Well, I believe I was 10, the rifle was a Husqvarna, .270 wcf. I was so fortunate because my uncle was a serious hunter and shooter and he was very into handloading at the time.
We didn't use any reduced loads, quite the opposite.
The rifle had a plastic or steel butt plate.
I was a pretty big kid in 1968. I don't remember complaining and we did alot of shooting.
It was my elk rifle, still have it.....I installed a recoil pad on it latter on
