I can shoot my 30-06 Ruger #1 with 180 grain max loads at the range all day with out pain. I am considering a 300 Win for elk, in Idaho, the old body does not sneak up as good as it used to. I would like to avoid the pain and discomfert associated with that cal. Call me a wimp but my shoulder is 61 yrs old. I would appreciate factual responses to the following three questions. 1. Does the gas operation reduce the felt recoil and by how much, 300 Win down to?? 2. What kind of accurancy does a typical BAR have, 100 yrd group?? 3. Will it digest reloads or is one stuck with factory stuff? I am not interested in muzzule breaks, I want to keep the hearing I have. In the end I will probably keep dragging my heavey old No. 1 around the mountains, I would'nt know what to do with more than one shot; but the BAR is something to think about..Thanks

I actually own a BAR Light in .300 WM cal. and I believe that the recoil is absolutely resonable, due to the semi-auto mechanism, that "dilute" it. I owned an older model, all steel, it was heavier and the recoil was, of course, a little less. I had and have good accuracy (for a semi-auto)especially with heavy round nose Sierra 220 g. bullets, tipically 3-4 cm. @ 100 m. by putting the cartridges directly in the chamber (like a single shot). If you make it cycle, the accuracy will suffer a little, since the cartrtridge is somewhat "maltreated", may be 5-6 cm. @ 100 m. With both I shot over 1000 rounds and I did not have any problem with factory or (mainly) reloaded rounds and I believe that it is an excellent rifle; of course it need to be carefully cleaned and lubricated. - Lorenzo -

1. You'll find the recoil a little less uncomfortable with the BAR than with a fixed-action rifle of similar weight. Whether this difference is enough to satisfy your needs can only be determined by trying it youself. But I can tell you that the BAR is a bit on the heavy side and it's recoil tends to be kind of "mushy" rather than sharp.

2. The BAR's I've worked with are pretty decent in the accuracy department. Under 2 MOA would be expected, and my .270 runs more like 1.25 MOA, and some are said to do better. That won't miss any elk that I know of.

3. I've had no trouble reloading for mine. Some would advise using "small base" dies, but that would depend on the individual gun -- with mine it's not necessary. I would advise using powders that are slightly on the "faster" side (for the caliber) as opposed to the slower. My .270 exhibits high port pressures with something like 7828. With a .300 Magnum, something like 4350 (which is a bit faster than I would normally use in a .300) should do fine.

Whatever you buy, make sure you install a Pachmayr Deccelerator pad. Nothing better.