Recoil

[BloodiedButUnbowed]

Hey yall

I didn't really know where to post this, so I figured Id look for a relatively general forum like this one. Basically my question is "How much recoil (in lbs/ft) can a 6'3" 255 pound young man handle?" I am an athlete, so not a big fat kid, and looking for a super long range gun, but don't know where my recoil tolerance will be. I don't want anything that will throw me around too badly.

 

[GNERGY]

Put a good Muscle brake on it like I did and not worry about recoil.
My 338 Ultra mag kicks like a 308 now.
Tarey

 

[BloodiedButUnbowed]

Thats another thing I am super confused about. What muzzle brake would you use?


Ive heard they increase sound? Is this true? If so, by how much?

 

[GNERGY]

Id you want something quiet shoot a 22
This is where I got my brake installed, and I like it, it makes my gun enjoyable to shoot.
Center Shot Rifles - Services
Tha Muscle brake sends a lot of the noise to both sides.
Tarey

 

[winmag]

Have you done much (or any) shooting in the past?
What is your idea of ''super long range''?
And what do you plan on using it for?
Heres why Im wondering........
1. If you havent shot much, you DEFINATELY dont want a cartrige that will ''belt'' you, and teach you bad habbits. Your form and accuracy will suffer, and you may not reach your full potential as a shooter.
2. How far and at what has just as much to do with cartrige choice as recoil IMO. If you want to shoot paper at 1k then Id go with a .308 win or a 264(6.5) of some sort. If your planning on taking deer size game and smaller both of these caliber selections would do fine, but Id lean towards the 308win for 2 reasons,
(a)Light recoil, but plenty of ''gun''
(b)LOADS OF INFO OUT THERE, along with a Huge bullet selection.
---If elk and moose size game are on the menue, I personaly would bump it up to a 30-06 or 300wsm.(leaning hard toward the 300wsm) for a medium/manageable recoil and alot greater energy and speed, with ALL the gains a 30 cal gives in bullet selection.
--- If youve done some shooting in the past, what are some cartriges you shot and how did you feel about the recoil. Because theres some incredible cartriges out there for extermely long range, but they have substantialy increased recoil compared to the above mentioned.

Now theres plenty of guys out there who will steer you toward smaller cartriges and say they work just fine on elk. And they DO work fine, but Im a beliver in ''a bit extra ALWAYS beats ''almost enough''. If the shot gets ''boched'' in any way bigger is better IMO and the bullet selection in 30 cal is un mached. Although shot placement is key theres alot of things that can go slightly wrong when you reach way out there.
Theres also a great many folks out there who can take thier small bores and shoot circles around me and my rifles, so listen to thier advise too before you make up your mind. But these are my opinions and wont change. Im a 30 cal fan for a reason. Big cartrige selection, and Big bullet wt selection. I got a 30-06 for my 13th birthday, and at 130#'s soakin wet I handled it just fine. My son will get my old -06, but his first L/R rig will be a 300wsm.
A 270win, or a 7mm mag of some sorts will do well also. Good luck

 

[BloodiedButUnbowed]

Ive shot a fair amount. First kill was with a 25 WSSM (or WSM), dont know which.

Then, my dad bought me a 270 win at about 11. Been shooting that for a while.

Ive shot both a 308 and 30-06 with NO PROBLEMS, and that was about 3-4 years ago.

Also, though this may not be helpful, I easily handle 44 magnum and 50 cal pistols.

 

[BloodiedButUnbowed]

I missed a few of your questions

Essentially, I want as much as I can handle at as far a distance as I can still hit, as I may be hunting elk, buffalo, etc. in the near future.

 

[winmag]

Ive shot a fair amount. First kill was with a 25 WSSM (or WSM), dont know which.

Then, my dad bought me a 270 win at about 11. Been shooting that for a while.

Ive shot both a 308 and 30-06 with NO PROBLEMS, and that was about 3-4 years ago.

Also, though this may not be helpful, I easily handle 44 magnum and 50 cal pistols.

In that case, and that of your other post Id go 300wsm hands down and learn how to reach ''way out there'' with it, with out teaching yourself bad habbits from the recoil of the realy big ones. you can always get into those later once youve mastered the 300wsm, and youll have plenty of speed and energy for realy long range kills with the 300wsm. I dont know about how far on Buff, but 800-1k on deer and elk the 300wsm would do just fine. Do you hand load yet? Cause your gonna want to for reaching way out there for a number of reasons. Namely accuracy, and so you can afford to practice ALOT without going broke
Good luck with your choice, and again, read other folks' replies and get a good sense of what you think youll need. You already got my vote hahaha

 

[kcebcj]

Hey yall

I didn't really know where to post this, so I figured Id look for a relatively general forum like this one. Basically my question is "How much recoil (in lbs/ft) can a 6'3" 255 pound young man handle?" I am an athlete, so not a big fat kid, and looking for a super long range gun, but don't know where my recoil tolerance will be. I don't want anything that will throw me around too badly.

