Did you know that more than 19 million Americans safely participate in target shooting? Did you know that Hunting is also a shooting sport? We’ve even read that somewhere that shooting live pheasants was actually an Olympic event in 1900. One of the most popular choices for both is a rifle. A rifle is a firearm or air-gun with a rifled barrel, but commonly refers to long weapons that usually require two hands to hold and fire steadily. They generally have a longer range and greater accuracy than pistols, and are popular for both hunting and target shooting.

One of the problems when shooting a rifle however is recoil. Wikipedia defines recoil as “Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gases (ejecta), according to Newton’s third law.” You are always going to have recoil based on this principle but add to it improper technique, such as a bad shooting stance, can cause all types of problems. An injured or bruised shoulder is not uncommon in these situations. Proper technique will certainly help but after learning proper technique you should still look into getting a recoil pad (or a better one if you already have one) for your stock like this one at Brownells.com: http://www.brownells.com/shooting-accessories/recoil-parts/recoil-pads/recoil-pad-prod7401.aspx. This will help tremendously.

Another thing you should have in your arsenal is a good shooting rest. A good shooting rest or bag will take the impact off your body. These gun rests and shooting benches are engineered to keep your gun stationary and excellent for target practice and sighting in or “zero in” the cross-hairs of your scope. There are many types of shooting rests and stands on the market but The Sandbag Store has come up with one that is both portable and adjustable. Tested and designed by competition riflemen, this Shooting Sandbag is the result of years of testing and development producing the most functional bench rest bag on the market today. Here is a review from TheFireArmBlog.com: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/09/18/sandbag-shooting-rests/ and here is the actual product page at SandBagStore.com: http://www.sandbagstore.com/sports—recreation–shooters-sandbags.html