Why do you worry about recoil ?

No one should worry about the recoil from a rifle unless the caliber is .338 win or greater, or the rifle is really light.

But it appears that there are a large number of posts with questions about the recoil from cartridges like the 7mm-08.

I don't understand. Can someone explain this to me ?

Because felt recoil affects a person's ability to place a bullet where they want it. *ANYTHING* that does this is a concern. Thus, I worry about recoil on my .243!

While hunting I don't ever notice the recoil or the noise. Same during sustained fire on the range. But at a bench or firing single rounds at targets I definitely notice.

Bill Van Houten (USA Ret)

Thermopylae had it's messenger of defeat, COME AND GET THEM ! The Alamo had none.

I don't worry about recoil. I hunt with rifles in .338 thru .510 caliber in hunting weight rifles and have yet to worry about it.

Sam A. Kersh NRA Patron L.E.A.A. Life Member TSRA Life Member GOA, JPFO, SAF

Assuming you are serious then I will offer the logical explanation. True ...hardly anyone will notice recoil when hunting. Most knowledgeable people will however, fire their guns for enjoyment, sighting in, competition, and expertise. Shooting off the bench gets painful for most...even those that know how to hold the rifle butt in the right location and tight against the body. Shooting from a standing stance takes more shots to become painful. It's actually quite natural and the norm to feel pain unless one is quite heavy (fat...not muscular) or has a high tolerance to pain. The other factor of course is the machismo factor that I will not discuss.

So......a 338, 341 are fine in a hunting situation but for most people not enjoyable to shoot. Now we go to the 7-08, 308, 270 groups and you will find that they have a feel similar to a 12 gauge shotgun. Is a 12 gauge shotgun fun to shoot? I think it is when loaded down for sporting clays but even then 100 rounds leave a sore spot. Will 50 rounds of higher loads hurt....probable, especially if there is occasional misplacement of the butt.

Now you have folks asking about recoil. They are usually not that experienced when they need to ask about these common calibers. So how can we answer our fellow hunters/shooting enthusiasts?

1 Recoil is not felt when hunting 2 Recoil is worse on the bench 3 Pain of recoil is less with proper shooting techniques. 4 Don't be embarrassed to use a recoil pad when learning to smoothly shoot your rifle. If there is any sense of fear of recoil, you will not shoot well. 5 Buy a rifle that suits the game you are hunting. For most big game you don't need a 'bruiser' 6 Despite many comments you will see here a 308 is fine at appropriate ranges for animals as big as Elk 7 The point of hunting for anyone is comfort and accuracy with your weapon. Big bore guns are for experts who enjoy the bullet flight an power of these weapons.

It's just like going to the doctor and getting a shot. Of course you may feel it, but be realistic, does it really hurt. I find that if you handle the gun correctly, you don't feel it at all. When your friends use a large caliber gun to shoot game, ask them, did you feel the recoil. I bet their answer is no. It's all in their head.

Conrad, there are two kinds of people in the world, folks who admit don't care for recoil and those who claim not to feel it. You draw the worry line at the 338. Jeff Cooper admits the 600 Nitro is physically challenging. At the end of his career Selous complained that his four bore flintlock elephant gun was hard on his nerves and that he wished he'd never made its acquaintance. I don't care for rifles that don't fit, have a hard edged buttplate, or are needlessly noisy. I can shoot a light 30'06 with 220 grain bullets alot, or a 375 H&H a little, without complaint, but I've done some of my best marksmanship with a 223 and a 243. I don't worry about recoil but I select rifles that kick as little as is required to get the job done. Good hunting! Michael

Michael has the answer. Don't worry about recoil. Stick to calibers you're comfortable with. If you can shoot well (enough practice) lighter ones will do the job. If you worry that a 30-06 won't do brown bears, don't hunt brown bears. Bill Van Houten (USA Ret)

Thermopylae had it's messenger of defeat, COME AND GET THEM ! The Alamo had none.

I had asked the original ? i think re .243vs 7mm-o8 etc. I enjoy shooting off the bench an heavy or even constant mod-heavy recoil HURTS. I am a proud girlie-man , and do not like the recoil of 30-06 and above. I regularly shoot 100-150 rnds. of .223 in a session and now ~100 of .243. so I do not want to move up to a 'Hard hitting 'caliber. I got the 7mm-08 and when I get it back from the trigger job I will mount the 3200 mil dot on it and see if it will be my new best long range rifle. If it does not recoil to

You people with normal physiques may have trouble believing it, but some of us skinnys do have real recoil problems.

Back when I was in the Army, I was 5' 11' and 127 lbs (I enlisted). I had a Rem 660 in .308 that beat me to death. One summer Sunday afternoon, I fired 40 rounds from it. The following Thursday, I got asked in the shower about the big bruise on the front of my shoulder. If you want to keep this exchange civil, don't tell me the recoil of that gun was all in my mind, or that it couldn't harm me! It did everything short of drawing blood.

And, for my comfort & flinch avoidance, I had my 20-gauge fitted with a 'White Line' recoil pad (this was before sorbothane). Made bunny hunting fun again.

If you have no such problems, bully for you, but don't tell us what got 'em that recoil problems don't exist.

(I still have that 660, its my workhorse whitetail & black bear gun, but I don't shoot it from the bench beyond verifying the zero, lest I develop a raging flinch.)