Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game How did we kill game before?

I promise you that I've been smacked around plenty.

Black Shadow 300 WM -light FOR a 300.

T3X Lite SS 7mm RM - 6 oz more than my 270.

700 BDL 8mm RM - too heavy to like

****338 WM -- O G 77 tanger (red pad)**** NEVER again

700 BDL 375 H H - surprisingly pleasant.

OHHHH! I forgot one.
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Win 1300 FTWT --- 12 ga. 3" mag., 2 oz lead Turkey Load ! ! ! ! ! !

That's what I'm talking about.....

My .338WM is a MKII in a skeleton stock, 22" fluted barrel. Not sure what the weight is, but relatively light. It has a Sims Limbsaver instead of a factory pad for good reason.

The first really cold snap of winter makes the rest of the winter seem mild. Similarly, after shooting my Marlin 1895 with my hardcast 460g/1812fps "Rhino Blaster" loads a couple times (about 52ft-lb recoil, IIRC), all my other rifles seem tame. The scope on the .45-70 is in Warne QD rings and comes off for those loads.

Another fairly brutal rifle is my Browning B92 in .44 Mag. This is a lightweight rifle with a steel buttplate. Max loads are not a lot of fun in a tee-shirt.

While firing a .22 or even a light-kicking centerfire doesn't prepare you for heavier recoil, something we agree on, I do think it can help overcome flinching - especially if the rifle has the same or a similar configuration and weight. Much as i'd like to have a Ruger 77/22 for that reason (besides the fact I just like them), my MKII .223 with 40's fills the bill pretty nicely. It has the same Burris 3-9x FFII Ballistic Plex scope I use on most of my centerfires, so it looks and feels about the same as the big boys right up until the sear releases.

[Edited to add]

My Marlin 375 (.375 Winchester) sports the hard/black factory buttplate. I wouldn't call it "surprisingly pleasant", just "surprising". [End edit]

Many years ago, we bought a pair of 77/22’s for the same reason. Cut the stock on the wife’s 77/22, to replicate her .338 WM. I haven’t weighted it, but suspect that it may actually be heavier than her big game rifle! memtb

C H - ummm, it's a little scary that WE agree so often.

Per my O G Tanger -- this was before 1990, don't know if Limbsavers were available or not. ??
I had my 8 mm RM in a BDL --- MUCH easier to shoot - more powder, 5 grain LESS bullet - HIGHER velocity. STILL have it.

I 'would' get a 338 WM in a GOOD stock if I needed it. Doubt I will need it since I have the Big 8 with partitions.

As to " surprisingly pleasant", maybe surprisingly LESS kick than anticipated is more accurate. PUSH, not KICK - to me.



Hey, Mike 74 - hear that about the 1895 ? ? My 300 & 7 RMs DON'T kick like that.

I hear it Jerry. My 1895 doesn't see those kinds of loads. It gets fed 300 Grain bullets at 1,880 fps. Not too unpleasant and plenty of thump out to 150 yards.

I agree on the 150 yds range.

I's just gouging ya.

I know

Sometimes people travel a lot and don't wish to have 14 different loads for one rifle. I'd also suggest that better bullets have made small caliber (read less recoil) rifles better killers. I have yet to see anyone that shoots more and better as recoil increases.

My 300 mag never was easier to shoot than following the summers I shot clays a fair bit.
A hundred or more 12 Guage target loads per week for a few months will toughen your shoulder up.
Are yoh one of those who crossed that threshold of shotgun flinch?
I never shot enough to get there, thank goodness.

A shooting friend has. It's a sight rifle shooters won't understand.
Tom would be standing there, swinging on a bird, his whole body jerking.
Not to avoid recoil like a rifle shooter.
But, in his attempt to force his body to pull the trigger. He wanted to. But his subconscious wouldn't allow his finger to move.

Worst recoil I have ever experienced was from a Rem 870 shooting a 3" turkey load while sighting in a scope from a bench! On about the third shot I involuntarily moved the butt a bit off my shoulder and touched off the shot. I saw red kicked the living snot out of me (not insubstantial fellow). Adjusted the scope and fired two more to make sure it was centered at 40 yards. The next morning when I looked at my shoulder I had about an eight inch circular bruise on my shoulder which persisted for about 3 weeks. Never made that mistake again, also put a Pachmayr recoil pad on it.

Yes, but I have it beat back for the most part. And yes it is a strange feeling to want to hit the trigger and your forearm tightens up like a brick and your finger won't work. Never happens on Wild Birds, but will sneak up on clays. Most of the time it is visual in that either the clay has got under the gun or the brain picture is off and it knows you don't have a chance. Again the subconscious forces you to reset.

However, there are times I have gone on a short walk, tried to hit the trigger and ended up watching the clay go to the ground.

You have to live it to understand. Shoot enough and most will succumb, rifle or shotgun. Best to take steps and avoid it, but most think it won't happen to them, which is normal.

M70 Supergrade express .458win [well aged old hard rubber] off the bench
might broaden ones perspective of nasty recoil like it did mine....

with equal weight rifles (9 lb) these are the Einstein figures

.458 win Free recoil 60 ft/lb, Recoil vel. 21 fps
.338win Free recoil 31 ft/lb Recoil vel. 15 fps

perceived or felt recoil is a different and variably subjective matter...
what can I say but....the ,458 felt convincingly 'seismic' in nature ..

Now If I was like Crapstick and had a few beers to start the day, it might not have
bothered me so much...

No, all you have to do it shoot it a lot. Lean how it feels, have confidence in yourself and become comfortable with it. Shoot something even bigger before you use the .458W and it will feel like a soft caress when you return to it.

(I just couldn't stop myself. I tried, but I just couldn't.)

After reading Starman’s post....I thought I’d calculate our (my wife’s rifle and mine) recoil. I used Shooterscalculator.com.....which I hope is accurate. I used the weight, as it it fired from the bench....only one cartridge and no sling! memtb

Her rifle: recoil velocity - 18.02 fps....... Energy - 42.25 ft/lbs

My rifle: recoil velocity - 20.1 fps ....... Energy - 55.33 ft/lbs.

Star

Your FT/LB figures sound reasonable to me. I used to mess with those often.

"THE" problem with the O G Tanger 338 was NOT just felt by myself. OTHERS on here 'testified' to the same.

It's more than the E figures -- stock design and RED BRICK butt pad INCREASES the "pain".
My 700 BDL 8mm R M shoots MORE powder, 5 grains less bullet, HIGHER velocity ---NO PAIN.


As I said, the BDL -aka- Rem 700 375 H H does NOT hurt like the Tanger 338 WM. I also promise you it AIN'T imagined ! !

If you AIN'T ever fired a 338 WM in a Ruger 77 (OG) Tanger, Red Pad...... you owe it to yourself to test drive it.

Yep! The 460 Wbee or 600 N E will tame the 458 W ! !


Ever tried it ??



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Nope, and since I know it won’t work nor do we have Elephants or Grizzly close by, I’m not about to. I’ll just happily go on doing the majority of my Wood Deer hunting practice with a ,22lr. Has worked for years and also know that it will continue to do so.

Well, I thot WE were here to at least consider new ideas from others.

The nicest thing I can say is...... Enjoy the Bliss.