Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 270WSM vs 30-06 recoil?

Agree with what many others are saying...a 270WSM is not a real step down from a 30/06 in terms of recoil.

Notwithstanding some of the innuendo's about it that are tossed around today,a 270 Winchester is a completely sufficient 400 yard rifle, if you're a 400 yard rifleman.It has been that way since 1925.

The .25-06 with a 120 gr. bullet will recoil and blast more than the 7mm-08 with the same weight bullet.

I just did a comparison between .25-06 with the 100 gr. bullet and the 7mm-08 with a 120, 8 lb rifle:

.25-06: 100 gr. bullet, 3212 FPS, 59.7 gr. H-1000, 2.48 lbs-sec of recoil
7mm-08: 120 gr. bullet, 3039 FPS, 50 gr. H-4350, 2.51 lbs-sec of recoil

I'd go 7mm-08 in a heartbeat, for the bigger hole and the ability to go all the way up to 140-150 gr. bullets if needed. It'll do just fine out to 400 yards. (Also you get a little lighter, handier rifle with the short action, and less muzzle blast.)

Mark, the 30-06 is a lot of gun, popular notions to the contrary. I'd also add, for me and my build, all factory M70 stocks recoil hard.

Also, for me and my physique, the 270 WSM Montana recoils much more comfortably than any M70 Fwt 30-06. Yes, I've had both. It surprising how well the Montana stock handles recoil. In fact, my 300 WSM Montana is more comfortable to shoot than any of the five 30-06 M70 Fwt's I've owned, including those stocked in McMillan and Banser stocks and weighing more. Go figure. The Montana 300 has a fair bit of muzzle jump, but is more comfortable.

But M70's are cooler.

Stock design is often more important to perceived recoil than cartridge, within reason, which is why the Kimbers feel like they recoil less than their recoil numbers would predict.

However, I'd still drop down in cartridge, not go the opposite direction. I think Bob's advice about the 270 is spot on, and also the 308 Win is a heck of a BG round.

Two more quick data points, from the same calculator, both for the .30-06:

150 gr., 3068 FPS, 62 gr powder: 3.14 lb-sec recoil
180 gr., 2798 FPS, 57.5 gr powder: 3.25 lb-sec recoil

So, the 120 gr. 7mm-08 load has around 80% of the recoil of the .30-06 150 gr. in identical rifles. A 130 gr. .270 load would be somewhere in between.

If I had a poor shooting 30-06 and a flinch, I'd trade it toward a Kimber Montana in 223. I'd shoot that Montana to death and develop a TSX load for hunting.

When that flinch has faded in the joy of running a quality 223 with a wonderful trigger in a quality stock, I'd go get the Montana of choice to complement it. I'm partial to the 7-08, but 257 or 260 are dandy as well, and in the new 84L a 270 or 25-06 may well be good beyond description.

Having a good 223 that's a twin to a bigger brother is a really good way to roll.

Battling a poor shooting rifle with too much recoil while flinching and wondering if it's you or the rifle is about as much fun as shaving your head with a cheese grater while chewing on tinfoil.

DJ

Mark, have a muzzle break installed on your '06, then it will kick like a 243...you will still have to practice to get over the flinch.

I wear Peltor electronic ear muffs when hunting, keeps my ears warm and I hear 3x as good as the average human....sweet!

Re-barrel your '06 to 6.5x55 and fall in love.

7mm-08 would also be another superb choice! 140gr's!

I'd say it's the stock and heft of the featherweight that are creating your problems.


I had one of the first featherweights on the shelves(also an 06)when Winchester brought that design back from the dead in the Eighties , and I can say that gun with warm loads was a very good understudy for moving up to what some would consider extremely hard kicking cartridges .


Get an 06 that weighs a bit more with a 24 inch barrel and a different buttstock design and I'd bet you'd think you are shooting a completely different animal.........

I'm gonna say...

No muzzle brake or crazy ideas like holding on to the scope while shooting.

Do get a .22 and shoot the heck out of it to get rid of that flinch. Practice good technique: breathing, hold and squeeze..

If you insist on keeping that '06, get a good recoil pad installed, double cork your ears, and shoot 150's out of it. Get off the bench for awhile and shoot standing and sitting.

If you do want another rifle (as we all do), go down to something like a .25-06, 257, 260, .270, 7-08 that will have less recoil in general but still have plenty of juice to kill lots of different critters dead.

Buy remington managed recoil loads and intersperse dummy rounds when you are practicing. Have someone else load your rifle.

Get following things:

1. Double ear protection for the range. Both plugs and muffs.
2. A modern thick soft recoil pad such as the Decelerator.
3. An adqequate chambering that does not kick like the 06/wsm's.
4. A stock that fits you.

