Hard facts for soft shooting: Remington Managed Recoil Ammo

Guns Magazine, July, 2004 by Charles E. Petty

The group with all shots measured 1.8 inches but both loads put two rounds close together with a third that opened the group considerably. The first two shots of the Managed Recoil amino produced a group that measured .08" and the third round opened it to 1.1 ".

The American Eagle load did almost the same although the groups were a bit larger. At least in my rifle there was no need for a sight change at all. This is the kind of thing that needs to be proven with every gun, but I think Remington is right, change in zero is not a big deal.

Using the formulas found in The NRA Firearms Fact Book and actual data from shooting it was no trouble to illustrate the truth of Remington's recoil reduction claims. See chart "B" for the results.

Check Those Photos

The difference in felt recoil between the Managed Recoil loads and a conventional 150-grain loading was dramatic, but perhaps even more impressive was watching someone else testing both loads. In the bottom photograph (page 28), you see the muzzle rise produced by a normal 150-grain load.

By contrast, firing the Managed Recoil loads produced all but imperceptible muzzle rise. In fact, I think the top photo is of the rifle in full recoil with the new Remington loads. I may have pressed the camera shutter a half second too early, but regardless, that's about all the fuss you'll see when a Managed Recoil load is discharged. The difference is truly remarkable.

I suspect the greatest hurdle for Remington to overcome here is the perception that since the ammo doesn't kick the shooter it will not have any effect at the other end either. Just as we have come to accept the magnum mythology we also believe we need hot ammo to have adequate "knockdown power" or we must have muzzle energy measured in kilotons. That's so bogus.

Bullets do not "knock down" people or game animals. They fall due to gravity when something causes their brains and muscles to quit holding them up. Most commonly that is either loss of blood or loss of function within the central nervous system. All that takes is to punch a hole somewhere important.

It is certainly true that expanding bullets do this more effectively than those that don't, so Remington has focused the bullet design to produce as much expansion as practical at the available velocities. Actually that's quite a bit because recovered bullets provided by Remington consistently showed excellent expansion and nearly 100 percent weight retention.

So here's the bottom line. Recoil isn't a good thing. And the more you have to put up with the worse you'll shoot. I know some folks think it's keen to beat themselves up but the same can be done with a hammer for much less money. My view is that we should have to withstand no more recoil than is necessary to accomplish whatever our goal may be. In the hunting field that is often a lot less than we think.

Remington says that their goal is to help women and kids and I think that's wonderful but we guys can benefit too. After all, does something that kicks twice as much "kill our game twice as dead? I don't think so.