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T3x SL in 6.5
Or something along those line
I’m only 41 but going from 270, to 06 to 9.3 and down to 6.5.
I’m Very content with it

I ain't that old!

That looks heavy !

Jerry

67 here, and nothing bigger than a .30-06 anymore. I learned a long time ago that brutalizing my shoulder was nothing more than a macho thing. Hunting rifles have narrowed down to a Ruger 1A 6.5x55, Browning Low Wall .223, and the occasional pre-WWI Savage 1899H .303 or .22HP takedown carbine.

I am 73. The recoil doesn't seem to bother me very much yet. The rifle weight sure does. In '06's, I like my M70 FW more than my Standard grade. I like my 84L Montana too but I am noticing the recoil.

I use an '06 more than anything else but I also shoot larger rifles, often a .338 Win Mag. I do notice I don't shoot 50 rounds at a sitting with it much anymore.

In the spring and summer, I used to pack a Remington 660 in .243 or a 6.5 Swede carbine for spring bear or whatever. I switched to a 6.5 Creedmoor in an 84M Hunter a few years ago. Nice rifle. It may become my new deer gun.
It kills like a Swede but much more accurate and a better trajectory.

71 in a few weeks. I’m grooming two 7x57s for the day when I’m done shooting Weatherby magnums and .35 Whelen beasts. Already use a .257 Roberts for primary deer rifle. But I’ve sure loved my .300 and 7mm Roy’s over the years! Happy Trails

I’m 68, and wonder how much longer I can deal with heavier recoil. I will “not” be going to a brake, so, I have to “man-up”! As I’m not putting in the miles I did a few years ago, my 9 pound rifle is still at a comfortable “carry weight”! As I do minimal bench work, recoil is not much of an issue! I hope that I can maintain some semblance of decent conditioning and shoot my rifle for many more years! memtb

I am 66 and plan on going back to my 1974 Remington 760 30-06 this season. I drank the Model 70 cool-aid a few years back and got a 1951 standard weight 30-06. Darn thing feels like an anvil in my hands, hard as heck to hold for any but the closest off-hand shot. The 760 and the Renegade muzzle loader both point a great deal better. I will probably move to a reduced recoil load as I get older (assuming, and hoping, that I do get older!). If I move away from the 30-06, it will likely be to the 7-08.

Another at 67 here, I own nothing above 308 and 270 .The 308 only sees cast bullet loads and the 270 hardly ever gets any exercise. 95% of my hunting is whitetails under 200 yards with the occasional antelope trip thrown in. The Roberts and 250-3000 get the lions share of the work, but those two Rugers are getting heavy. The pair of M70 Classic Fwts in 243 and 7-08 might see a bit more use in the future.

My dad transitioned away from his .30-06 to a 7mm-08 later in life. There ain’t much a 140 Accubond at 2850 fps won’t do that a .30-06 will.




P

I spend a fair amount of time hoisting an Olympic barbell and find that substantially increases my recoil tolerance.

At seventy I am still a CrossFit addict and have been so for around 10 years. The virus has caused me to install heavy rubber mats in my house along with the associated gear. I do miss group classes!

I use the 270 or 280 for most BG hunting and have done so successfully beginning in my 20’s. I primarily use the 270 because factory ammo is available whereas I can’t rely on finding 280. Actually I believe the 280 is ever so slightly better. For NA use I’d probably pick the 280 but carefully plan my trips by shipping ammo to my destination in advance. A fully loaded 30/06 is manageable but a little “snarky”. To reduce a 270’s recoil shoot 130‘s loaded with H4895 or use the 110 TTSX. I’ve had many magnums but got over that stage in my 30’s. A big gun is either a 375 or 416.

I could get by with a 25/06 if necessary.

I have a distinct preference for an all up weight of 7# or a little less (6.75) because I have my rifle in my hands most of the time. Regardless of level of conditioning, a rifle carried in ones hands needs to be lighter.

I get a chuckle watching guys who strap their “tacticool” rifle plus wind gauge, plus multiple optics, plus shooting mat, plus electronics, and more onto a backpack which then totals over 25#. Next I expect to see a laptop and a portable charging device.

