The argument that you don't feel recoil when shooting at game, doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Mental aversion to recoil is developed in practice at the range, not while hunting. If a person gets beat up by their rifle while zeroing and practicing, subconscious fear takes root and bad shooting while hunting can result.
"Beat up"???
Lol.
Look at the .340 Wby, it's beating me up!!!! Ridiculous.
It's pushing on my shoulder before I ignore that while gently squeezing the trigger. Never a single bruise. No beating. What a myth.
Not everyone can bench press 500 lbs, and is made of iron...Although, I'm betting that if you were to shoot that rifle from prone or from the bench 50 times in a practice session (the average guy zeros and practices from the bench, remember), you'd see your first bruise.
You knew that I wasn’t being literal when I said “beat up”, but none-the-less I’ve seen bruising with my own eyes, caused by much less powerful rifles than the .340 Wby. Trust me, it’s not ridiculous and it’s no myth. Rifle fit matters. Physical effects like bruising aside, pain is mental, and you have to remember that the average hunter isn’t mentally conditioned to manage recoil properly from anything more than about a well-fitted .270 or maybe a .30-06.
