Hi guys. I went out to try my new toy this morning, a WheelyBird automatic clay thrower that's powered by a car battery. It was awesome and worked flawlessly. My Light Twelve, however, beat the snot out of me. Tonight i'm wincing and moaning everytime I turn the wrong direction or one of my kids hits my shoulder. I only put 50 rounds of #7 1/2 through the gun but for the last ten or so I was cussing between every shot. Now I thought I had looked up how to set the friction rings and had them set properly but I don't think I do because I know this thing isn't supposed to beat me up with target loads. Here's what I have (again, this is a light twelve shooting #7 1/2 and #8 target loads). My gun has two rings, one is the bronze compression ring, the other is a silver ring, both have a flat side and a beveled side. I had the brass ring on the top/front of the spring and the silver ring on the rear/bottom of the spring. Both rings had their flat side towards the spring. The silver ring had it's beveled side towards the receiver. The bronze compression ring had it's bevel towards the forearm nut. So where did I go wrong and how is it supposed to be assembled? Thanks! (from my purple shoulder).
Sounds like you've got the gun set up correctly for light loads. The first thing I would do is to wipe off most of the lubricant from the magazine tube. If that didn't help I would change to the heavy load setting by putting the Steel Friction Ring, bevel side up, between the recoil spring and the Bronze Friction Piece. If the gun cycles target loads when set like this the recoil spring and most likely the action spring need replacing. Last, regardless of the setup, if your shoulder is sore from target loads I would suggest that you are not holding the gun tightly to your shoulder pocket. This makes the difference between recoil feeling like a punch or a push.
Well I took the forearm off again yesterday and there was a good amount of oil on the magazine tube. Hopefully this is part of the problem. Also, i'm no expert on the mechanics of an A5 but it would seem to me that if the recoil spring is worn out then the barrel could slap into the receiver and cause a lot more recoil? I have some new parts on the way and that's one. I also have a new bronze ring and it's spring coming as well. I will check on how i'm holding the gun next time I shoot. I'm shooting trap so I start with it shouldered and I know i'm tight there, so unless I loosen up when I concentrate on the bird maybe? I shot a Remington 870 two weeks ago and I had no recoil problems with that gun. So if I was holding both the same way, I can't imagine a pump kicking less than an A5, that's the part that's got me scratching my head. If it makes a difference, the previous owner said that it wouldn't cycle light loads but i've never seen the gun fail to cycle. And after doing some research on loads i'm wondering if the target loads I was using are even considered light loads. The federals were 1,250fps and the Remingtons were 1,300fps. If that's the same velocity as a #4 does it matter that it's a #7.5?
It's not the size of the shot but the weight. A 12 gauge target load should weigh 1 1/8 oz max. 1300 fps is a little stout, but shouldn't make a big difference unless the payload is heavy. I agree that a fixed breech gun like a pump or an O/U should kick more than any auto. An Auto-5 set up correctly should be pleasant to shoot. You want the most friction the gun will cycle with. If the gun was hurting your face I'd say it doesn't fit you well. I'm not an authority on gun fit, but maybe you need a longer stock. You could try using a slip-on recoil pad. Let us know how you make out.
