Originally Posted by
Nailezs
Hi guys, this is my first time on this forum and I would like to get your alls input on something. I need some help on deciding which caliber rifle I want to buy. Now, I did do some searching, and have learned quite a bit about which calibers are good for what I want to do, but I have an additional factor thats needs to be thought about. Recoil.
Here's where I'm at. I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Around here about the only thing you need a rifle for is whitetail or sika. So I had a Remington .280, and I loved it. But, the person I had entrusted the storage of my rifles too no longer has them, and I'm left having to start from scratch.
For around here, my .280 was perfect. It also was on the border of respect/fear as far as the recoil goes. See, soaking wet I'm maybe 145 on a good day. I'm a scrawny type dude, with little upper body strength. My .280 had just enough recoil that sometimes I could feel the scope barely touch the hairs on my eyebrow, but not enough to actually hit me.
What I'm looking for is a rifle that can successfully hunt anything in North America, without having more recoil that my .280, and ammo that is reasonable cost($20-40 for a box of 20). So, I'm thinking that I will certainly need a recoil pad for the stock, and a muzzle brake.
I had been leaning toward a .270 Weatherby Magnum, but after some reading on this forum I've decided that a .270 is too small for things such as elk. I have similiary discard a 7mm and 7mm Magnum, due to a 30-06 being ballistically superior with bullets weighing 180gr and above.
Right now I'm thinking that a 30-06 with a muzzle brake and recoil pad would be my best suited choice, but would like the input and suggestions of hunting pros such as you guys for any other cailbres and then a rifle suited to me in the decided-upon caliber.
Thanks!
First you complain about the recoil of a 280 Remington and then you talk about wanting to buy a .270 Weatherby Magnum?
You obviously don't know anything about firearms.
The .280 belongs to the 30-06 Springfield class of firearms, since the 25-06, 270 Winchester, 280 Remington, 30-06 and 35 Wheelen are basically the same shell - with a few modifications to make it fit in the proposed caliber rifle it was intended for.
The weight of the bullet and the amount of powder and the type of powder is gong to determine how much the gun kicks to a large extent. Beyond that, unless some type of recoil dampening system and muzzle brake is employed - the recoil for most of that class of gun is going to be the same. As a matter of fact, a heavy rifle should kick less then a light weight / featherweight rifle will.
When you get into Weatherby Magnums you can almost double the felt recoil. It just all depends on which scale you use to measure felt recoil.
I had a .300 Weatherby once and it was made out of a 1917 Enfield rifle which was a very heavy rifle at that time and was the predecessor of the Model 721 Remington rifle which later became the Model 700 Remington.
Rule of thumb is - the further south you go on the eastern side of the USA - the smaller the deer gets. A .280 Remington was a good rifle, enough to handle what you want to do and if you decide to go hunting elk - you can always buy something else or borrow someone else's gun.
My opinion is - if you do not like the recoil of a .280 Remington then don't buy one. But you never feel the recoil when you are shooting at a deer. Only when you are shooting target practice.
Maybe a .243 Winchester would be a better option for you.
A 30-06 is not much better then a .270 Winchester or a .280 Remington when it comes to shooting Elk. Shooting Elk is all about bullet selection and bullet placement. The same is true for hunting deer, bear, turkeys or any other game.