Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Recoil difference in 243 vs 270

I hunted with a 30-06 when I was 8 years old and never had any problems.. I bought a 243 when I was about 30 and killed a truck load of deer with it...I liked the 243 because it was lighter to carry.. recoil has never been a problem with me... If you all teach your boys how to shoot properly they will not have a problem either.. It seems you are trying to make whimps of them.. pick the gun that does the best job.. nuff said.

Bullshit

Yep. Let's have them wear adult clothes too while we are at it. Make it as uncomfortable as possible. Friggin idiots...

I shot a lightweight 18" 308 carbine to kill my first deer at 10 years old when I weighed maybe 80lbs. I'd only ever fired it once before at a gallon water jug in the backyard. It was too much recoil and blast, but I didn't care or know any better, nor did I have time to really notice. My dad saw how it belted me and bought me my own rifle, a .243win with a soft pad. Glad he didn't stick me with that .308 at that age, or I'd have probably developed a hell of a flinch.

My 5'5" 125 pound 69 year old wife shoots a 30-06 Tikka M65, and doesn't find the recoil objectionable, but I load her 150 grain Barnes TSX bullets at 2800 fps, AND I had the stock of the rifle shortened to 12.25" and made sure she could get a good cheek weld on the cheek piece,, PLUS, I never let her shoot until it started to hurt, and I never let her shoot much from the bench. She killed a couple deer in Ontario, one from 200 yards, and a bull moose from 60 yards. I also put a good Pachmyr magnum pad on it.

I started her out on a 243, but she said she wanted a 30-06 cause she liked the way the moose tipped over when hit with the old '06. She's a pretty decent shot off hand. 4 out of 5 Coke cans at 50 yards. Minute of moose for sure.

As to the OP, Mr. Barsness had some great advice for you. Never known John to be off centre when it comes to the rifled tube. Nothing wrong with a 243 on deer sized game or even bigger if shot placement is on.

My youngest son killed his first deer when he was 9 (He'll be 42 in October). I had let him use my 6mm Remington but when we saw the deer he whispered to me, "Can I shoot it with the .270?" I says, "Yeah well I guess so if you want to." He says, "I want to!" And he shot the deer grave yard dead DRT! I have to admit I was proud of him, but he wasn't a big kid. He was only average size for 9 years old. Surprised hell out of me!

That was the same .270 Winchester I bought when I was 18 years old. That rifle has killed a slew of deer. But that rifle kicks pretty good for a .270 Winchester. It's a 1966 year model Model 70 and weighs about 7 pounds empty. It'll slap you pretty good. About five rounds off the bench is all I can stand.ll be 42

I exposed my kids to cut down .22 LR's and .223's before getting them into a .243 at 12 years. I got the boys .30-06 Featherweights at 16. The daughters stayed with the .243. We have a full size .243 on a 98K action and the boys occasionally still use it for deer, they do very well. If I was to do it again I would likely get them a 6.5 Creedmoor to learn on and let them figure out if they wanted something bigger.

When I was 8 I got a job in Africa kicking lions in the ass to keep in shape.

My son was about that size and age when he stepped up from a .223 to a 270. I let him practice with reduced loads that I had around for turkeys. A 130 at around 2,500 fps. After a while I would give him a full power load and he ended up not needing the reduced loads at all. Stock fit is probably more critical than the cartridge. You could always go 6.5 CM as long as you don't mention the man bun thing, ever.

I was hunting with a 338WM at 8. Why did your dad let you hunt with a wimp round like 06?

Because, like him, his dad probably knew everything and was way manlier than all the rest.

I had a 50bmg I used to hunt squirrels with at age 4. Shoulda seen that Barrett with 9 inch stock!

Headshots only on squirrel with the 50. The shock cooks the meat for you. Hopefully you didn't wear hearing protection, either. Not being deaf is wimpy.

😂😂😂

What? Speak louder...

What impresses me with this discussion, although I consider it good conversation, is the basic underlying assumption that seems to permeate the thread that bigger is somehow always better without any consideration of the intended purpose whether game or range duty.

So the 270 automatically considered to be more powerful and therefore somehow "better" and and thus more effective on game in this discussion because of the potential of shooting a heavier bullet...or is it because it's a bigger, heavier rifle that generates more recoil...?

If that's so, at what range...at what velocity...at what game and with what bullet?

The great trend that I have seen over the past two decades or so is the mass movement toward smaller and lighter rifles and calibers for all-around uses, whether at the range or on game, by enormous numbers of very experienced hunters and shooters of nearly every discipline.

Elk taken by a younger shooter at over 600 yds with the smaller 6x47, would seem to support this assumption.

The 270 is certainly a capable round but then so is the 243...and with today's bullet technology both are even more so and better than tey used to be.

Based on what I have seen mid-caliber rounds are more similar then they are different in their effects on target, so if that's true, why not go with the smaller lighter handier rifle with lower recoil...?

That seems to follow the trend.

Follow the pendulum. Magnumitus is making a comeback. Pretty soon the 270 will me marginal at best for taking elk again...

What is the rifle used for? If for deer and smaller, why change from a .243 at all?

If wanting to hunt larger game, then by all means a .270 will work, as will a lot of other things if the boy is up to it. Even a .30-06 with 130 monos or similar will be comparable to the .270, and the cartridge is all he would ever need, short of going to Africa. As previously mentioned, there are others that work well, from the 6.5 bore up to the .30’s with proper loads. Or he can kill anything a boy should need to with that .243. I have an uncle who has used the .243 as long as I have known him, and has killed truckloads of deer and a few elk with it. There is nothing wrong with a ,243 for the man that knows how to use it.

When I was 8 years old. there was only three guns available for me to hunt with a single barrel 12 ga, a single shot 22 stevens. and a 3006 military rifle.so which one would you of used to shoot a DEER?? that was in 1945 ammo was a problem to get. and we had some military ammo and used that to shoot Deer... not the best choice but it was what we had..WW2 was ending..

Well. I'm an azzhole.

Hubert - on a more serious note, the jeers weren't for the 30-06. If you'd just explained why you had to use it at 8, I don't think anyone would've said a word. But you went the "up hill both ways in the snow, get off my lawn, kids today are wimps" route when a guy is just trying to do something right for his kid. Hence, the jokes.

My father and two Uncles went into the army when I was two...my grand parents raised me until I was 12..on a mountain farm in WV there was no money for anything and we had to make do with what we had I am not looking for pity as I was happy to be there, and would like to still be there but I like everyone else at the time left to find work as soon as I was old enough.. but I joined the army instead of working in a factory... and as most people said I found a home in the army.. I put in 20 years and retired as a SFC E7. I am (almost) happy now..so thank you all for your support for the military.