Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Under Gunned?

I miss my #1. Nice rifles.

I enjoy handloading/shooting too, and unfortunately, far more than my few opportunities to hunt. At least in the last 12 yrs or so. Life had a way of wanting my Time. ha I have seen many guys who were afraid of a 30-06 ( well, my FIL had a Sears Mod 70 knock-off that was Brut-Tell!) but they will shoot a 12ga or even 12ga Magnum or 3 1/2 12ga all day, whether it be birds or clays, ha. The heavy shotgun loads always "jarred/slapped/instant pain recoil to me. I enjoyed shooting pheasants with a little 20ga 3" far, far more! The only time I ever felt "undergunned" were afew, rare times; a. wading into sounders with a 20ga/birdshot or .22 and angry mean sows. b. 2 mile walk in pitch black night, no flashlight with a bow in Black Bear Country, Uncompahgre Plateau. c. having 3 (South Africa) (Rhino trot in front of a Toyota (in heavy fog, they came "out of nowhere") so close one "brushed" the front bumper. I was in back with a 35 Whelen AI/200X and when fog cleared, we drove by a gigantic, "big as a Limousine Bull at the Houston Fat Stock Show" Cape Buffalo Bull around 40yds. Only times. Well, I'm not counting the 1972 Tactical Nuke stand-off with Warsaw Pac at the Czhech Border/Grafenvoehr as the NVA made their Easter Offensive in Nam. Commies...they all need killing! BTW, Its been 55yrs for me too, where did it go??? lol

The older I get the more I appreciate lightweight, light recoiling rifles and modern mono/bonded/hybrid bullets.

I run 95g SST's in my .243 Win, not because I consider them great bullets, but because I've only developed one load for that rifle. Sample of one antelope, it worked.

The .257 Roberts gets +P loads using a 100g TTSX, 110g AB and a 120g A-Frame. While the Roberts has gone elk hunting with the A-Frame (no shot opportunities), it has accounted for more antelope than all my other rifles combined. My 6.5-06AI is a great shooter with 130g Scirocco II bullets, but it is too heavy to want to carry it far. Very little recoil, though, which makes it ideal for some uses.

My 7mm RM has taken more elk than all my other rifles combined, but my relatively new .280 Rem could have taken every one of them with a 140g TTSX, AB or North Fork HP. Works great on antelope, too.

That said, I have two cow elk tags for Colorado's 4th Rifle this November. I will likely be shooting last again this year, so ranges might be on the long side. The short-action rifles will stay home. Don't know if I'll take two rifles, as is normal, or just one, but one will definitely be a magnum.

[quote=lastround]
I have a friend who, for whatever reason, brought me his deer hunting rifle every year just before season and asked me to check zero for him. A tang safety Ruger 338 WM. I complied with his request for several years up until about 15 yrs. ago. I told him I was done with that hard kicking SOB. I have shot 7mm RM’s, 300 Wm’s, 375 H&H, even one 458 Magnum. I didn’t say I’d never shot the bigger calibers, just that I hadn’t owned any. My decision from shooting other people’s guns was that I didn’t need to tolerate the amount of recoil they produced.

Sounds like we have the same friend. My friend also had a early 338 mag Ruger 77 with the thin red recoil pad, they were miserable kickers, unless you worked them over. I had a pre-Garcia Sako in 338 mag which shot just fine.
Anyway My friend and I were going after Caribou, he with the Ruger 338 mag and I with my 30-06 Featherweight M70. Well opening morning we came up on 2 Caribou about 150 to 170 yards out. We decided they would fill our needs nicely, I was going to take the bigger critter on the left and Gary would take the other. I fired and dropped my animal, DRT, and Gary fired and kicked up dirt just short of the second Caribou. Cranked in a second round and kicked up dirt about 30 yards in front of the animal. Third shot hit the dirt half way between the critter and us. Needless to say Gary had a bit of a flinch. Miraculously the second Caribou was still there, obviously nervous, but still there. Gary looks at me and says, will you shoot that damn Caribou. So I dropped that one also, with one shot. I was using Hornady 190 SPBT with a load of IMR 4350.
When we got back to town, Gary handed me his Ruger and said "sell it", he bought a Winchester Featherweight M 70 in 308.

As I grow older, I'm coming to the conclusion that recoil just ain't fun anymore. I have some hard kickers, does the .416 Rigby count? But frankly the challenge just ain't there. My go to elk rifle is usually my .35 Whelen and its not all that bad.However, I've been play with the 7x57 Mauser for a while and have at least one decent load with the 150 gr. Nosler Partition. I also have a good load in a .280 Rem. with the 160 gr. Speer Grand Slam, the older two core version. I might try the 160 gr. Speer hot core in the 7x57 if the rifle likes that bullet. When I was young, I always tried the hard kicking rifles just for the challenge of mastering them. Now that I'm in my eighth decade, the possibility of things like a detached retina or other severe recoil related problems is telling me to back off. Probably my Whelen or a a 30-06 will be about the stoutest cartridge I will shoot anymore. I'll take the 7x57 for my elk hunt and probably the Whelen or an 06 as a back up rifle.
Paul B.

I never was afflicted by magnumitis. While my buds were insisting you needed a 270 or 30-06 to kill deer I was putting them down with the 257 Roberts and 243. While in Kodiak my friends thought I was crazy for hunting Browns with a 30-06 and 35 Whelen. I was confident in good bullets and good shot placement.

There's no problem with shooting small bores if you're dealing with non-dangerous game, and no problem with shooting low velocity cartridges if you're shooting close.

Many people however are not shooting close.

There is however a problem with shooting slow twist rifles for larger game as sectional density is the biggest determinant of the depth you can get an expanded bullet to penetrate.

I’ve always wanted a bigger, more powerful rifle....just can’t justify a .458 Lott! So, I’ll just stay with my little rifle....let people think what they may! memtb

As you get experience hunting the less gun you need.

I deer hunted for many years with a 12 gauge Ithaca M37 "Deerslayer". I killed alot of deer with that gun but it did kick kinda fierce. Lets just say I don't intend to hunt the slug zone again and am glad of it. From here on out my .223, .243, 6.5 Creedmoor and .30-30 will do just fine.

There is a lot of conversation about today’s powders and bullets making the smaller calibers much more effective.....I believe that same technology has made the bigger cartridges better also. Seems logical to me! memtb

moosemike, Nice! memtb

Doug,

Try a .22-250 and a TTSX on Deer and you may sell the 7mm-08.

Thank you. It's a hell of a thing to shoot. But my son enjoys it.

And you best hope you never do. For most recoil is cumulative and once the first flinch occurs it is in the subconscious. Waiting to come out again. And when it does it may be at the bench or on game. It may be with a big kicker or a .22lr. The subconscious makes the decision of when. On game, you may not even know. You just had a mysterious miss. If you are standing, you may even get to take a little walk.

Some better than good shooters have had to deal with it.

Good luck. 😉

The testosterone is strong in this one.

I need to let him shoot the 458 Lott so he can finally "Feel" recoil.

A lot of responses sound like excuses for poor marksmanship. They need to go back to the basics of shooting. Good form will cure a flinch.

Really????

Tell that to accomplished world class shooters and see what they have to say.

I agree with the OP. Used an '06 for close to 20 years before deciding I didn't have to deal with recoil to kill a deer. Went to a .260 and never looked back. I laugh at the guys that say they don't flinch. My opinion is that they don't shoot much or they're embellishing in their marksmanship skills. I guarantee you if you sit at a bench with a hard kicker for 50-100 rounds (can even be a lowly .270 hunting rifle), you'll develop a flinch. Watching John Q public shoot is Macho Man.