LR 308 rifle smoothing out recoil

[redleg10]

If you reload, try different powders. I have found out that some powders give you a push rather than a kick.

 

[Chris Harrison]

I've got one I built. It was built as a precision rifle. It's heavy at 16.5 pounds. That alone helps a lot. It has a midweight 22" barrel, adjustable gas block, low mass bolt carrier, and a KynSHOT hydraulic buffer. The muzzle device is a JP Rifle that I got with the barrel kit. With Federal Gold Match 168 SMK it feels like only a little more than a lightweight .243 in terms of recoil. Sorry for your aversion to the adjustable gas block and a decent compensator. They would likely solve your issues. Good luck.

 

[Seadog]

If you reload, try different powders. I have found out that some powders give you a push rather than a kick.

Unfortunately for me reloading is something I have procrastinated to long on learning. Not sure things have gotten back to normal enough to start yet. What powder brands do you recommend for 308 that give more of a push?

 

[Seadog]

I've got one I built. It was built as a precision rifle. It's heavy at 16.5 pounds. That alone helps a lot. It has a midweight 22" barrel, adjustable gas block, low mass bolt carrier, and a KynSHOT hydraulic buffer. The muzzle device is a JP Rifle that I got with the barrel kit. With Federal Gold Match 168 SMK it feels like only a little more than a lightweight .243 in terms of recoil. Sorry for your aversion to the adjustable gas block and a decent compensator. They would likely solve your issues. Good luck.

Mine is a bit lighter than yours. Just weighed it. It’s at 12.8. My view perhaps wrong is that I don’t think that an adjustable gas block should be necessary for a rifle. Unless running a suppressor or getting extremely fowled out what is the purpose? I’d guess if a barrel has an improper gas port size that would be necessary. They sound more like a Band-Aid for something incorrectly assembled or tuned to begin with. I’m not pointing this at you but this is my mindset of adjustable gas blocks.

My rifle will be ammo specific so I won’t need to worry about a variety of different ammunition.

There’s been enough people on here implying that a muzzle brake is a must. And that they are not as bad as I remember. I just looked up some JP products. Your break the Tank Break? I remember those from a long time ago. Is that what you have?

 

[dennishoddy]

I'll dive into adjustable gas blocks.
The combination of the amount of gas being sent to the BCG to cycle the action in combination with the buffer weight and buffer spring should cycle the action just enough to not fully compress the buffer spring yet complete the cycle of ejection and stripping a new round from the mag.
As with any semi auto firearm you don't want the slide/action to slam to the stops as it creates more recoil and will eventually cause breakage.
So, with that in mind, there is so much difference in ammo that one can cause a softer recoil impulse while another can result in a higher felt recoil.
The purpose of the adjustable block is to find the most accurate sweet load for your rifle and be able to tune it so that it completes the cycle with the minimum of recoil.
That is also the purpose of reloading so one can find that perfect load and repeat it to maintain that tune.
You can achieve the same purpose by changing buffer weights and spring weights, but the adjustable gas block only requires an allen wrench to tune.
Yes, there are occasions where changing buffer weights and springs are required and there is no other solution.

 

[Seadog]

I'll dive into adjustable gas blocks.
The combination of the amount of gas being sent to the BCG to cycle the action in combination with the buffer weight and buffer spring should cycle the action just enough to not fully compress the buffer spring yet complete the cycle of ejection and stripping a new round from the mag.
As with any semi auto firearm you don't want the slide/action to slam to the stops as it creates more recoil and will eventually cause breakage.
So, with that in mind, there is so much difference in ammo that one can cause a softer recoil impulse while another can result in a higher felt recoil.
The purpose of the adjustable block is to find the most accurate sweet load for your rifle and be able to tune it so that it completes the cycle with the minimum of recoil.
That is also the purpose of reloading so one can find that perfect load and repeat it to maintain that tune.
You can achieve the same purpose by changing buffer weights and spring weights, but the adjustable gas block only requires an allen wrench to tune.
Yes, there are occasions where changing buffer weights and springs are required and there is no other solution.

Thanks for typing all that out Dennishoddy.

I totally understand your point of ammo load and bullet weights and how they can tame recoil. My goal is to tame 175gr as much as I can.

I’m going to take you and the others advice of an adjustable gas system. I’m going to go a slightly different route. I remember from another thread not long ago a fellow member SGT something mentioned an adjustable gas key. I’m not going to mess with my gas block. It has the front sight built into it and it’s a type that folds down. I like the idea of my front sight being on the gas block. I like the redundancy of having back up buis. I have a free float MI hand guard that I like but I’m not a fan of front sights on hand guards.

RCA Has an adjustable gas key that I’m going to order and experiment with. When I get it I will see how well this works on the rifle before I start looking at a muzzle brake. This way I can adjust the gas system and keep the current front sight gas block that I have.

 

[redleg10]

In regards to the powders that push and not kick , every firearm has it's own unique personality. Since felt recoil is at the bottom of my concern list I never payed much attention to what powder was more comfortably to shoot since accuracy and velocity are my main concerns. Try different powders and see which "feels the best", I have used H335, Tac, H4895, IMR 8208,and Varget in my M5 load testing. I will say that in pistol powders that Power Pistol is rather snappy compared to other powders I use for around the same velocity.

 

[WorksEveryTime]

In regards to the powders that push and not kick , every firearm has it's own unique personality. Since felt recoil is at the bottom of my concern list I never payed much attention to what powder was more comfortably to shoot since accuracy and velocity are my main concerns. Try different powders and see which "feels the best", I have used H335, Tac, H4895, IMR 8208,and Varget in my M5 load testing. I will say that in pistol powders that Power Pistol is rather snappy compared to other powders I use for around the same velocity.

Hey Redleg10,

If you could only find H335 and Tac, which one would you go with? I've used Tac but not 335.

Thanks!

 

[redleg10]

I use H335 in more caliber loadings than anything else, the good thing is it's usually always available. Tac will usually give you higher velocities. What bullet weight are you using?

 

[Gunbuffer]

put on some weight. In lieu of a comp, that’s your best route