BradAnthony11

My father is having some eye problems and was told by his doctor he should shoot a low recoil gun if going deer hunting. What types of load would you guys suggest? Should he switch to a round ball instead of a sabot?

cayugad

It would help to know what kind of rifle he has. Perhaps the rifle he has is not suited to roundball. Some other considerations are the weight of the rifle, the caliber, and the kind of stock on the gun. All of these will effect the recoil.

Also the type of shooting situation he is facing as to distance and kind of setting will all make a difference in the kind of projectile he might want to shoot.

As to whether roundball would help. Yes, roundball with a lower powder charge often times will have reduced recoil. If you keep the powder charge around 70 grains the recoil is very mild if any in the right rifle, and you still have plenty of power to take a deer out to 75 yards.

Some other considerations would be a ball-et. They come in 275 grain, are easy to load because they do not require a patch, and with 70 grains of powder are accurate and deadly. Buffalo Bullet company makes a number of sizes in ballets. A old rule of thumb is faster the twist, longer the projectile. So if this is out of an inline with 1:28 twist, then get the 275 grains ball-et. If it is 1:48 or slower, then you might want to look into I believe the 245 grain ball-et.

Hope you can find a load for your father to use......

BradAnthony11

He has Knight .50 caliber Wolverine with the synthetic thumb whole stock.

UncleNorby

Throw on a recoil pad. There are brands out there that claim to reduce recoil by 30 - 50%. You may not have to use a lighter projectile or load.

Sounds like a long-term condition, so cutting the stock and getting the right LOP sounds like the way to go.

cayugad

I have a Wolvernine II which has the #11 caps but the solid stock. Great shooting rifle. I can shoot 80 grains of Goex FFg and a Buffalo Bullet 275 grain ball-et with good accuracy and in my opinion, very little recoil. It will also shoot roundball with 70 grains of Goex FFFg powder. Again, no recoil.

I am not a good judge of recoil I want to admit. Very few rifles really bother me when I shoot them. My Wolverine is actually a very sweet shooting rifle with 85 grains of Goex FFFg and a 240 grain T/C Mag Express. I don't think it kicks bad at all. Nothing like some of my other rifles....

MLKeith

Try to find a Limbsaver to fit the rifle. I just put one on my Omega and the difference is great. I am very recoil sensitive so believe me.

Triple Se7en

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Roundball first & foremost!

That bullet produces the least felt-recoil resistance.... followed by conicals then sabots.... all dependent on the same bullet fit inside your bore. For example... two bullets of the same grain size. A 180 grain roundball will have less felt recoil than a 180 grain sabot bullet because the plastic offers more heat/fire resistance than a cotton patch.... thus capturing more bore pressures related to recoil.

HOWEVER... Since he is shooting an inline with fast twist, roundballs will likely only work to around 50 yards. I suggest a looser-fitting sabot/bullet of 180 grains. The only sabot/bullets that I know of that fit this picture are Precision 40-cal bullets inside a 50-cal sabot. Cabelas.com sells 180 gr. Extended Range Poly-tip bullets that will give him a loose fit, less felt recoil & uphold much better accuracy beyond 50 yards than a roundball.

It's the 5th one down on this webpage link I provided below. Good luck to your Pops!

Cabelas (Precision) Extended Range Sabots 40/50 180 gr.