Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Recoil, What Cartridge Group Is Your Upper Limit?

My 7# '06 Tikka beats the schit outta me. Buddy has a 308 Sako Forester that only has a butt plate. It leaves a bit of a mark...

I think the worst at my house is an old single shot 10ga. (maybe a H&R) It isn't very heavy and has a 32" barrel. It'll wake you up.

I've mentioned it before, but I've got a .270 that bothers me more than my big 30's or 33's. I guess it just fits me badly because when I'm shooting 130's or more out of it, the snap bugs me enough that I found I have a flinch when I shoot it.

I've never quite nailed down how exactly it bugs me, but it does.

I can understand. I had a little .308 that seemed, for lack of a better term, too 'abrupt' to be comfortable.

My father's little M7 .350RM with 225's is about my limit. It's fairly fierce in my book. Some extra weight probably wouldn't hurt.

I'm with you & dtspoke. I shot a .270 that seemed more peppy to me, than a .300WM. Kind of like Obama told every last nation in Europe: it "punched above its weight".

I much prefer the quiet types that don't have to shout while they're knocking the schidt out of critters.

FC

Mine weighed under 6 pounds. I don't know where my upper limit is, but it is well below that. Its getting rebarreled to 6.5 rem mag.

I had a Tikka T3 lite in .270 that was more than I was comfortable shooting more than a few times. On the other hand I had a Browning Aolt Medallion in 300 WM that was a pussycat to shoot. I think stock design plays into recoil limits as much as the amount of powder being burned.

Worst recoil I have felt is 2 1/4 oz turkey loads from a Mossberg 835. Those are NOT fun to shoot.

You nailed it. It is all about stock design. I had a Win M70 in -06 that was no fun to shoot off the bench. Got rid of it and got a M700 in -06 and had it custom stocked. Recoils like a 22 and it is 2 1/4 lbs lighter. When I got my 375H&H I had the same guy make a stock for it matching the M700. When you touch off the 375 from the bench, you know you pulled the trigger but it isn't bad.

The stock is everything. I've got a McMillan on my M 70 270 and its a peach. My understanding is that the Kimber Montana stocks are really good at taming recoil.

How on the Kimber stocks and MPI stocks suck up a bunch too.

In the last few yrs I've used 70 grs of gunpowder as my upper limit, a drop in bullet weight helps too ai;

425 Express 350 woodleigh w/70 grs 4895

458 Win Mag 450 North Fork w/ 70grs 4895

The 375HH is the largest I own and have shot. Normally 20 rounds from the bench, I enjoy the Boom and Accuracy of this rifle (300gr @ 2500fps). I would like to sit down with a 416 Rigby or a 458 win someday.

I find I can shoot a well stocked 22 LR mostly all day long. Never seems to wear me out, and it's cheap to shoot.

12 gauge 3.5" turkey loads is the worst kicking round I have ever shot. I won't do it twice.

My Sako A7 in 300 Win Mag is a bit of a problem -in that its lack of weight means more recoil. Even with a Sims Limbsaver. Some say to go down to 150's but I have other 30 cals to shoot 150's with. May fit a brake to assist with sighting in and remove it when out in the field. Nice gun for lugging around the hills.
Gus

.375 H&H 3-5 shots and I'm done in a 10lb rifle
300 Win. 10 shots and I've had all the fun I can take in 9lb rifle
270WIN 20-30 rounds before my flinch starts. 8lb rifle
243Win 40 or so, maybe more.
.223 a lot, don't know for sure.

Just for the record I'm 71 years old and less recoil tolerant or maybe just smarter.

Look buddy, it's in the orange: Just for you ...:

20 rounds of 500gn 458WM loads off a benchrest.

Firing a 505Gibbs gives me a headache first shot, but I think I fired 8 in a session once (off-hand, not off a bench, no way! I'm not crazy)

I think my 416 Rigby is about as hard as I want to get shoved. It's fine until I go north of 105 grains with 400 grain bullets then the recoil is really noticeable off a bench.

Although when I kill stuff with it I don't seem to feel anything.

Don't brakes change POI a tad?