were some newly discovered symbol of manliness. Since the younger generation tends to learn partly through imitation, there’s likely to be an echo of an adult viewpoint in its own…

Read the rest of the story below or check out the entire October 1964 issue of GUNS Magazine.