Looking to pick up a new toy but I'm on the fence and can't decide. I like the idea of a 300 wsm, with it's edge on performance, but having never shot one, I'm concerned about the recoil. Recoil in the field isn't a concern but I want a gun that I can spend a day on the bench shooting without feeling like I got hit by a truck.
I've owned 300 win mags and 30-06s and found the 300 win mag to be tolerable but not fun to shoot all day. 30-06 for me is much more pleasant to shoot but the I've been looking a lot more into the 300 wsm and it sounds like it would get me the added performance with *possibly* a noticed drop in recoil compared to the 300 win mag. Gun would be an M70 and I'll probably put a McMillan Hunter stock on it.
In the field it would be used for elk and mule deer up to 500 yds, but will see a lot more range use for paper punching fun.... basically needs to do both duties. I reload and cost difference isn't a concern to me.
So if you were me, what would you go with?
I've got one in a Browning BAR with a synthetic stock that I retired to the safe because of the recoil. It was a gift from my dad, so I can't sell it. You'd think it wouldn't be bad in a BAR. A few shots, no problem. But I sat behind it on the bench a few times and put 20+ rounds down range and it was brutal. As a result, I started flinching, so it went in the safe and went back to my 280 REM. I will say the synthetic stock on the BAR is horrible and I couldn't find a good recoil pad that would fit it. And I never considered myself recoil sensitive but maybe I'm getting soft in my old age.
