Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles recoil of 7-08 vs. 308?

In identical rifles and shooting the same type of bullets at established velocity standards, how much more will a 165 gr bullet from a 308 recoil than a 140 gr bullet from a 7-08? Trying to decide on a rifle for one of my daughters. I know what I think but I have not shot a 308 in 20+ years and I only keep that rifle 1 deer season. It was a model 7 with 18.5" bbl. shooting 180 gr bullets it was a thumper!

Why don't you compare the more popular 150 gr. bullet for the 308 vs the 140 in the 7mm-08? That would be more like an apples to apples comparison wouldn't it?

7mm 140 gr has the same sd as the 165 .308

Better do an OGW comparison !

If yor daughter can't comfortably handle the recoil of a 308 a 7mm/o8 won't be much better. If you're killing deer, I would go with a 243.

Use Hodgdon's Youth Data to load a 150 in the 308 over a reduced charge of H4895. Kicks less than a 30-30 and will kill any deer that ever walked.


Okie John

Correct, she would be using this rifle for elk and I do not want to start a discussion on a 150 gr .30 cal bullet not being sufficient for elk. I just prefer a 165 gr bullet for animals bigger than deer.

that's a good idea

Here's an online recoil calculator that should help answer this question and others:

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

Good luck with your daughter's shooting!

Another underappreciated good one is the .260

It would appear to me he's looking for a mild mannered rifle for his daughter to comfortably shoot deer with. I'm sure she's not going to be sniping them out past any distance that OGW and SD'S or BC'S is concerned. Your point is moot in this circumstance. I agree with the other poster that maybe a 243 would be a better choice.

Remington sells Managed Recoil ammo for both the 308, and 7-08.

If you handload, you could drop down to the 110gr TTSX in either, and load with a modest charge of RL-7, Lil-gun, or similar.

Ok, so now it's for elk too. Use the calculator like others have suggested, that's the only way you're going to know. Plus you have to keep in mind the fit of the stock, recoil pad, and other variables that come into play. Of course you probably already know that.

Yes it will be her big gun for elk and African Plains game. She has a .257 Roberts she shoots quite well for deer sized game and hogs.

I happen to have both of these and while one wears a H_S stock(708) the other has a classic stock(308), they both shoot 150s, id say the 308 kicks a just a bit more, nothing your daughter will notice while she's putting meat in the freezer. If your daughter is like 13 or so and average build, she should have no problems with either, id take my 708 over the 308 since its so damn accurate.

If she shoots the Roberts well, the 7mm-08 probably won't feel uncomfortable for her. I have a 257R, 7mm-08 and 308. The recoil of the 7mm-08 feels similar to the 257R. Of course the 7mm-08 is a little heavier being a Featherweight vs a Kimber (257R). The 308 kicks noticeably more to me.

Not sure what platform you are looking for but I'm extremely impressed with the new 70 FW.

My opinion, and let me say up front that I'm just talkin' here; it's not like I've killed 10 elk with a .257, 7-08, and .308... but my opinion is that the 7-08 isn't enough of a step up to be worth it. Whereas, .257 and .308 strike me as a nice pairing for what the OP describes.

So a 120 grain TSX (or any other 120 grain bullet) shot out of a 7mm-08 at 3,000-3,100 fps. isn't a step up from a 117 grain bullet at 2,700 fps in the Bob? Hmm...interesting. Damn elk are getting more and more bullet proof every year I better pull all the 120 grain ballistic tips out of my 7mm-08 rounds and get me a wizmagnum.

My neighbor who passed away a few years ago killed countless elk with his .25 Bob. All he shot were 100 grain Hornady flat base spire points. If your daughter is good with the bob, let her keep shooting it until she gets a little bigger. Flinch

Flinch, you seem to have contradicted yourself.

I'm saying that I don't think it's enough of a step up to really justify the new rifle. I'm agreeing that the Bob is going to do about anything the 7-08 will do within the parameters of his needs.

At least in my opinion the .308 is enough of a step up from the Bob to actually be a "step".

Again though, I'm just talkin' here because I'm bored and I will, of course, defer to those with actual experience with these three calibers on plains game or elk.

I have shot high-power silhouette for over 30 years and some competitions required 160 shots per day plus some sighters and practice shots. When I first started in the game it was accepted knowledge that the 308 was a minimum caliber that would reliably knock over rams at 500 meters. Then the 7/08 came on the scene and it worked just as well as the 308 but as far as any difference in recoil I could not sense it - they both feel the same to me. And both would leave you flinchy at the end of the day.

The next big turn-aound came with the folks shooting the 243 with heavier (105 & 107 gr) bullets and we found out it worked most of the time. Then the 260 arrived on the scene and it pretty much rules the game now. It has the knock-down power of the 7/07 & 308 but recoil is much closer to the 243.

This was a long answer to my saying try to find her a 260 - minimal recoil for the amount of energy delivered.

just my 2 cents - drover

That's a good suggestion right there and it gets rid of all the horsechit talk about sectional density, bc's, OGW comparisons, etc. I wouldn't see any difference between the 257 and 260 either that some of these guys are suggesting.