Originally Posted by snowman

keithwins,

Welcome to the forum. I shoot .44 mag. regularly with heavy magnum loads, just because I enjoy the challenge of overcoming flinch and shooting a magnum accurately. So I believe I've learned a thing or two at least.

The first question that comes to my mind when someone speaks of experiencing pain, bleeding, bruising, etc. when firing heavily recoiling revolvers is if that person is only used to firing semi-autos and/or less powerful revolvers, especially for defensive shooting. I've discovered this to be the case more than once, for folks here on the forum and people I've encountered at the range(maybe not the case with you -obviously I don't know). The issue is that with defensive shooting, swift follow-up shots are crucial, maybe life-saving. This necessitates keeping the arm and wrist stiff in order to minimize recoil/muzzle jump, which of course slow down one's follow-up shots. In addition, it's important to keep the wrist stiff when firing semi-autos, so that the gun cycles properly.

But attempting to do the above with the big boomers usually results in painful shooting as you have experienced. With these guns, shooting heavy loads comfortably requires allowing the gun to recoil, rather than trying to stop or "control" it. One does this by first keeping the elbows and wrists bent and relaxed as suggested by one of the above posters. Then when the gun fires, let the muzzle rise upward as far as it wants to go, while guiding the gun only enough to prevent contact with your forehead. This is how I do it, and I never have any pain, no matter how many rounds I shoot. And yes, I get consistently good groups also.

I have to stop there for now. Let us know how things go.

Best wishes,
Andy