I'm 110lbs, what can i shoot?

Question

By this i mean what is the strongest or most effective weapon i can use without it being too heavy of a recoil to push me backwards or injure me. Last one drew a huge bruised lump on my shoulder

btw i like strong rifles not shotguns

Answer 1

Held properly you can shoot any shoulder fired weapon.

Vet-USAF

Answer 2

I had a person that weighed maybe 120lbs shoot an M-107 / Barrett M-82 .50 caliber rifle this past spring during an initial fielding.

She was one of the weapons maintenance people there for the maintainer portion of the fielding, but after all the classwork and non-firing portion of the training, there was enough ammunition available for everyone there to fire once the designated teams did their initial work up and got their zeroes.

We were firing from the prone, she did 2 full magazines with no complaints.

Recoil is a physical thing. How you manage it is a mental thing as well.

Seat the weapon firmly against your shoulder, lean into the shot, hold onto the gun as it fires, expect and allow the recoil move you but not beat you down, and you can shoot just about anything you can lift in two hands.

The heavier the firearm the better....all that mass has to be moved by the energy of recoil....so more is always better as long as you can lift it. A six-pound bolt action .300 WinMag shot from standing will pound you, the same cartridge fired from a 18-pound semi-automatic with a muzzle brake and a gas action can be shot from the prone over a sandbag all day long.

Answer 3

Recoil is based a number of factors. Most people think the only factor is the muzzle energy of the bullet leaving the gun. That is not true.

The formula is M1 x V1 = M2 x V2.

Mass of the bullet times the velocity of the bullet is equal to the mass of the gun and person holding the gun x velocity of the recoil.

Instead of cutting down the effectiveness of the bullet, by either getting a smaller caliber, light weight bullet or a round that goes slower, work it from the other direction.

Make sure the gun is snug on your shoulder so your entire mass is added to the formula. That is the most important factor in handling the recoil.

Get a heavier gun. A 10 pound gun by itself will have half the recoil of a 5 pound gun, keeping all other factors the same.

Add weight to the gun. Put on a scope, sling, flash suppressor, bipod, etc. Anything that adds to the weight of the gun will reduce the recoil. Some people even go so far as to drill a hole into the stock and stick in lead weights. Stay away from the fancy fiberglass and plastic stocks. Yes they make the gun easier to carry but they make the recoil worse.

Put on a muzzle brake. That diverts some of the forward velocity into backwards velocity and cuts the recoil.

Use a semi-automatic rather than a bolt action. Some of the power of the recoil is used up cycling the action.

The last thing you want to do is to go hunting anything with a caliber/round that is not up to the task. Shoot a bear with a 223 and all you will do is piss him off.

I would recommend as a nice all around round, you get the good old 30-06. It can be used on almost all North American game. Find a nice M1 Garand and you will have fine gun that is not only reliable, it is a nice piece of history.

Answer 4

If properly trained you can shoot anything. Firing a weapon has nothing to do with weight. It is all form. If you are taught to get close to a rifle and take a good cheek lock on it you can fire almost anything. I would probably stay away from the big rifles like M1 and M14 just for ease of carry, etc, but the M16 or any of the smaller 223 rifles are fine with almost no kick. You can shoot any .22 or 38 pistol. With training you can fire the bigger pistols, although the .357 and .45 might have a bit of a kick for you. The trick is to take a safety class and be taught by an expert.

Answer 5

A semi-automatic carbine would be best. You are like a filippino scout in your size and weight. We gave them M-1 carbines. .30 carbine round good to about 300-400 yards. Don't confuse this with the .30-06 rifle round. Carbine. You can get a modern version of the carbine or a different modern rifle in either 9mm, .357 magnum or .44 magnum from Marlin.

If you want a rifle then the Marlin mini-14 ranch rifle in .223 is probably a good choice.

A couple of comments to the above; a M-14 is not a mini-14. A M-14 is pretty heavy with a solid recoil. Stay away from that. I carried one in the military some years ago.

If you are in a position to have to use force on someone you always go for lethal force. If you try Hollywood trick shooting, like hitting their ear or shooting the gun out of their hands most people miss. A good lawyer will use that against you by saying that you did not really feel your life was in danger or you would have used lethal force.

Answer 6

You can shoot anything from the M-9 pistol all the way up the the MK-19 grenade launcher. The pistol you fire from your hand, the M-4 is lightweight and doesn't pack a punch at all, M249 shoots the same 5.56 mm round as a M-4 just fully auto, M240B is 7.62mm you only have to worry about packing this big gun around, as far as shooting it has bi pod legs that are mounted to it, again it packs no punch but Iraqis fear its rapid fire capability, and the .50 cal along with the
MK-19 mounts onto Humvee, so every time you shoot the biggest of them all is off a Humvee. As long as you weapons are mounted on the trucks and you fire the M249 and M240 of their attached bi-pod legs you can shoot them all, the biggest the MK-19.

Answer 7

Stay away from bolt actions as they have the most recoil. The .223 (Colt Sporter, Ruger Mini-14) are good but will cost you. The 5.56x39 (AK-47, SKS) is also good. The SKS is relatively cheap (under $200) and the ammo is also inexpensive. As little as $4.50 a box if you shop around. Maybe a little better if you buy in bulk. The SKS is short, light, and easy to clean. Lots of stuff on the market to customize it, too. A blast to shoot any of the above.

Answer 8

The usual reason for bruising your shoulder is because you're not holding the weapon closely against your body, so the recoil is driving the butt into you over a distance. By holding the stock close against you, the gun and you will move back as one entity.

Answer 9

There are shoulder pads that will help with that. Also, practice, practice, practice!!! You will be surprised at how your tolerance will build up. Your stance has a lot to do with being pushed back - you need to expect it and be prepared for it.
It also depends on what your purpose is - If it's home protection - get a shot gun with a really super hot load - if you use it, you will have a mess but should only have to fire once. If target shooting there are many options out there for you. Go to a gun range where you can try out different guns.

Answer 10

AR-15, it has almost no recoil at all due to a nice recoil buffer spring.

Answer 11

Your "Mouth" on fully automatic!!!

If you held the weapon tight in against your shoulder then the recoil would have been dampened, yours is a classic mistake which can only be rectified with time and training.