Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What's been your biggest recoil suprises?

Mine on the low end was a Ruger #1 Stainless in 7mm STW. I was really prepared for a sore shoulder, but this thing was a pussycat.

On the other hand, I bought a Model 7 in 7mm-08 to be my lightweight mountain gun. You know, 7 lbs total, but a reasonably light recoiling round. That thing loosened my fillings. It didn't group well to start with and I got shy of it pretty quick too.

What about you?

I had a Ruger #1A, light sporter in 243. It was very loud and would kick hard for a 243.

A couple months ago I had the opportunity to get behind an AI .338 Lapua Mag with a Schmidt Bender PM-II scope on top ... Of course, I took the opportunity to shoot the rifle, wouldn't you? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Well, I never expected it to knock me over or anything, but I did expect it to kick a fair game ... but truth be known, I shot it from the bench about 7 times in about 5 minutes, and it was a baby ... I don't know if it was my expectations going in ... or if it was the stock design (AICS chassis) ... or something else ... but the rifle was very pleasant to shoot, even off the bench.

So, I guess my recoil surprise is that the .338LM is not the beast that I thought it was ... then again, put it in a lightweight, poorly stocked rifle with some hot/heavy loads ... I might change my mind ... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Sorest shoulder was with a 45/70 T/C Contender Carbine. But the first (& only) time I got "magnum eyebrow" was a shot at a running whitetail with a Hornady's 12 Ga SST slug. I just thought I got bruised; my wife wanted to know why I had blood all over my face.

460 Weatherby in a mark V.

It blacked me out.

Probably the biggest surprise was a Sako in .375 H&H. It was a big, heavy rifle, but I thought it would knock me silly. Turned out to be pretty easy and fun to shoot. Just a big shove!

The only rifle that ever cut my eye was a Model 7 in 7mm-08!
I took a shot at a buck, went to check on it, and started to get a little dizzy. Then, I felt something on my nose. It was blood! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Not sure I've ever had much of a "surprise". I guess the biggest was the first time I shot a .44 Mag. I'd had a 45 Colt for awhile and didn't figure the Mag. would be that much more. It was certainly enlightening on that score.

Another time, I'd had an 1886 Winchester for quite awhile and traded it off. Needing another 45-70, I bought a regular Marlin 1895. I touched it off with some hot, light Federal loads and ended up going to the Chiropractor two days later. After that, I stuck to my hanloads or old 405 grain Remingotons.

Federal Hi-Energy rounds for my .30-06.

Obviously, any '06 round is not going to kick dramatically, but I was very surprised at the difference in recoil between a normal round and the Hi-Energy. (And FWIW, I didn't feel like the hi-engery rounds were worth it for what you gained in velcity and downrange energy).

At the risk of sounding like a female reproductive organ, I would have to say that one of the biggest surprises I have had was with a 700 BDL chambered for .270 WCF. I know, I know. Apparently the stock fit was wrong for me or something, because I shot 20 rounds of 130 grain Federal Classic ammo through it, and every filling in my head was loose.

Most pleasant surprise was when I was a kid and shot a 1911 govt. Model for the first time. That cartridge looked to me like it would kill on one end and cripple on the other. Of course, it was one of the most mild experiences I have had in shooting, and was far more comfortable than shooting a K frame .357 magnum.

My M70 375 H&H, it actually has less felt recoil than my 300 WSM.

Mine was an early Model 7 Remington in .308. The stock was way too short, off the bench that little beast kicked me like a Missouri mule. It was far worse than the felt recoil of my 7.5 lb .300 Winny. Ever since I have hated the .308 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />.

A Browning Micro Medallion in .284 Winchester is also no slouch off the bench in the recoil department when pushing a heavy load

HBB

My T/C Encore in .30-06. I thought the barrel was heavy enough that recoil wouldn't be a PROBLEM. I had to get a Limbsaver pad, which helped immensely.

On the light side, my Kimber 84M classic in .308 Win. Considering how small and light it was, I thought it'd have more kick, but it was surprisingly pleasant to shoot.

