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When I shoot my 338 I ask myself if I really need this. My shoulder seem to be getting older
Coop

Daisy Red Ryder.....

I had a 458 Lott for a while and the trigger guard beat my hand badly and couldn't get used to it. I've got an 8' 425 Express that with a 350 gr X or Woodleigh at 2350fps is about my limit. My range is in my yard so sighting in and practicing can be strung out a few shots at a time. Plinking balloons on the lake we shoot variuos 30s and 35s until cartridge supplies are exhausted.

I shot an un-braked 460 Weatherby once! I thought it had a ridiculous amount of recoil. 375 H&H would probably be my limit and I wouldn't want to play with it at the range for long.

half dozen rounds from the 400 Jeffrey and I'm good for the day.

Oh, and I don't launch those from a bench either....

A 3.5 inch 12 gauge Mossberg pump is all I want after about 25 rounds.

My Deeerslayer pump with 3 inch slugs out of the rifled barrel kicks plenty as well. I should do the math but I am pretty certain it is quite a bit more than my 338. The smoothbore barrel with 11/4 oz Brenneke's is not as bad.

My Featherweight '06 is pleasant with 180 NPT over 57 H4350 for a bit over 2700fps.

My 8# 12oz 338 w- 225 gr at 2750 is pretty easy to handle with proper technique.I love the newer recoil pads.

The biggest round I have shot regularly has been a couple of 375 H&H. One was on an Enfield action and heavy. Maybe 10.5 lbs. Not bad at all. The other was a push feed Winchester Model 70 about 9.5 lbs. Again not bad.

I shot a .458 a few times and it was plenty. More than I really want. I think I would top out with a .416 as most folks say that is plenty unless you need a stopping gun.

I've never shot anything more than a .450/400 or a .375 H&H, and those weren't really too bad. I can shoot my buddy's .338 Win Mag with full house loads from prone for 50-60 shots without too much trouble. I guess I've never shot a truly big rifle from the bench enough in one sitting to really know my limit.

I use a 300 weatherby all the time, and I am comfortable with my 416 Rigby.

I shoot my 375HH alot. 2000 rds. in the last 3 years. Sometimes 30 to 40 rds. a day. Great stock fit and fun to shoot and I've killed alot of animals with it. I don't want any more recoil than it. I've shot 300 weatherbys that hurt my 375 doesn't.

I have no idea though I'm sure the limit is there somehere. :-)
I shoot 12 ga slugs off the bench to sight in at 50 yards and about 15 rounds of that are enough. 3006 no problem all day long. 35 Whelen bangs me with the trigger gaurd on the bench but not too annoying still can shoot 250 gr loads all day with it. I don't own anything bigger so...... So far nothing bothers me off hand or sitting. Bear

I've never really thought that much about "maximum" recoil. I've shot a lot of rifles and never been very sensative to recoil in most "normal" rifles......just don't think about it.

Yes, some rifles do let you know they have gone off more authority than others, but as my daughter used to say, "They don't really hurt you so much as they buck up a might". Admittedly this is the same daughter who was shooting my 44 Mag. revolver and a .300 Mag. rifle at age 12, but I have to agree.

For me, the edge of "comfortable" is somewhere around the .458 level. I've only shot the really big stuff on occation, but do fire the .338, .375 and .458 pretty regularly. The first two are brisk, but not uncomfortable if proper technique is applied (keep a good grip on them to avoid an introduction to the scope), while the .458 is beginning to not be as much fun.

Oddly, my .45-70, loaded hot, (400 gr @ 2000) seems to hit harder than the .458 and is certainly more robust than the .375 The guns I notice the recoil most on are the lighter shotguns. I have a 7.5 pound 12 ga. magnum that is no fun at all to shoot for extended times.....and a 10 ga. magnum (10 pounds) that is almost as bad even though it weighs 2 pounds more.

This thread got me thinking, so I pulled out the calculator to chech recoil and recoil velosity of some of my rifles. This is what I found,

.338 Mag. (8#) 250 @ 2800 36.51# recoil 17.14 velosity
.375 H&H (9#) 270 @ 2650 33.51# 15.48
.458 Mag. (9#) 500 @ 2150 70.50# 22.46

It seems, that for me, the "limit" of comfort is somewhere around 40# of recoil....or about 25# of recoil velosity.

Interesting are some of the other figures I calculated,

.45-70 (7#) 400 @ 2000 50.87# recoil 21.63 velosity
12ga. (7#) 1 1/4 oz.@ 1300 42.69# 19.82
12ga. Mag (7.5#) 1 3/4 oz.@ 1300 66.63# 23.92
10ga. Mag (10#) 2 oz @ 1300 61.89# 19.96

Surprise to me....no wonder the .45-70 seems harsher than the .375. IT IS!!! And that light weight 12 ga. Magnum and 10 ga. are getting into the recoil level of African stopping rifles!

