Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Recoil comparison 270 managed recoil vs. 243?

I'm getting my nephew into deer hunting this year. At 9 he's concerned about recoil and so am I. I'm considering using remington's managed recoil loads in my 270 for him or setting him up with a 243. He could grow into the 270 over time which is great, but I want recoil to be the last thing on his mind. Anyone shot these loads that can compare them for me?

That's a provocative question that sent me comparing ballistics. Physics teaches us that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, hence recoil in a rifle. Looking at the managed reocil ammo from Remington, they've downsized the bullet from 130 gr to 115 gr. and reduced the velocity (voila', less recoil). Comparing the managed recoil 270 to their standard 243 load with 100 gr. bullet, my choice would be the 243 as it has greater velocity and downrange characteristics. All that being said, Montana is a very different place to hunt than Michigan and if your shots are bound to be less than 100 yards then I doubt the deer or the shooter will notice the difference.

I love both rounds, but if pushed for a fella that young I'd go with the 243, and a light loaded 55 NBT for a fair bit of practice. Then bump him to a 90 Speer for tags and at your ranges you won't have to rock it hard.

That or a 22/250 if it was legal where you live?

If you have to go .270 then there's a lot of light loads one could build with a 90 or 100 if you don't mind hand loading..

Dober

My 7 year old average sized (not a large kid for his age by any means) grandson is shooting a 260 caliber with 100 grain hand loads with no problems. He loves it. The gun weights a little under 8 pounds. That helps. I don't know how much the scope and mounts add. He also shot a number of rounds through my son in laws' 308 that weights around 8.5 pounds with a scope and mounts that I don't know the weight of. All of this was at the range on shooting tables.

Of course he has been shooting several different 22s a lot for the last 1.5 years. He also shot a 20 gauge with light hand loads at doves this past year. I have been very surprised at how he has handled these guns. We usually have him with several other people and that adds incentive.

This recoil calculator...


http://huntamerica.com/recoil_calculator


...says that the recoil, assuming equal rifle weights, and estimating the powder weight, would be essentially the same. 9 ft-lbs for the 270(115gr bullet at 2710fps)and 8 ft-lbs for the 243 (100gr at 2960fps)

Of course the felt recoil varies somewhat with the rifle and how it fits the individual. But given similar rifles, I'd bet you could not tell the difference in recoil.


FWIW: A good friend has been using the Managed Recoil 270 load for his daughter for a cople of years now with very good results. Small deer at 100 yds or less.

Last year I killed two deer with a .270 pushing the 110 grain TTSX at 3170 FPS. The recoil was mild enough to watch the bullet hit and see the deer hit the dirt out to near 300 yards.

The noise of that load might be a little more trouble than the recoil, but the noise is also no different really than a full power .243 load.

If you can get him shooting 80 grain TTSXs in a .243 you have all that you need to kill deer cleanly out to 400 yards if need be. If you hand load, 34/35 grains of Varget under an 85 TSX or 80 TTSX will usually show decent accuracy and the muzzle blast and recoil are very light.

I'd go with the Managed Recoil ammo if the rifle fit him. Not many rifles fit 9 year ols though.

I agree that it's tough to outfit a 9 year old with a proper fitting rifle. I started out with a borrowed Winchester 94 in 30-30 at age 14. It's a well balanced cartridge. Remington makes a Managed Recoil load for 30-30.

In 1969, Dad bought a Remington 760 pump rifle in 243 for my brother and me to share. We mounted a second hand Redfield 6X scope and toppled many mule deer and antelope with it on the broken plains of Park County, Wyoming where I lived until 1973. But this is a fairly heavy rifle weight wise and I would not recommend it for a young hunter under say about 15.

NEF and H & R build fair quality single shot rifles for 270, 243, and 30-30. Stocks are easy to shorten, too.

Rossi offers a 243 in kid-sized single shot rifle. There are several video clips on YouTube that show this rifle in action.

Sherwood

If 270 is to much ,go with a 25-06 and forget the 243.The 25-06 is better all the way around .Or buy a 270 put on a muzzle break from willams in Michigan they work great

A .270 with a good brake would be a pussy cat to shoot. All those gasses pushing back against the recoil, he's likely not to notice the shot except for the noise. A brake .243 shooting the 80 grain TTSX would be even better. It might feel like the rifle was trying to go forward.

If you reload, or know anyone who does reload, Remington uses IMR 4198 in those Managed Recoil loads..

Try 30 grains of IMR 4198 ( or RL 7 or RL10) with a 110 grain Speer, or 130 grain Ballistic Tip... or the 115 grain Bullets, 110 V Max, or even the 90 grain HP from Sierra or Speer...

with that charge they are more than capable of taking any deer in the Upper Midwest within 150 yds.. I've hunted No Minnesota and No Wisconsin, so I am familiar with how big they can get...

but even with the varmint bullets listed above, will open up just fine on deer at those velocities ( approximately 2600 fps MV or < )