For now put that 06 or WSM idea aside and get another rifle. Spring is not far off. A combo cartridge like the 243 would be great for varmints and thats excellent rifle practice and a get by on smaller big game.

Thats what to do for now.

The Kimbers seem to kick less and come with Decelerators however they cost a bit more. Perhaps some here might know of a less expensive factory rifle that comes with a soft pad?

If you are flinching with the 30-06 I wouldn't go anywhere near the 270wsm. You will have the same problem. I've also not seen that much difference between a .270 and a 30-06. I did own a 25-06 that kicked a lot less than 30-06's I had owned. Personally, if I were you and hunted in open country I would run a .243, a 260 or 7mm-08. The 7mm-08 has a little kick to it but not nearly as much as the 06. My brother dropped down to a 7mm-08 from an 06 about eight years ago and has taken about 80 whitetails with the 7mm-08 and 140 grain Corelokts. He loves it and believes that it kills deer even better than his 06 did.

You also need to make sure you are wearing good hearing protection when you are shooting. Most flinch is a product of muzzle blast.

Get a BB gun! Shoot that for a while till your flinch goes away. Seriously. This crapshoot of loaded vs unloaded won't make your flinch go away, just keep you guessing as to whether you're going to get kicked or not which will have you flinching at a dry fire and at the actual recoil.

My first gun was a 7mm Rem Mag when I was about 14. No real shooting experience to then and after a while I had no accuracy and had a good flinch. Started shooting a pellet gun and would even flinch at that damn thing out of habit. Got rid of the flinch and ended up getting a 270. After that, no problems with flinching. 270, 7WSM, 270WSM, 300WSM... no issues.

Pellet guns are your friend

If you have a .30-06 you like, but don't enjoy shooting 40 rounds, buy an identical rifle in .223 Rem and mount the same scope. If you can't find that, try to get something close in size and weight (like a Howa 1500 if you have a Rem 700 or Winchester M-70).

Get off the bench. Shoot offhand.

Remove the scope and shoot iron sights.

That scope coming back at your eye just naturally makes you want to flinch.

Load some mild loads in your .30-06 and shoot it standing, kneeling, sitting, prone, resting over rocks and against trees. Take it deer hunting. A 150-gr bullet at 2,000 fps will flatten a deer at 100 yards.

MarkD, I'd go with what Bear in Fairbanks has written. I've used a Past recoil shield for years when shooting from the bench. It makes a huge difference for me. I was shooting a number of rifles with steel buttplates and fairly stout recoil. I got tired of being bruised. The recommendation about the Limb Save pad is also good. A friend has had me try his several times and there's one on a verylight weight custom 30-06 I bought. I like 'em. There are some '06s that will beat you to death. I owned one. It would seem that at least 2 factors might affect felt recoil - chambering and headspacing, and stock design. Also, is the stock comb smacking you in the cheekbone or is the rifle just busting your shoulder? Different problems.

MarkD, First of all I'd like to compliment you on being honest about not liking recoil. A lot more people are recoil sensitive than will admit it.

My advice would be the same as several others have mentioned here, go with lighter bullet weights in your 30-06. There is a quite noticable difference in recoil between 150 and 180gr bullets in the 06, and with premium deep penetrating bullets like TSX's that we now have available you don't really need 180's in a 30-06.

Other ideas would be to use a limbsaver shoulder pad at the bench and limit the number of rounds you shoot at each range session. I hate muzzle brakes while hunting and highly recommend AGAINST them while hunting. Some brakes are removeable and you can use them on the bench and then replace them with a thread protector while hunting.

I personally love the 270 WSM and think it's a great round. Maybe you could find it in a rifle like a Kimber 8400 that is well stocked enough to lower the perceived recoil enough for you to enjoy shooting it more. Nothing at all wrong with the original 270 winchester either...........................DJ

And hold the rifle tight against your shoulder before you squeeze the trigger.
The wrong hold can hurt, find a comfortable position and repeat it every shot. One bad hit to the shoulder is worse than 40 or 50 from a good hold.
I don't like recoil either but I've got close to 700 rounds through my tupperware WSM's in the last month and a half and it's been fun(granted a couple layers of warm clothes helps alot). You are not gonna shoot well if you don't enjoy it.


And like you guys said, a 25-06 or 270 Win is a great idea.
270's are fun to shoot!

Good advise there.....

Mark, I've been a rifle loony for over 50yrs and I'm still recoil sensitive. I find it difficult to shoot a light weight 30.06 and call it fun. With really had kickers(338 and larger) I'm flinching like a wipped dog after half dozen shots or so. Long ago I found that a .270 was my upper limit in a hunting weight rifle if I was going to enjoy shooting. Lately I've been shooting a 6.5x55 Swede alot and I'm very impressed with it. It's just plain fun to shoot.