Seems sort of strange though that so many will shoot a standard 12 ga. all day at the skeet range, but shy away from a .338 that (on paper) kicks less.

The .30-06 (180 @ 2700) has 25.19# of recoil with 15.22 recoil velosity and the .270 (130 @ 3100) comes in at 17.57# with 12.71 velosity. So, it seems, the "average" shooter can tollerate around 20# of recoil or 14 of recoil velosity before it starts to "hurt".......of course that still doesn't explain the 12 ga. being OK. ODD!

30-06 and my 280 are about all I want for shooting sporter weight rifles.

Probably the 'worst' I've ever shot was my Remington 870 3-1/2" Super Mag with Winchester 3-1/2" turkey loads. Was standing up and fired one load. Still have 9 rounds left out of the box of 10 and will likely never shoot another one unless a utrkey is downrange. Thought the trigger guard broke my middle finger, got my glasses knocked off and came very close to getting knoocked on my kiester.

Other than that, heavy .50 caliber muzzleloader and .45-70 loads have been the worst, at around 48 foot-pounds recoil. Ran about 30 of the .45-70 460g loads during load development with no shoulder pad and only a hard buttplate. Ouch.

The good news is the above loads make everything else I shoot seem tame by comparison.

I worried about my 375H&H in a 7 lb rifle before I bought it - but since then, I've found that I've shot 30-06's that hurt more (bare metal butt plate in a Remington 760) and 300 magnums that seemed more unpleasant.

I think my 7 lb 375 with top loads feels a lot like my 8lb 12 guage shotgun with top loads in it.

I don't mind shooting my 12 guage all day - but of course I don't shoot it off a bench. I prefer a Caldwell Lead-Sled for ALL bench work. Why bother developing a flinch?

The comfort plateau ends with the 7 STW, or 300 winchester from the bench, and 300 weatherby standing offhand. Or a 30-30 with a steel butt plate. Of which I no longer own any of these.

My 300 WSM with a LimbSaver pad is more comfortable to shoot, and my all time favorite 7 RM is no problem to shoot 60 rounds from the bench wearing a tee shirt. I am a small frame guy and maybe they push me around rather than absorbing all of the recoil like some of my large friends seem to talk about.

There was a good interview awhile back with a gentleman in his 70's that regulated .600 Nitro's for a living. I have seen small framed women shoot a 460 Weatherby much better than I can.

I have been bruised by .243 Winchesters with a sharp metal butt plate. I think the Macho factor works against most men.

I have shot an 8.5# 378 Roy with no break and full power loads. Took a chunk out of my nose on the 4th shot and the 5th shot stacked the bullets. I have shot 416's plenty, but now days at the bench I wad up a shirt in my shoulder every time. I am pretty skinny and it hurts with about anything at the bench. That said, in the field, I routinely hunt with a 416 and am really getting comfortable with my 338rum. My 12 ga slug gun is pretty routhless at the bench. I have noticed certain gun stock designs hurt more than others too. I now use a lead sled at the range to get zeroed then practice with my hunting cloths on in feild conditions. I just don't like shooting at a bench anymore without the sled.

I dont think the cartridge determines my largest I can handle.
Case in point I have a friend who's dad has a Savage model 10 (I believe) in 30/06 with a 22" barrel wood stock and when you touch that thing off it feels like a pipebomb going off in your hands!
To the contrast I have shot a 375 ultramag and it didnt kick near as bad.
I also think that my old H&R single shot 12 gauge shooting 3" slugs is more than I care to handle on a daily bases......I'll just stick to my 11/87 shooting 3 1/2" mag turkey shells.
I believe its all about the platform that it is being delivered on.......

I shoot my .375 H&H from the bench with a sand bag on my shoulder and even then get a headache after a dozen of so rounds. I have shot 20 or so in a session off hand with no problem while still maintaining accuracy. While hunting the recoil has never been an issue even from the prone position.

Picked up a 105 mm canon round, handled, set it back down, does that count as the largest handled?

A 7 lb. 12 gauge with 1-7/8 oz loads is too much for me. Thanks to TexasRick's calculations I now know why! Even with lighter shotgun loads, I find that if I do a lot of early season goose hunting with heavy loads my rifle shooting suffers and I may develop a flinch until I train myself out of it. So I mostly use a mild mannered .308 or 7x57 for my practise shooting and big game hunting.
My max. hunting rifle cartridge is a 35 Whelen loaded with 250's at 2500. I tried a .338 but it was just a bit too much for accurate, comfortable shooting.