Mercury works better than lead! You can prove it yourself as the mercury recoil reducers can be easily removed from a stock and substituted with a lead rod of equal weight. THere is a most definately noticeable improvement in felt recoil with Mercury tubes. 500 grns explained why correctly! The mercury will oppose the recoil forces while lead will not! All lead does is add weight. That helps but not as much as Mercury!!! I have added three in the butt and one in the forearm on big kickers and it makes a considerable difference. Why or Why would anybody allow themselves to get the shit kicked out of them by not using Mercury tubes and muzzel brakes? I like big guns, I'm no fan of recoil and pain! It is possible to shoot big guns without pain! In any event the problem I'm having isn't recoil its Torque! I may have to start making muzzel brakes with holes drilled at an angle to use the gas to oppose the torque reaction.-Rob