Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Recoil survey

As a certified range officer I see all kinds of shooters out there. So I want to compare my experiences with what you all think. Let’s say you shoot a 243 very accurately. How much more recoil can you honestly take without flinching. Be honest. Is that a 270? 30-06? 300 mag? More. I have tested several experienced shooters having them turn their backs while I load , or not, their rifles. Then they have to shoot and flinching will become very clear. Results might surprise you

In my experience gun fit and gun weight are very important to reduce felt recoil. A gun that kicks the crap out of me might be quite tolerable to others and vise versa.

Yeah, it surprises me too. A lot of guys can't shoot for chidt..:



Some guys can... My threshold is somewhere around 375H&H levels. I'll shoot my 338wm for 40 rounds off the bench in one outing, then shoot my 30-06 and creedmoor all day long if need be. Some guys are like my buddy Troy:


Some shoot like my buddy Mark. Same rifle Troy shot in the above pic:


And hell, just to confirm the rifle doesn't shoot like chidt:


So, yes some have a higher tolerance for recoil. As you can see, my buddy Troy doesn't like shooting a lightweight rifle, even when chambered for a small cartridge, such as the 6.5 CM...

It's mind over matter isn't it? I think there might be a natural "clench" in anticipation of getting booted, but overcome by deliberatly avoiding it. Like I see sometimes pistol shooters drop there muzzles if the round doesn't go off (either empty mag or otherwise all rounds fired). It's still anticipation of recoil but not really a fear of it.

Recoil energy is only part of the picture. Cuz not all recoil hurts. Different way of saying what saskfox has already.

Cheek slap will usually induce a flinch because the face isn't designed to absorb recoil. That can be mitigated. Yesterday shot a Rem 7 7-08 and thought it bothersome. Combination of that sharp buttplate and fairly heavy trigger.

OTOH, can shoot my .375R GG like a .243 or Swift all day, and feel invigorated. Factory brake, I meant......... Same for my unbraked 700s in .300 Win and Roy. Can shoot precise.

About my limit there. Above that, unbraked, not so good.

I can take a bit of thump. Am getting older and dont like to anymore. Blast may be more annoying than recoil.

My old.300 winmag was good for 30-40 rounds off the bench. Id drop down to a 7mag these days. That my comfort limit. Proly just run a .280 rem to be more wuss.

I asked the question and observing the answers because I keep seeing on forums the trend to go smaller and lighter across the board. 20 years ago people would have told you a cartridge like the 6.5 creed or would bounce off an elk, but today it’s devastating. . I’ve certainly noticed the very best used gun bargains are calibers like the 338 win. Owners just don’t shoot them much generally speaking. Bottom line I guess is practice makes perfect but agree it’s more anticipation than the actual wallop. With today’s bullets you can do a lot with less

I am fairly tolerant of recoil, but I've come to recognize I don't like to deliberately expose myself to more than necessary, especially if a lot of rounds are to be expended.

I can shoot a helluva lot more .308 rounds than I can heavily-loaded .45-70 before it gets to where I notice recoil, so I do .45-70 load development in smaller steps. I pretty much have the .45-70 figured out, anyway, so that one gets shot enough for zero check and some familiarization with the rifle after using a bolt-action for a while.

The older I get the less I like recoil.

I would rather shoot my 243 or 257 Roberts than my 6.5-300.

sighting in a rifle and taking 1 or 2 shots hunting big difference.

A sporter .30-06 off a bench is the limit for me. During a F/TR match, shooting close to 100 round of .308 in a day fatigues me. I agree with viking, the older I get the less I like recoil. I also dislike muzzle brakes.

Some variation from gun to gun, but as a guide I would say from the bench or prone I can shoot up to a 30.06 or 338 RCM plenty enough to load work up ( say 30 rounds) with out thinking about it much. Bigger than that I can shoot well, but it wears on me and I take some precautions, wearing a jacket or a PAST recoil pad. For my smaller stuff 250AI or 6BR, I can shoot quite a few rounds without caring.

For standing or sticks the bigger stuff doesn't really bother me to much, but 375 Ruger is as big as I go.

Even Hickok45 will flinch sometimes...and he is an expert shot...swatting that gong at 80 yards with snubbies. He's fired more shots than many will in several lifetimes.

I agree that it is mostly a mind over matter thing, to keep focussed on shot after shot.

I enjoy shooting critters with 7mm and .300 Weatherby mags but I am tuning up a 7x57 for the time when those get to be a bit much. I already use a .257 Roberts for most deer hunts so I’m already wuss there. 🤣

Suppressors really mellow things out. The game has changed... I don't consider anything necessarily devastating, but, a suppressed 6.5 Creedmoor is a thing of beauty.

You got that right!

This ^^^^^^^^^ .... Bought my dad a "soft recoiling" gas operated Rem 7400 in .270 Win. Same time I had a Savage 110 chambered 7 RM. I could shoot Federal Premium 160gr loads in the Savage 7 RM off the bench for as long as I could afford to feed it. However, three 3 shot groups (nine total) was my limit with the .270. Would have an all day head ache after shooting that .270.

Stayed away from .270's for a long time because of that rifle. Later picked up a .270 as a donor to rebarrel. Made the mistake of shooting the donor. Am now a .270 maven...

I have stated this before.

My recoil tolerance stopped at 416 Rigby. Enough! 5-6 tounds and I was done.
404 Jeffery I can shoot 30-40 rounds before it gets punchy.
My 375 I can shoot all day.

Recoil tolerance is a very individualized between people. Add in all the body shapes, rifle physics and geometry, you have a myriad of factors. leading to felt recoil.

I don't know what my tolerance is anymore because I gave up trying to get close to it. When you notice you have to pull it in tight to your shoulder and tense up your chest, back, neck, arms and abs you are trying to avoid pain.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with a physical therapist after one of my surgeries. We were talking about guns, hunting, and shooting. He owned a few guns, but really wasn't much of a shooter or hunter. He told me about going to shoot clay birds with a friend. He said he fired his friend's 12 gauge and he said that it really hurt. He said he tried it again and then he handed the gun back to its owner. I then began to tell him he needed to shoot more and find a gun which fit him better. He said his friend told him the same thing. He then looked me in the eye and said, "You are teaching your body to ignore pain. If you keep doing that you will end up in here again." I could not argue with that statement.

There are plenty of guys out there who think their "man card" will be taken away from them if they can't tolerate recoil. This group are the same ones who give a youngster a 12 gauge single shot with 3" shells for a laugh. Nothing is gained for anyone involved when this happens.

So, to answer your question, I don't know my true cut off for flinching, but I know this. When I get up to the recoil level of a sporter weight 223, I have to start pulling it in tight and tensing up to keep from getting a painful response.

I can't answer that because it's too complicated.

My 760 30-06 is fine, even though they have a rep. as kicking.
A 660 308 in a Brown Pounder with a Decelerator is fine for a decent amount
of shooting. But gets uncomfortable.

A light 300 mag with a Decelerator is fine for literally 3 shots.
After the second, they get increasingly less pleasant. 5 or 6 is unpleasant.
I can grit my teeth, concentrate, and do ok. But it ain't fun.

Ex-B-I-L had a Ruger 77 in 7mag.
I would rather shoot my 300 2 shots to one in that POS!