Posted to News on 7th Aug 2012, 16:01
Ace SLAB used by 2012 Olympic Games gold medal winner
Peter Wilson, the world record-holder and world number two in the men's Double Trap Shooting event, has won the gold medal the 2012 Olympic men's Double Trap Shooting final. The stock of the shotgun used by Peter was fitted with a "green pad' shock absorbing pad supplied by Ace's customer, Essex-based Recoil Systems
The "green pad', as it is called, is made from Ace's SL-100 SLAB visco-elastic PUR material which is specially designed and manufactured to absorb shock loads. When the material is manufactured, vast quantities of tiny air pockets are formed. Due to the molecular structure of the material, these air pockets take the shape of tiny dodecahedrons (having 12 faces). This regular structure gives remarkable distribution of energy on impact.
Any impact causes the cells to compress, forcing the webs of material outwards against each other thus slowing the impact down. After the impact, the material returns to its original shape at a steady rate and does not bounce which would create a return force to the shoulder, which is the significant problem with other recoil pads.
Ace has been working with Recoil Systems for over 10 years, supplying their SLAB damping material and, for other dampers that Recoil manufactures their MC 150 self-compensating, miniature shock absorbers.
Over the years Ace shock absorbers have been used on thousands of industrial applications and several out-of-the-ordinary ones. Their use to counter the recoil action of a shotgun must surely be one of the most unusual.
Every time a gun is fired, recoil is a resulting action. Excessive recoil can cause a severe flinch from pulling the trigger, neck and shoulder problems and in the most severe cases it results in the shooter giving up the sport he enjoys.
To find out more about Ace's SL-100 SLAB visco-elastic PUR material and shock absorbers, visit the website at www.ace-controls.co.uk.