I'm 59 and am finding that I don't enjoy shooting the heavy kickers as much as I used to. I'm also finding I prefer carrying lighter rifles as I get older. I bought a Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5 CM a couple years back and it's been the only rifle I've hunted with since. This past year I bought a Fieldcraft in 270 and think it's going to be my primary hunting rifle this year, though I will probably have to get my Ruger African 9.3x62 out some as well. The 'magnums' will probably continue to stay in the safe, though I'm getting the itch to start working with a 300 H&H again

That is my choice for anything deer on down. Bigger than deer critters get my only centerfire larger than the .223...a ,275 Rigby.

I’m 45 and do the same.

ingue,
Just curious, would you use your 223 on a Bighorn or Dall sheep hunt?

[quote=jwall][quote=szihn]Just use what you grew up with.

PB Jaeger by Steve Zihn, on [bleep] (AKA flicker)

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I ain't that old!

That looks heavy !

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I'm 70 and don't notice recoil TILL I pull out my 8mm RM....200 gr bullet, 80 grs powder, 3100 fps <<yep it's there.
From my 300 WM on down I don't have any problems hunting any of them.

I've had this T 3 Lite SS 270 since 2003



I made this neck shot in '16 or '17 from 160 yds and no problems.

In 2018 I got it's near twin in 7mm RM, T3X Lite SS
They wear identical 4-12x40 scopes and the 7 weighs ? 3 or 6 ? oz more.



I hunted the 7 RM almost exclusively in 18 and 19 and looking forward to this season, '20 with it.


WHEN I get old.... I have a 284 Win and THEN a 6.5X55, -- if necessary I can drop all the way to a 6mm Rem.
Ain't there yet.

Jerry

A Montana in 7-08 strikes me as just about perfect. So does the same rifle in 257 Roberts. I'd go with the 7-08 though, because of the lack of availability and slim factory ammo options for the 257.

I'm 53 and sold all my big boomers over the last few years and took the path of having fewer but "built by me" rifles. I used donor actions, picked the barrels and had a gunsmith put everything together. I initially decided on a couple of mild, short action chamberings - 7mm-08 and 338Fed. Both are under 7 pounds scoped so they are easy to carry. Ammo is made by me and have plenty. I recently added a 243 just to for something different and is my loaner rifle, if needed. My kids wonder why I got rid of all the fast and loud guns. I say: I am old, I just want "easy."

My "old man" guns.
Rem700 .223
Rem700 .243
Rem600 7mm-08
Rem600 338 Fed

I am older than anyone who has posted their age so far and I have gravitated to light recoiling rounds for hunting and shooting. My most used cartridges are the 22 LR and 223 Rem.

I shot high-power competition for 40 years using 308, 7/08, 260 and 243, most matches I fired 200 or more rounds per day and I reached the point that I despise recoil. Try doing that for a week it wears on a person, I can shoot without flinching but the enjoyment of shooting higher recoil rifles is done. I truly believe that recoil has a cumulative effect over the years - I have reached mine and am not ashamed to admit it.

Heck, I have come to dread the recoil the recoil of 400-500 rounds of PD shooting out of my 223, by about 250 rounds my fun-meter is pegged. If I weren't so stocked with 223 components I would seriously consider starting to use a 17 Hornet for gopher and PD shooting.

As far as big game - the largest rifle I have left is a 243 Win and since I have the luxury of a long season and being able to hunt out my backdoor it is my elk cartridge. With good bullet placement it is entirely capable of dropping an elk as well as bigger calibers.

drover

When I started deer hunting, even our back tags had the silhouette of a Remington 742 on it. Borrowing a Winchester 64 as a 12 year old, I felt handicapped because I couldn't shoot it like a kid playing a video game. We did't hear single shots back then, we heard volleys until someone managed to get the deer down. I went through that stage with a M100 and 742, then a 141 and 760. Strangely enough I was finding that I never need more than one shot, so I graduated to better made, more accurate bolt actions. A substantially reworked scoped 7# 700 BDL 7mm RM piled up lots of deer and some elk and while the weight was right, the recoil was more than I needed. Rather than filling the safe full of okay rifles, I built up a 7# 2 ounce 7mm-08 on a 77 Mk ll action and have lived happily ever after. A 99F .300 Savage went out with me last year too, but it is my back up to that 77 7mm-08.

7x57 and 9.3x62 for me. However, I have a few fantasy guns out there, namely Mauser in 404 Jeffery, a M70 in 338-06 and a M70 in something or other. But I'm only 50.