On a recent pronghorn hunt in New Mexico I stood on a hilltop and watched a hunter down below kill a buck with a .300 Winchester Magnum, obviously more gun than is needed for these small desert goats. It took him four shots, and even at that I'd say some luck was involved. The hunter's first shot was from about 50 yards and broke one of the buck's front legs. The second missed completely. After a long stalk, which again took the hunter to within 100 yards of his quarry, the third attempt was a gut shot. Finally, the fourth shot ended the ordeal.

The ComforTech stock is now available on the Benelli R1 autoloading rifle. This feature, along with the recoil-reducing effects of the gas-operated action, makes it one of the most pleasant-to-shoot big-game rifles available.

This poor display of marksmanship could have been due to buck fever or a total lack of experience, but I doubt it. A person usually has to have some experience with firearms to learn to shoot that poorly. My guess is that he had simply bought more gun than he could handle and had developed a severe flinch. Accurate shot placement requires that the shooter keep at least one eye open.

I'd bet my favorite hunting knife that if that hunter had opted for a milder-recoiling rifle, the scene I witnessed would have gone differently. Now, I am not knocking magnum cartridges. They have their uses. But as the great American philosopher Clint Eastwood once said, "A man has got to know his limitations."

Even non-magnum cartridges can kick enough to cause flinching, particularly in light rifles, and once a flinch develops it can be very difficult to overcome. This is why hunters should give some thought to recoil before purchasing a rifle and be realistic about what they can and cannot handle.

The trend in recent years toward more powerful cartridges coupled with lighter rifles has produced benefits. New ways to control the effects of recoil have been developed. Muzzlebrakes have increased in efficiency and popularity but redirect gases in a direction that increases noise levels for the shooter and anyone unfortunate enough to be standing next to him.

Benelli took what may be a better approach by designing a stock that absorbs part of the recoil before it impacts the shooter. The basic idea of recoil-absorbing stocks is not new. Mercury-filled tubes built into the stock have been around for years, but they add weight to the stock. And coil springs built into the stock as was tried in Winchester Model 12 trap guns and Weatherby's behemoth 460 magnum decades ago did not prove useful enough to be embraced by the shooting public.

Benelli wanted a stock that was light, rugged and had no mechanical moving parts. Engineers used sophisticated computer software and specially designed machines that held the gun during firing and measured the dynamics of recoil as it travels through the stock and impacts the shooter. The result is the ComforTech stock first introduced on the Black Eagle II autoloading shotgun. This same design is now available on the R1 autoloading centerfire rifles.

The chevron-shaped inserts in the ComforTech stock absorb recoil by diverting recoil energy as it travels through the stock.

The Benelli R1 rifle is an auto-regulating gas-operated design that has proven extremely reliable in the Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun. The autoloader design gives the rifle a head start when it comes to recoil reduction, as all gas-operated autoloaders kick less than comparable fixed-bolt designs due to gases being diverted to operate the action.