There are a bunch of mercury recoil reducers on the market. Do they effectively tame recoil or just add weight to the gun. Opinions?

Technically both.

The added weight tames recoil.

I have one in my Dad's Century Trap and he seems to like it.

We have them in several guns. Both mine and my sons single barrel traps. Also in my son's beretta silver pigeon II sporting gun. They work better than just dead wt. (I have dead wt in my Bronwing Citori Sporting) They do change the balance of the gun. This is important. I wanted that in the guns I installed them in sometimes as much as the recoil reduction.

I firmly believe that recoil is an enemy to all who shoot significantly. (target shooters). Don't be afraid to try low velocity loads. I have shot a lot of Winchester low recoils 15/16 of 8's at 980 fps. They break targets just as well as the fast stuff.

Jerry

I install them reularly for my customers and they all really like them. They do work.
Steve

I put one in my son's Benelli Nova, for shooting 3-1/2" mag loads. He said he could really tell the difference. I thought about putting one in my 16 gauge, 0 frame Parker. :-) wink-wink !

I've used several of them in several different O/U's. I finally concluded a chunk of lead weighing the same amount accomplishes just as much recoil reduction/absorbtion. I like the lead better because it is shorter, which keeps the weight forward and does not make the gun butt-heavy, and because you don't hear the sloshing of the liquid. I make my own lead dowells in various sizes to fit various stock-bolt holes.

HOWEVER, I am removing or at least greatly reducing ALL such weights these days and just shooting lighter loads instead, as the reduction in recoil is vastly more than what you get by putting even a big weight in the gun.

I agree about adding weight. I also use light 1 oz. loads. Maybe I'm a wus, but I was just looking at another way to lighten the impact without adding such cosmetic horrors like springy butt plates, and yellow gooey pads, etc. to a nice SxS. Some have suggest spring operated (Dead Mule) inserts might be better than mercury. Comments?

I've used a "mercury magazine cap" on my Browning Gold Hunter for the past three years, and been very pleased with it.

My skeet scores improved (slightly) when I added it. In my case, the extra weight on the front end helps me swing-thru.

The recoil reduction is minor, and the same amount of lead might do just as well. Since the Browning is a gas-gun, recoil isn't all that bad with skeet loads.

The fact that the mercury weight comes as a magazine cap makes it easy to change back for hunting - although I seldom do so. The cap approach probably looks a bit better than a chunk of lead. I think I paid $55 for this device, from an outfit in Kansas.

I like this device, and think it helps my shooting.