Bingo!
From the recoil tables it looks like the 300 kicks a little more than I want.
And it's more expensive than other rounds I use at the range.
But what the heck, I plan on enjoying my new gun.
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Bushmaster, my friend...
My hunting handloads for my .300 Savage round consists of 40.8 grains of H4895, a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet, a standard Winchester primer in Winchester cases in my 1953 Model 99 (EG) with a 24-inch barrel kicks less than a .270 Winchester, a .308 Winchester and much less than a .30/06 and a great deal less than my .338 Winchester Magnum... all of which I've previously shot.
And as I previously posted, it kicks only slightly more than a .243 Winchester... which I've also fired. I'd guess my hunting load recoils with about 14 foot/pounds of recoil... an amount which almost any man would barely notice regardless of what the recoil tables at which you looked indicate.
"Sensed" recoil is a combination of several factors, those being the weight of the bullet, the weight of the powder charge, the weight of the rifle in which the round is fired and how well the rifle fits you, personally.
The lighter the bullet and powder charge, the less the recoil. The heavier the rifle, the less the "sensed" recoil... and it the rifle "fits" you well, the recoil is more of a "PUSH" than a sharp "jab" IF the rifle is held tight against your shoulder so the recoiling rifle doesn't get a "head start".
If you'd like a little lighter recoil in the .300 Savage, merely load 125 or 130 grain bullets and keep your powder loads a tad on the conservative side.
Such a loaded round will most certainly easily still kill whitetails, but you may have to limit the range of your shots a bit more... keeping them down to 150 yards or less... not all together a bad idea since I'm found in over 50 years of hunting and shooting that most hunters who only fire their rifles during hunting season can rarely hit very much beyond 150 yards.
I still chuckle when I think of a fellow hunter who shot a doe deer in the Pennsylvania woods we were both hunting... and showed me the spot from which he took his shot and, of course, I could see his deer laying about 90 yards away along the pipeline. I had to turn my back and hide my grin when he told me about his "
200 yard shot" he took at his deer which was laying absolutely no more than 90 yards away.
"So much" for those fabled "200 yard shots" !~!~!
As recommended previous by another Forum Member, you may find yet another great hobby by getting into reloading your own ammo. It's not only a lotta fun, but the cost savings over buying factory ammo is considerable... often your reloads will cost you about a quarter to a half as much as factory rounds... depending on what components you use.
In addition, you will be able to "custom-fit" your hand-loads to obtain the maximum accuracy out of your rifle by "custom" fitting the load your rifle "likes".
Most experienced Model 99 owners/reloaders will tell you that they can usually obtain one inch or less 3-shot groups at 100 yards off a bench-rest... and, if you're a good shot, you can usually count on getting 3-shot groups BETTER than an inch.
But... in the final analysis, it's your rifle and your decision to make. That said, I believe you'll find it VERY rewarding to hand-load for your .300 Savage and I am confident you'll find it an excellent deer cartridge as well as a fine cartridge for "hogs" and black bear.
Ok... 'nuff said.
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
