The Effects of Recoil on Shooter Performance.
Abstract
This research was performed to investigate the effects that weapon recoil has on aiming accuracy and on the number of shots soldiers are willing to fire. The research also investigates the possible benefits of adding a recoil-mitigating device to high recoil weapons. One hundred five soldiers were assigned to one of seven test groups, with each group firing only one of the test weapons. Five of the test weapons were shotguns of various weights and cartridge impulse levels to provide different levels of recoil energy and recoil velocity. The remaining two groups fired one of the two weapons with a recoil-mitigating device. Each test group fired five shots with a baseline weapon, followed by as many shots as they were willing to fire with the test weapon; shots were temporally spaced by approximately 30 seconds. The aiming accuracy was recorded via a small video camera mounted on the forestock of the weapon. Results showed that although significantly more shots could be fired with weapons with a recoil-mitigating device, the aiming accuracy was no better than that of weapons without the device. The higher recoil test weapons had significantly poorer aiming accuracy than the weapon with the lightest recoil, and the aiming error with the high recoil weapons was consistently above the target.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA309794
Entities
People
- P. H. Ellis
- R. P. Merkey
- W. E. Hanlon
- W. H. Harper
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory