quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:

quote:

Originally posted by Brad:

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My original post had nothing to do with being macho or any of that. That is exactly the opposite of my point.
I guess in a nustshell a lot of people think a rifle kicks more than it actually does rather its because they don't wear earplugs and they flinch from the muzzle blast, or they are afraid the scope is going to hit them, or they have always been told that those dang ole 270's or 30-06's, or 7Mags or whatever will knock the snot out of ya. So they shoot one and automatically flinch because they are expecting to get whacked when they squeeze the trigger.
But it had nothing to do with being macho.

How old are you?

33

That explains everything.

Thanks for the honest response.

This John Wayne stuff is kind of silly to me.. I never met a gun I didnt like, but frankly, recoil is a PITA.. Ill shoot anything put in front of me, but what is the point? Am I supposed to have something to prove... Pffft..

There are certian calibers that are a sheer pleasure to shoot all day long, and the real kicker is that many of them will kill the hell out of whatever you, or whatever "I" here in the lower 48 will ever hunt. So why punish yourself?

Been down the magnum mania boulevard. Still laugh at some guys who still feel their testosterone surging at 50 yrs of age.. 9 times out of ten, you just dont need that much powder to get the job done..

When I was 33 I was shooting the 338 WM regularly, as well as other stuff like the 375 H&H and larger.

Now at 51, while I can still go all day in the mountains, I find I just don't care to deal with excessive recoil any more.

Part of it, no doubt, is that having piled up enough game I know the 308, 270, 30-06 are all I need. The other part is, the older one gets, the less the recoil experience is exhilarating. I used to find it invigorating and an enjoyable challenge. No longer.

But my approach to all this stuff is far more relaxed these days.

Also, comparing the recoil of a shotgun taken standing while shooting instinctively vs. shooting a HP rifle prone or at the bench shooting cognitively is preposterous.

Apples and oranges...

Brad and western hunter got it pegged.
Shot a Light weight Ithica 12 gage riot Gun today***once. Let a South African, 300 pounder shoot my 22 Jet #1 Ruger today after he put 40 rounds through his 30-06. Just looked at me smiled and said thank you. Fill in the blanks [ ] roger

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Originally posted by bartsche:


Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone..

Your Sig Line says it well!

How would shooting Hi Brass 1 5/8 oz loads from an O/U compare to rifle recoil? Seems about the same as my Win Mag. I've shot 3 1/2" 10 gauge shells out of a SxS...it was memorable....got to be up there with a few DG calibers. I won't be doing it again!!!

JonP,
If you shoot skeet and/or trap for a few years or more your body eventually learns little tricks and techniques to deal with it even when you are not thinking of it.The high volume of shooting with the snappy recoil of shotgun 1 1/8 oz target loads will teach you to accept recoil as just a momentary phenomenon. Once you can poof off 100 rounds of max trap load it is not hard to jump up to a few round of rifle or shotgun rounds.

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Originally posted by SR4759:
JonP,
If you shoot skeet and/or trap for a few years or more your body eventually learns little tricks and techniques to deal with it even when you are not thinking of it.The high volume of shooting with the snappy recoil of shotgun 1 1/8 oz target loads will teach you to accept recoil as just a momentary phenomenon. Once you can poof off 100 rounds of max trap load it is not hard to jump up to a few round of rifle or shotgun rounds.

As a much younger person with good eyes I shot competition ATA Trap for many years. No problem with recoil at all.
Sadly the acceptance to recoil doesn't last till the later years for everyone. Although I still shoot rifles over 6.5mm it isn't as near as frequent as it once was ; in fact not much at all. roger

Interesting discussion..I never cared for guns with lots of recoil. I shot a POS Mossberg in .270Win when hunting in NZ and vowed never again to shoot a Mossberg or a .270! I like to see the strikes of my shots and I can manage that with the 6mmBR, 6.5x55, 7x57 and the .308. All these guns will kill any animal I am ever going to hunt and I am happy to stay with them. Shooting a massive magnum don't make me a better hunter or a bigger man.

Best wishes,

Finman

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Originally posted by SR4759:
Stock fit has a lot to do with perceived recoil.

Just repeating what many have said. But amen !!

I've been shooting mid-bore magnums for 30 years. 7-STW, .300's in Win & Wby, an 8.5 lb .375 Wby.......... but the gun that ABSOLUTELY despised me (and the feeling was quite mutual!!) is my BPS 10 gauge. That gun drives up under my cheekbone something hateful and has split my face open twice.

So this spring, my 14 year old boy asks if Geraldine.......her name is Geraldine....really kicks as bad as I said. Long story very short.....the boy sits down with a 3 1/2" 2 oz. load @ 1300 fps and light one downrange at a turkey target. He gets up and I ask him what he thought. He sez "Well.......I wouldn't want to shoot it 100 times". I asked him if it hurt him. "No". "You wanna shoot it again ?" "Yep". And so it goes. Geraldine fits my kid. She does NOT fit me. Kid likes it. Belts the dog snot out of me.

Still have a rough time calling any .270 I ever shot a "kicker". But I guess if a feller was particularly recoil sensitive or very poorly fit to the gun, it could be less than enjoyable. Man card in danger.

quote:

If you shoot skeet and/or trap for a few years or more your body eventually learns little tricks and techniques to deal with it even when you are not thinking of it.The high volume of shooting with the snappy recoil of shotgun 1 1/8 oz target loads will teach you to accept recoil as just a momentary phenomenon. Once you can poof off 100 rounds of max trap load it is not hard to jump up to a few round of rifle or shotgun rounds.

Your comments are well taken. I only shoot clays from time to time...not familiar with trap or skeet. But, I will put several boxes of 3" steel through my O/U this season and probably won't notice that much. I was just trying to say that many folks will put heavy loads through a shotgun and not speak of it yet some of those loads are similar to a few larger caliber or even DG calibers as far as recoil.

I must admit that my go to calibers for meat hunting are 6.5x55 or 7x57.

I've gone in the opposite direction, primarily because DG hunting wasn't even on the horizon for me until lately (financial considerations). So I went from a 270 Win to a 375 H&H at age 58, then moved up (don't ask me why lol) to a 500 Jeffery at age 60. So between my sons and I we have a 500 Jeffery, a 416 Rem (left handed), a very light XCR II in 375 Weatherby, then step down to my 270 Weatherby and then to the 270 Wins my son's use in Colorado.

I do have to say after putting 5 rounds down range with the 500 which weighs 11.25 lbs without scope, none of the other guns seem to kick that much. The 375 Weatherby feels like a 300 H&H and the 270 Weatherby feels like a 222 Rem. But then again I'm probably "punchy" at that point ...