Recoil tolerance is more of a mental thing then a physical thing. If you don't handle it well it will cause flinching and that is a subconscious reaction to the noise and the recoil and whatever else the gods want to throw in and once it sets in it takes a lot of work to overcome it. Everyone I know and hunt with has had a flinching problem at one time or another. If you have friends with hard kicking rifles go shoot them "no brake" and you will soon find what you can tolerate and what you can't. If you find you don't like a lot of recoil then use a brake.

Brakes are loud and you need hearing protection when using them even when hunting.

 

[BloodiedButUnbowed]

Ok, well I do reload, so that makes it a bit easier. Also, thank yall very much. Basically, I dont think Ill develop a flinch unless it causes alot of pain every time i shoot the gun.

 

[MN Hunter]

What kind of rifle are you looking for?
Factory gun weighing plus or minus 7 pounds?
Factory gun heavy barrel - Rem Sendero - 8 1/2 pounds?
Custom gun weighing 10 - 15#'s?

I can comfortably tolerate the recoil of my Rem 700 in 300 win mag.
I also have a Rem 700 Sendero in 300 win - it has one of Center Shot Rifles 3 port brakes on it - the recoil is minimal - more of a push than a sharp crack.
I also have a 338 rum built by Defensive edge - the gun and scope weigh close to 10#'s - it has the DE brake on it - I would say that the recoil is less than a 308 - again its more of a push.
Brakes are great - however you will need to wear hearing protection even when hunting - check out the walker game ears.

Like others mention the tolerance for recoil is a very subjective thing - I am 6'1'' 200#'s my wife is 5'4" and 105# - I would say our tolerance is about the same - both comfortable with the 300win - we both like brakes after that.

If you dont want a brake and want to shoot a large caliber you may want to look at going with a heavier gun. The extra weight will help reduce felt recoil.

 

[flyin lizard]

I am no expert but I am in the process of load developement for my 300wsm. So far the heaviest bullet I have put thru it is 190 gr. The gun is a Savage mod.11 it came with a 24 inch pencil barrel which I just replaced with a douglas from SSS. With a good recoil pad I shoot from sand bags on a bench and hold the rifle with one hand when I shoot making sure I have good firm contact between my shoulder and the recoil pad. The gun rides the bags back about 2 inches. I have no problems with the vortex viper scope's eye relief. I am looking for load using a bullet in the 165 to 175 area ,telling you this to let you know I am not shooting heavy bullets right now , but even the 190's that I have shot did not cause discomfort. Since you do handload you can start with light loads and work up,gettind accustomed to the gun as you stretch its/your legs.. Good luck and have fun a 300wsm is really nice.

 

[BloodiedButUnbowed]

What kind of rifle are you looking for?
Factory gun weighing plus or minus 7 pounds?
Factory gun heavy barrel - Rem Sendero - 8 1/2 pounds?
Custom gun weighing 10 - 15#'s?

I can comfortably tolerate the recoil of my Rem 700 in 300 win mag.
I also have a Rem 700 Sendero in 300 win - it has one of Center Shot Rifles 3 port brakes on it - the recoil is minimal - more of a push than a sharp crack.
I also have a 338 rum built by Defensive edge - the gun and scope weigh close to 10#'s - it has the DE brake on it - I would say that the recoil is less than a 308 - again its more of a push.
Brakes are great - however you will need to wear hearing protection even when hunting - check out the walker game ears.

Like others mention the tolerance for recoil is a very subjective thing - I am 6'1'' 200#'s my wife is 5'4" and 105# - I would say our tolerance is about the same - both comfortable with the 300win - we both like brakes after that.

If you dont want a brake and want to shoot a large caliber you may want to look at going with a heavier gun. The extra weight will help reduce felt recoil.

Thank you for the help. The gun is going to be custom and at least 12 lbs. I may actually go with the 338 rum, but definitely will be using a cartridge like it.

So, I think I may go for a break and ear protection if you think thats best.

 

[FEENIX]

Excellent advices thus far. Not felt recoil but here's a link to a recoil calculator ...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/free-recoil-calculation-spreadsheet-19030/

Good luck!

Ed