Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Need a lighter kicking gun than my .30-06 - opinions?

If you're going to buy a classic cartridge like the 7X57, you owe it to yourself to get it in a classic rifle - like the Ruger #1 RSI.

I too have the same problem with recoil. I load a light load for my 6 1/2lb. Mauser sporter- 41gr. 4064/165gr. Sierra HPBT. Very low recoil. May sound like a real pipsqueek, but just ask the deer who took up residence in my freezer how lethal it is!

I DO reload and in the past tried some reduced loads, but the concept has experienced a resurgence. I'm a little hesitant because I spent a lot of powder and bullets working through loads that patterned with 135 and 150 gr. bullets when I first bought the rifle. I finally ended up with 57 gr. of IMR 4350 and a 165gr. BT or Partition and haven't looked back. I do own a Past recoil shield and I've replaced the dandy brick (pun intended) red recoil pad. I wasn't shooting with the Past this morning and haven't in recent years. Maybe I'll go back to trying that first. Recoil in the field isn't a problem, but I don't want that psychological effect to carry from the bench to the field either.
Selmer

Steve's suggestion of a 25-06 w/ 100 gr bullets is a good one, as is the idea of the 260 with 120's

I could live easily with either as a deer rifle. I have owned a couple of 25-06's in the past and have a couple Ruger 77's in 260 in the safe now. One is mine, the other I purchased for my son last Christmas.

If I were in your position, I would first try a good recoil pad on the 06 in combination with some 150 gr loads at about 2400 fps.

Then, if I still could not hunt with the rifle, I would consider replacing it with a 260 or 25-06 with a very slight edge given to the 260. The 260 requires a smaller powder charge. In identical rifles with same weight bullets and identical velocities the 260 will recoil just a bit less.

The 130 TSX and some other bullets like to be loaded up full throttle.

How about loading the 150s down to about 2,600 to 2,700 fps?
150-gr SPT, 46.0 gr, H-4895, 2600 fps
150-gr SPT 35.0 gr H-4198, 2450 fps
150-gr SPT 48.0 gr IMR-4064, 2700 fps

If that's not enough recoil reduction, drop down to a 125-gr at 2,700 fps, like a Ballistic Tip or Sierra SPT.

Nosler 125-gr BT H-4895 40.5 to 42.0 gr 2,615 fps
Sierra 125-gr IMR-4895 46.8 gr 2,700 fps

I would go buy a box of either Remington or Federal's managed recoil .30-'06 loads, and shoot those with your PAST pad in place. If you like the result, you can whip up a reload that duplicates the ballistics of those loads.

If you don't like the result, you can swap rifles by trading or rebarreling. I know a lot of guys in Montana hunting deer now with .25-'06s. They used to shoot '06s or .300s.

jim

Lee, have you shot anything with a TSX yet, or are you still talking out of your ass? Just curious..............

150 gr & IMR 4831 (55 grains) makes a good shooting, light kicking load too.

BTW- I have been looking for a Ruger 77 .250 Savage for a while. That will be my old age rifle of choice. No luck finding one yet.
Might consider a shot out .22/250 and rebarrel.

Good luck.

Bob

selmer,

You might want to try a Pachmyer Decelerator recoil pad. It made all the difference for my 338 RUM!
If you ar elooking at deer hunting only, consider a 257 Roberts. Plenty of punch for deer hunting with out much recoil.

JD338

I have a .243, a 7mm-08, and a 30-06 and would say to follow everyones advice and keep the 06 and make up some light 150g loads and put on a Limbsaver pad. An additional cushion like a PAST will tame it down for sure. I'm cheap and just stick an old stocking hat between the gun and my shoulder when shooting extended from a bench.

DZ,
REPENT!!! grin

I would rebarrel that fwt '06 and chamber it for the venerable 7X57 if it were me. Oh, wait, I am having a 7X57 built on a model 70 with a fwt contour barrel...grin

+1 on the 25-06 with 100 grain boolits.

Am doing load development for mine at the moment. I bought mine due to shoulder surgery and the need for a lighter recoiling rifle. Shoulder has healed but the 25-06 is a pleasure to shoot.

Rebarrel to .25-06, put a 1" decelerator on the back end, and slay schit.

Selmer, you have a lot of good advice to sift through here. But because your shoulder pain is "unexplained" and hurts all the time, go to your doctor and find out what is going on.You don't want something to go undetected if you can nip it in the bud.
Listen to your body.

I'm in the same boat. My .300WSM shoots most accurately with 180-grain bullets at max loads but I'm tired of the recoil. I've found that reduced loads often don't give the accuracy I want and it can take a lot of reloading and shooting to get a gun dialed-in to 125-grainers if it has an appetite for 180s. I have a 7-08 that is much more pleasant to shoot and a .243 that will kill deer with shots between the eyes at 150 yards, yet, my next caliber will be a 6.5. I've simply heard too many good reports about the 6.5s to ignore them.

CAS gave the "perfect" answer... "work up" a load in your .30/06 using lighter bullets and less powder... and recoil will be dramatically reduced.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Forget all the "advice" any of us have to offer... you already have "your" answer.

I'm not a .2506 fan, but do like the .257Bob and .308Winnie. The .243W is one I've shot that's mild and I hear-tell so is the .250Sav, .260Remmie and 6.5X55Swede. .270W is often "mild" (depending on the gun) and the 7X57 already mentioned has a rep for being mild but damned effective. One of the nicest qualities about the 6.5Swede explained to me is that its a great round for ladies and smaller adults to shoot at big game because of its lower recoil, but excellent penetration. I've even heard and read it implied many of the european 6.5mm rounds mimic that quality.

Yeah! What he said.