Caldwell Led Sled.....Can these break a gun stock?

S

SEHunter

New member
I have one and use it when testing reloads and i like it alot. I have, however, heard that the buttstock on guns have been cracked or busted from the recoil having no where else to go. This concerns me because soon i will be doing alot of tsting with a wood stock .300 Wby Mag and some loads are on the warm side. Thoughts or experiences?
 
Split on wood stock and broke one plastic Marlin stock out of the 500-600 rifles that my shop zeroed using a basic Lead-Sled. I don't remember the chambering for the wood stock rifle (it was large), but the Marlin was a 7mm Rem Mag. Later we changed to a custom hydraulic rig that worked better anyway. Before the beating starts by the proponents of the lead sled; I am the first to admit that the stocks could have been damaged first.......but they may not have been as well.
John
 
Figure that the energy has to go somewhere. Either into the shooter or, with the lead sled, the rifle stock has to absorb it. Wich may be ok, but I wont be using one.
 
This is the first I'm hearing of this. The few "Big Bores" that I have get shot from the prone from a bipod so I guess I don't have to worry about that. Is this common knowledge?


Chupa
 
Originally Posted By: Chupathingy This is the first I'm hearing of this. The few "Big Bores" that I have get shot from the prone from a bipod so I guess I don't have to worry about that. Is this common knowledge?


Chupa
I dont think it at "common knowledge" status but its floating around i guess. I have only heard a couple rumors on another shooting/reloading site. I understand how this could be a potential issue but i really depend on mine when gathering load data so naturally, im concerned a little. Most of my rifles have a bedding job and i dont have the flow to replace any at this time.
 
The rear pad, in my sled at least, is about as flexible as my shoulder with a normal jacket or shirt...I have a hard time thinking that the recoil from any normal rifle would cause the stock to split, unless there were already some kind of weakness or damage to it, under normal shooting conditions...

With 'super hot' loads in a magnum class rifle, there might be more concern, but then I would have the same concern about my shoulder and be wearing a shooting pad or thicker level of jacket...just as I would be installing a thick pad of foam rubber between the rifle's butt plate and the rear of the sled's rear pocket...
 
It's just physics. The problem lies when people add so much weight that the sled does not move at all. Action w/o reaction.
The small pad in the back is not enough cushion for a hard kicker without a little sled movement. It would be similar to putting your rifle butt up to a wall with just a small towel behind the buttplate & shooting a few rounds. You have to have some movement, so having a little weight in the tray to reduce the recoil is one thing, but to try to stop or reduce recoil to the point that a 338 Edge feels like a 223 spells trouble.
 
I was testing a 45-70 with a cresent stock metal but plate. This chewed through the padding and put some dings in the stock. Replaced the padding with wool to solve the problem.
 
Originally Posted By: nomosenderoIt's just physics. The problem lies when people add so much weight that the sled does not move at all. Action w/o reaction.
The small pad in the back is not enough cushion for a hard kicker without a little sled movement. It would be similar to putting your rifle butt up to a wall with just a small towel behind the buttplate & shooting a few rounds. You have to have some movement, so having a little weight in the tray to reduce the recoil is one thing, but to try to stop or reduce recoil to the point that a 338 Edge feels like a 223 spells trouble.
+1

Jack
 
I have seen a couple of stocks split that were shoulder fired as well.
One was a new a303 06 with lake city match ammo. First round split
the stock. The rounds were hot in my fn as well. I think the black sealer
they put on the bullets had stuck them and raised the pressures.
What's been said makes sense to me. Something has to give.
 
Wow, that stinks. Well, i think we can say that its definately a possibility now. I may try to modify mine somehow to allow more recoil to be released.
 
I'd be a bit surprised if the point of impact was the same after using one of those to sight in a rifle anyhow. For long range work that gun needs to be sighted in the way it is to be used. They need to be able to free recoil back into your shoulder. Tie one down may get you close and tell you what teh rifle could do but I doubt it will hit the same spot very far out.
 
The lead sled is hard on scopes also.
I have seen several Leupolds shaken to bits.
Leupold did cover the warranty but still a pain in the A$$.
 
They're great like said above for testing loads. I don't think they should be used for anything more then just simply getting the rifle dialed in. Then the shooter needs to take over.
 
I have seen a 3.5" shotgun break a scope in one while patterning turkey loads. Massive amount of recoil in a 3.5" Nitro shell, the recoil has to go somewhere. When the gun doesn't move it means the recoil stays in the gun/scope. I still use a lead sled though. I figure a scope here and there with 3.5" Nitro's will just happen.
 
Ive been shooting off one for years since they came out with all kinda of calibers, few hard kickers, 300 RUM, 338 EDGE, 870 3.5" magnums, I've never had a problem with a split stock. Come to think of it, I shot out a 300 RUM barrel in a couple years and I'd say at least a few hundred of those were shot off the lead sled, no problems with the LSS stock... I have noticed that your zero is different when you zero with a leadsled and then shoot off say a bipod.

I use it to work up loads and thats it. I sight in laying prone w/bipod since thats how I hunt and shoot.
 
I have seen two Weatherby stocks broken with a lead sled that I built in the late 80's.

On hard kickers, something has got to give somewhere.

I use a Sinclair and Hart rifle rest, with normal benchrest bags of various heights and configurations. On exrtremely hard kickers, I lean 25lb bag of bird shot up against the butt, which increases the length of pull. My shoulder is on the bag of bird shot. Recoil is still there, but greatly dimenished, does not damage the stock.

300 WM, 300 Weatherby's, 340 weatherby's, 460 Weatherby's, 375 H & H, 338 Win mags are not fun to shoot, thus they all get the bird shot on the stock...better yet a muzzle break.
 
Take your hard kicker, lean up aginst (Okie talk) a tree with the hard kicker aginst your shouder, pull the trigger and see where the recoil goes. Simple physics! Been there, done that!
 


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