My Winchester M70 LH .338 Win Mag. Recoil is much lighter than I anticipated.

Swapping my 416 Rem Mag from the factory wood stock to a McMillan. I dropped half a pound in the changeover, and recoil was noticeably more manageable.

Losing half a pound, I figured that my headache factor would go up slightly, but I was wrong.

The ohter way was a 300 Win Mag in a Holland pattern McMillan stock. I though someone had hit me over the head with a brick after touching that thing off. Keep those nasty things away from me, and I'll be happy.

Turkish mil surp 8mm mauser, that I shortened the barrel to 18". The short stock allowed my thumb to hit my nose on recoil, and with the short barrel, it had signifigant muzzle blast which added to the unpleasantness of firing it.

My 500 Jeffrey hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected, 600 gr @ 2200 is just one big push, not nearly as bad as the previous 458 lott what resided in the same stock, but weighed 2#'s less. Then again, I haven't fired any of the 690 gr pils in the 500J, and after looking at my buddy that did, I just may add a few more pounds to the stock <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

My 264. I had never shot a 7mm mag, but had heard horror stories about the recoil. I got the 264 figuring that it would be the same thing. it is a pussy cat. Now I'm wondering about the 7mag stories.
I was thinking it would be worse than my 350 rem, or on par.

I worked off and on at a gun store and spend many days before the season sighting in customer's rifles which were invariably magnums. But the gun that really spun my clock was a 16 ga. bolt action shotgun with a hollow wooden stock, I don't recall the manufacture. I only shot it twice but saw stars both times. I refused to shoot the gun again and someone else accepted the challenge. We both agreed it kicked the worse of any gun we had ever shot. I believe weight and stock geometry were the issue.

Although I shouldn't be, I am always amazed at how very little an AR15 kicks.

I've had three "recoil-surprise" rifles over the years.

The first one was my great uncle's Model 99 Savage 300 Savage. The first time I shot it was when I was 16 years old, and at the time, I thought it kicked much harder than my Remington 700 ADL 30-06 did. That surprised me........

At one time, I owned a late '60s-era Sako 7mm Rem. Mag., which was by all odds the hardest-kicking Seven Mag I've ever fired. At the same time that I owned the Sako, I owned a Remington 700 'C' Grade 7mm Rem. Mag. With the same loads, that Remington was far more shootable than the Sako was. Those rifles weighed about the same, so it had to be the stock. No matter, that Sako kicked surprisingly hard.

The best recoil-surprise rifle I ever had was my Echols-built custom Model 70 416 Rem. Mag., which kicked far, far less than I thought it would when I first took it home. Mostly, the pleasant nauture of this rifle is a combinatoin of reasonable weight, solid balance, and Echols' great stock design. It's surely is a pleasure to shoot.......

AD

An early M600 Remington 308. The stock was a bit short, and the hard butt pad was about 1/2"wide. With standard loads that thing was brutal!

Also a custom lightweight 7STW. It wasn't a heavy recoil, but did that thing come back quick!

12 Ga 3" rifled slugs, for me. Part of the reason was the rubber stock pad that petrified to where one could cut glass with it. I was zeroing the gun in, wanting to take it deer hunting, and after 5 rounds in rapid succession I thought it was good enough, partly becasue I didn't want to shoot anymore. A couple of kids next to me were shooting a 7mm RM, and got curious watching me skid back in prone position every shot. So they wanted to try... well, they did. One shot, standing up, two steps back and "Holy sh**!" were the reaction <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The other kid decided not to try. I had a blue shoulder from that one.
Another vicious kicker is a Mosin-Nagant M38. If loaded with Wolf 200 gr softpoints, it gives off a 3 foot muzzle flash, sounds like a cannon and kicks like a mule. The last part is due to the straight stock with a steel buttplate, which can be alleviated by a slip-on pad. The round itself is not that violent, along the 06 lines. But I would say it hurts more than a 300 Wby.
-P