Saw a neighbor today and he asked if I could load some reduced recoil ammo for his 11 year old daughter who cannot handle the recoil from factory 6.5CM. I have various 120 125 129 and 140 grain .264 bullets but think 100 grain bullets would be better for her. I was looking online and could not find any 100 grain BT or Partitions. I was thinking about 30 grains of IMR 4895 or H4895 with the 100 grain bullets if I can find them.

Anyone have experience with this? I have loaded 120 grain BT’s in a 7mm-08 over 36 grains of IMR 4895 for my wife’s deer gun with good success.

Maybe a similar load with 120 grain bullets in the 6.5 would be OK. But a lighter bullet might make a significant difference in recoil?

Haven't loaded down the 6.5 CM though I agree with your thoughts on smallest bullet along with lower velocity. But also muzzle brakes are incredibly effective. You might recommend it to him. Might not be attractive depending on the rifle and other circumstances .

the IMR4895 gave us a good deal of blow back with 120/ 100 gr Sierra bullets.
H4198 and IMR3031 worked good. My nephew was going to pick up some Trailboss to try
30grs was the magic number.
We started his my niece a couple years ago at 9, using a lead sled she doesnt even think about recoil now

From personal experience, I have seen shooters who struggled with what they perceived to be recoil settle right down and shoot comfortably and well with a suppressed rifle in a more powerful caliber.

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the effect of noise and the effect of recoil.

If it truly is recoil, you can presumably load any bullet down, it doesn't need to be a 100 Unobtanium.

Years ago we experimented with reduced loads for my dad's .270 (in that case it was mostly to reduce meat damage at closer ranges than to reduce recoil) and found that we had to use case filler, and the rifle was quite sensitive to what type of filler we used. Dacron or toilet paper seemed to work best.

On Hodgdons website they show how to load reduced loads with H4895. I have loaded a .243 down to where my 12 year old Granddaughter could handle the recoil.
https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/low-recoil-loads

Best option is a 223, 22-250, realizing that was not your question, but just a suggestion..

quote:

Originally posted by cwilson:
Saw a neighbor today and he asked if I could load some reduced recoil ammo for his 11 year old daughter who cannot handle the recoil from factory 6.5CM.

If shes not ready for a 6.5 creedmoor I would turn her loose with a .22 first. Make it fun for her.

Most of the problem for females is they need more pitch and drop in the stock. Had a lady here the other day and on factory stock recoil pad only touched her on the bottom quarter of the pad, the rest was a gap. Watch most females hold a rifle and notice how they raise their shoulder up behind the but of rifle so that they have contact but can see through the scope.

Hi all. Thanks for your input. Lacking magic, I had to load the bullets that I had on-hand. So I went with 30 grains of IMR4895 and the 120 grain ballistic tips. They have the 6.5CM and it is to be her deer rifle, so changing caliber is off the table. Anticipate shot distance is less than 100 yards and probably less than half of that and I think that the 120 grain BT at 2200 fps +/- will get the job done. They do not own a suppressor, so that is not an option, at least for the short term. I agree that muzzle blast can be an issue so I recommended ear plugs and muffs for her. The fit of most guns is not good for women, especially girls. My wife has trouble getting a cheek weld. We had to add an adjustable cheek piece to her “youth” model 7 and it is still not perfect.

That bullet weight and level of loading should be good for recoil reduction. Hopefully bullet expansion will be okay at that reduced MV as you will be losing much of the shock value obtained from bullets up at 2800fps+ MV. I haven't used BT bullets so don't know how they perform at lower MV's but in general, round nose, or at least plain lead pointed bullets work well at the 2000-2200fps MV level and are suited to the 100-150yd shot distances.
It can be disconcerting for young hunters to have animals run off some distance before succumbing to a shot which can be an outcome from lower velocity hits of lighter bullets. DRT with CNS hits but heart lung hits at low velocity may see a few runners.

My son wanted do the youth pheasant and duck hunts. I did not want to buy a kid's gun that would be too small for him the next year, so I bought a regular Rem. 870 Express in 12 ga. I loaded 7/8 oz. load for practice and he did fine. I got a box of 2-3/4 inch steel #3 for ducks and loaded the standard 1-1/8 oz. target load with #6 lead shot for pheasant. On the day of the hunts I loaded his gun with the heavier loads, and he never noticed the difference when he shot birds. He got 3 ducks in the morning and 3 pheasants in the afternoon. I would suggest you let your granddaughter practice with the light loads and then shoot a regular load for the deer. I think in the excitement of shooting a deer she will never notice the difference in the loads.

Mr. Wilson: Any thoughts on the velocity and accuracy of those 30-grain loads under the 120-grain BT?

A slip on comb raising kit might be a good help to get her comfortable with a good cheek weld. I have one from Beartooth Products and it comes with multiple pads so you can adjust it for different heights.

You can go to 2500-2600 fps with a 120-130 gr bullet and cut recoil greatly and not ruin too much meat and thats a plus.

Ny go to deer rifle for my kids and grandkids and soon to be for my great grand kids is a 6x45 with a 80 gr. GSC bullet and a 222 with a 60 gr Hornady HP both have worked perfect...

quote:

Originally posted by KevinNY:
A slip on comb raising kit might be a good help to get her comfortable with a good cheek weld. I have one from Beartooth Products and it comes with multiple pads so you can adjust it for different heights.

Plus 1----I have 5 of them!

A real Pain in the A^* to install!

Hip

I will probably be able to report on the effectiveness if that load in a few weeks, once the youth antlerless deer season arrives.