I'm looking for a recipe for whitetail with less recoil for my wife. I'm getting her a tiny Ruger bolt action that fits her well chambered in .308 Winchester, but I'm afraid the little rifle might pack a the hefty punch with 168 grainers I'm loading now. Any info on suitable bullets and loads is appreciated. Thanks

Load it with any of the 150 gr. "30-30" bullets and at similar velocity, say 2300-2400 fps. I like the Hornady Round nose. Less lead, less powder = dead deer.

Go to Hodgden's web site. They have a section on light loads for beginners, kids and women using H-4895.
Paul B.

Accurate Arms lists 33.5 grs of theit 5744 powder behind a Hornady 150 SP for 2551 fps. I use a lot of 5744 and it is excellent for reduced loads and gives fine accuracy and consistency even a low load densities.In a 6.5 lb rifle this load is only 14 FP of free recoil. This is a dead ringer for a 100 gr 243. Its still fast enough to make it good for 225 yards with little trajectory concern. Good luck!

50 grains of h414 or 50 grains of h4350 under 150 grain bullet are both milder recoiling 308 loads I've tried and tested with Red deer. Giving about 2700 and 2400 fps.
Also use a 125 grain sierra with 50 grains of h414.

I've used 130 gr Hornadys and Barnes Xs in .308 for my grandsons' hunts. Keep the velocity down and slowly build up to what she, repeat she, thinks is OK. Also have used these bullets in T/C Contenders in .30-30. Never had a problem on mule deer and antelope with either. Recoil is waayy down compared to the heavier bullets.

Get a 6.5 x 55 instead

I agree with the others, Long. Lighten the bullet is the easiest way to reduce recoil, but I would also listen to the advice to slow the bullet down some as the lighter .30 bullets can get a bit explosive and ruin a lot of animal. Definately slow down the 30/30 bullet if you use that. I've shot them full power at varmits and it's not pretty what they do to a critter.

A 125 gr bullet slowed down several 100 fps should be very mild and I sure will shoot as accurately as most of us shoot out in the field anyway.

Good luck to her.

OH, you might sight the gun in for her and avoid letting her shoot off a bench rest. Most shooting benches really force a shooter to lean into the gun and thereby get all the recoil. But normal shooting positions, this light bullet/reduced load will seem like kid stuff.

Thanks everyone for the great info. I will work with some of the recipes stated in the thread. I'm sure we'll find one we like out of these. Thanks again.

Just out of curiosity, how big is your wife and how much abuse is she used to? My wife is 5''7" @ 145 lb and did better with a recoil pad in her vest and very light loads in her .308 (130 - 140 gr 1800fps) to start - and worked up quickly to heavier loads and didn't even notice she was working up. She still doesn't care for max loads in the .308 (.357 mag revolver is another story). If not used to heavy recoil you'll only created problems if you don't start low enough.

You might think about something like the 125 Nosler BT loaded to around 2100fps ish. Call Nosler and ask them what velocity range would be good. I called them last year on a similar situation with the wifes 270 and got good straight answers.
Maybe look at the Blue Dot loads, for a lighter powder charge to lessen recoil??

See if you can get a LIMBSAVER (Remington R3) pad for her gun. They really work!

Get her a PAST recoil pad - best thing since sliced bread. It is only for the training on the range you need pads etc, in the field she won't feel a thing. Adrenaline will see to that
- mike

Thats kinda the way I was leanin, I have several; R3's and they are pretty nice.

I know this cat's wife and She killed a really, really nice whitetail buck last year. I believe it was with a VLS .308 so she knows what that feels like, but I know where L.R. is comming from, Like the little .25/06 that his brother had and swore he would never shoot one again. I guess it was a lil' mule. Then shot my .25/06 Sendero and completely changed his mind.

Someone suggested getting a different caliber. But that had nothing to do with what was asked. I beleive he has found the gun that fits her well and wants to know, how to tame it if need be. If you missed the question.


I have to agreee with most of you. The lighter loads in combination with possibly a Recoil pad. Could sig. lessen the recoil if it presents a problem.

L.R., my advice to you is, if it fits her as well as you say. Buy it, then shoot it and the one she is used to shooting. Get an idea the difference between the two. Go from there. If it is crazy out of control athen take drastic measures. If not, Rusty has the R3 and other pads up there, I got mine for around $22 or $23 ea. If the recoil difference is minimal then the pad will most likely save you money. But if your gonna actually work a load up, then hollar and I have some extra powder over here and we can go from there.



DuB
A.K.A. - "Waterfowls worst THREAT"

Good call on the recoil pads also. I do some research on those also. Thanks again for all the ideas.

I have killed several deer with this load in a 30-06. 41 gr H4895 with a Nosler 125 BT. I weight 125 pounds and am disabled with brittle bone disease. Each one has died in its tracks, even my longest shot ever on a buck, 9 pointer at 265 yards, he flipped over and died right there. I've been amazed at the effectiveness of this bullet on deer. Make sure she's using good ear protection as I think lots of the "recoil" troubles is really the muzzle blast hurting the ears. The Hodgdon website for the 308 youth list 39 gr H4895 for 2600 FPS with a 125 gr. Nosler BT. I think she can handle the kick even out of a light rifle. Add a Harris bipod for 1 pound "weight" and that will take a pound of recoil off and make the gun more muzzle steady also. A elastic "cartrige carrier" like you get at wal mart for the butt stock, full of shells will add another 1/2 pound and looks "cool". A lot of the recoil "pads" from the factorys are pretty much worthless, a better, softer, WIDER pad makes a world of difference. I fitted a pad to my '06 that was "flaired", wider at the bottom then the stock and it made a huge difference. Now I ENJOY the kick. I've even gone up to a 150 gr Nosler BT and 47 gr of Varget and that load is fine for me now. For deer the above 125 gr Nosler load is very effective in my limited experiance of 8 deer killed cleanly with it. The Nosler 125 BT is a "game" bullet and not a varmint bullet as some claim. Good luck and when you see how accurate and fun to shoot that load is you'll use it yourself! Much more effective than my .243 in dropping the deer dead. Billy R