Am I just a "wuss".

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How can you be a "wuss" with a username like .30-06?! Come on! man...

Hahaha...


Those single-shot break-action shotguns are not heavy guns... there will be more perceived recoil with that load in that gun as opposed to a heavier gun. Try using a slip-on Limbsaver recoil pad if your shoulder doesn't become conditioned soon. (too, you might remove the buttstock cap and use it as a template to size any variety of screw-on recoil pads from Remington or Limbsaver...)

Are you a regular shotgunner? or...

You should never shoot without proper ear and eye protection...

The shotgun butt should go in your shoulder pocket, the muscular space between your collar bone and the shoulder joint...

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What do you mean by "conditioned"?

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As I eased into shooting shotguns, I took it a step at a time. One box the first time (after purchasing my own shotgun after a long hiatus from family-gun plinking), two boxes a couple of weeks later, etc... I'd only shoot again after I felt no tenderness in my shoulder when mounting my gun. Eventually I was shooting 12 ga slugs from pump guns and a single-shot like yours without suffering much pain.

Like most physical endeavors, training and conditioning cannot be rushed or acquired in one instance.

Edit: ...and, yea. What're you doing shooting without ear protection? Come on! man...

I hate to sound like a schoolmarm. Please excuse me if I've stated the obvious.

Those guns are notorious for hurting everyone, even with light loads. There is no such thing as "conditioned". Proper fit, proper loads should produce zero pain. If you're getting pain STOP to prevent further damage. Shoulder surgery is expensive and rehab is a long hard road.

If you don't know enough to use ears and eyes, perhaps you should take a basic gun safety course before going any further

My ears are STILL ringing 45 years after shooting .22s without hearing protection when I was a dumb kid. Yeah, you need eyes and ears when you shoot anything, even a puny little 20 ga.

As for your shoulder, do you know if the gun fits you?

LOL..... This cracks me up.

The first time I shot a round of clays with a Beretta 626 20 gage I reexamined my relationship with the Remington 1100. Don't have a clue about those power piston loads but I do know that little NEF is gonna put a George Foreman whoopin on anyone standing behind it by its very nature.

I must be getting old because the most exiting gift I got for Christmas was a set of Walker Power Muffs.

Light weight 20 ga shotguns have recoil close to 300 WM levels.

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I must be getting old because the most exiting gift I got for Christmas was a set of Walker Power Muffs.

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Hahaha... my son gave me a pair of H. Leight Impact Sport ear protection. Between the folded size, the color but most of all the performance I think it one of the coolest gifts I've gotten in awhile!

If it hits you like a hammer you are not holding it correctly. The stock must be pushed in tightly against your shoulder. Any slack or loose hold or space between your shoulder and the butt of the gun will allow it to get a running start and punch your shoulder. Full contact pulled tightly against the pocket of your shoulder, you will rock with the recoil.

Those single shot guns like the H&R and the old Winchester Model 37's have a lot of kick. But they have always been my favorite. Never had one that didn't do what it was supposed to do. I've got new-fangled shotguns, but the real sport of shooting and hunting with a shotgun is inside those old reliables. I've never been recoil sensitive but that's just me.

Let your husband shoot it and see if he whines too ;-)

I feel like I need hearing protection because my ears ring afterwards.

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Yeah, that's a pretty good sign that you need hearing protection. Of course deciding to go shooting is a perfect time to consider it as well.
Eyes and ears. Always. Even for .22s and shotguns.

And yeah, those light shotguns are notorious for stomping you.

I had a similar experience with a Benelli Montelfltro 20. It was sooooo light, pointed like a wand, and seemed to fit me perfectly. It beat the stuffing out of me. I tried every shim that came with the gun to change the angle of the stock, nothing worked. It always slapped me in the cheek. I sold it, and took the cash and bought a minty 35 year-old 1100 12. That gun is a dream, silky smooth, soft shooting.

Light shotguns suck.

I still have the most brutal weapon I've ever fired, a whispy light Rossi Overland Coach. I put a few dove loads through it, and I was done.

It sat in the safe until I took it to my smithy and had him graft on a decelerator pad onto the super-thin buttstock. It didn't help much, but I considered it a right of passage to try at least a couple of magnum 3" loads through it.

Wearing a padded shirt, shooting vest, and a folded-up ammo box under the butt of that gun, I unleashed its fury. Six times, if I remember right, although that kind of violence can mess with one's memory.

I've taken a few good shots before, back when high school kids could get in a fist fight without getting arrested. I've never been hit like that. I seriously thought I broke my collar bone. Over a week later I had to quit a dove hunt with my soft-shooting 1100; it still hurt that bad.

I have had a H & R Topper 16 gauge since I was 12. It hurt then and hurts now. The painful kick was part of the magic of a single shot when I was a kid. Now, it just plain hurts after a handful of shells.

Those lightweight breakovers do kick but 20gauge not that bad, I have an old nef in a 10gauge that I bought from a freind for $30 because he couldn't shoot it. I'm 6'4" 280lbs and it hurts me to shoot that thing, I geuss that's why I never shoot it.haha

Not a 20 ga but a 28 ga H&R youth model single shot I started my grandson on it and when he out grew it he shot my 20 O/U then one day we switched I shot the 20 and he my 12 ga. This was skeet minimum three rounds once or twice a week he shot singles of course with that 28 but got to high teens low twenties, btw the 28 had a modified choke. Did shoot reloads at 1200 FPS 3/4 oz but recoil wasn't scary.

Those 20s are a heck of a handful. Worse still is 12 which manages to be worse than 10ga. I have shot all three plus a few in .410, and the 10 was on a bet. 12 is still a light gun with a heavy round, but the 10 is as much of a bruiser to carry as it is to shoot. It has a thick, heavy walled, long barrel that turns snappy recoil into a shove. 12 and 20 are the worst, I suspect 16 to be right in the mix an possibly the worst of all.

I recently sold a Winchester 840 12 gauge. It wasn't as bad as the Topper 16 gauge.

The NEF singles have an unusually high comb for a field shotgun. With my 12 gauge, reducing comb height was necessary to comfortably shoot and center the pattern. I sanded the comb down and sloped it forward to solve this problem.

Don't know anything about the power piston shells, but my single shot 20 gauge is one of the lightest shooting long guns I own. Almost like a .223 when shooting 8 shot. A little more stout with #3 buck and more recoil still with slugs. But nothing bad.

It's not, however, an H&R/ NEF single shot.

I have a lightweight 20 ge. SxS that is really quite a handful with just about any load. Having very little in the way of a recoil pad and the stock design both contribute to quite a bit of kick that typically isn't there when shooting my 12 ga. shotguns. Hearing protection is a must and maybe look into a Limbsaver or a PAST recoil pad shoulder rig.