"TAMING RECOIL."

Several years ago I began to notice that a relatively mild, standard caliber rifle, like a 30-06, was sometimes uncomfortable to shoot, especially off the bench or from the prone position. Magnum caliber's just plain hurt, causing me to flinch and shoot poorly. Heavy recoil is the enemy of good shooting. Time and several thousand punishing rounds went by. In desperation I used all kinds of contraptions to tame recoil. Sand and shot bags, baffled sheets filled with lead shot, foam, even layered bubble wrap, I tried them all. Each provided some relief from recoil but still had at least one serious shortcoming. And no, I did not resort to a muzzle brake. A device that reduces recoil at the cost of causing permanent hearing loss is a poor tradeoff.

"14 year old Ben Teske sighting in his dad's 338 Win. Mag."

During the winter of 2003/2004 while shooting lots of heavy 45-110 Sharps Straight loads I decided it was time to develop something that would make it possible for me to shoot heavy caliber's as comfortably as smaller ones. My wife pointed out that there are lots of women and youths who are developing their shooting skills, and they, too want to minimize the pounding they get from recoil. With that in mind we developed a set of criteria. They are:

1) Significantly reduces felt recoil

2) Does not affect accuracy and point of impact
Durable and convenient

3)Will not cause permanent physical harm (like a muzzle break will cause hearing loss to shooters and bystanders!)

4) Works through the normal range of hunting and recreational shooting temperatures (some I've tried don't! )

5) Convenient to use and transport (some aren't!)

6) Reasonably priced

7) Available for both right and left handed shooters (I shot left handed for 30 years, so I understand a south paw's frustrations)