Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Lowest recoil rifle & caliber for deer & bear

My experience with low to very low recoiling rounds......yet highly effective and efficient Deer/Antelope cartridges are:

357 Magnum in both handguns and rifles. By far my best results have been from 180 to 190 grain LBT WFN type bullets. Seen 2 bears killed with 357 mags from handguns with the above bullets and they were very effective, but I personally have not killed a bear with them. I have killed about 15 deer and antelope with 357 handguns however.

44 Magnum from both handguns and rifles. (mostly from handguns) Most bullets work well for deer and antelope. 225 to 240 HP bullets and also the 320 grain WFN bullets have done best. On elk the 320 gr LBT WFN is the best of the lot, but for black bears I see good results from bullets of 240 and up, all of which have given me 1 shot kills. In a 44 carbine the recoil is a bit stiffer then some would like however, so I'd recommend a 225 or 240 grain bullet for recoil reduction. The 44 is remarkably effective on elk moose and buffalo so I have no qualms about deer and black bear. For bears I would recommend against the use of most HP bullets however. Stick with wide flat nose solids or good soft points.

6.5 Grendel from AR15s. Fastest kills were from the 125 grain Nosler Partitions.

6.8 SPC also from AR 15s. Best kills were from Remington 100 grain SP bullets and the newer Nosler Bonded bullets. The 6.8 has been very close to a death ray for me so far. 33 kills as of a few seasons ago

In the 2 AR cartridges above I personally cannot tell the difference in recoil from them and the standard 5.56 rounds. So that's tells you what you need to know about the kick.

From bolt actions and singles shots I'd say stick to standard weight rifles instead of the super light weight models.

The 243 Winchester is a very good round if used with bonded, Partition or solid expanding bullets. No bears with it, but a lot of deer and about 15 antelope. Used with good bullets it's just fine. Also I have seen a few elk taken with 243s and again, a bullet that holds together makes it work fine.

I have used the 25-06 with bonded or Partition bullets on deer and antelope many times. I have never shot a bear with it however, but I bet it would do fine. In mid weight to heavy rifles the 25-06 is a light kicker. I have seen about 10 elk killed with them.

I have seen many animals shot with various 6.5MM and with good bullets all seem to be OK. No bears, but again I am guessing they are fine because of the results I have seen on elk. 6.5X54 M/S. 6.5X55 Swede. 6.5 Creedmoor. 260 Remington. In standard weight rifles all the above don't kick hard.

I have not seen one yet and so have no experience with the 350 Legend, but all reports I see say it's very good and kicks very little. Seeing my results with a standard 357 magnum, (even from 4 inch and 6 inch revolvers) I have no doubts the reports are true. The 350 is way out in front of the 357 so how could it be bad?

The 270 is legendary in it's ability to kill game but it's kick is not much lighter then a 308 or 30-06, so from my personal experience I try to stay no larger then the 26 calibers for recommendations for very little recoil, other then handgun shells fired in rifles.