James B

I had a Ruger in 300 Win Mag and one in 7MM Rem Mag. Recoil was not pleasant compared to the 700's. However thats how they fit me.

ELKampMaster

Soilarch,

You are on the right track to be pursuing answers regardingrifle stock shape and fit versus bodytype (and incidentally weight) as it isquite important IMHO. Since you cannot readily changeyour body shape and weight, whether you get hit "harder" with more felt recoilthansome "little guy" or not is really beside the point; what counts is doing something to manage your OWN felt recoil andmakeyour "hit" as managable as possible. To that end, rifle stock fit is critical.

Au contrare! I believe rifle stock fit (especially length of pull)is critical.[In addition tohaving the appropriate weight of rifle vs the cartridge being usedand having a quality of recoil pad.]. Personally, I like some drop at the heel on my stocks, I'm 6'5" and 220, long neck, no jowls, long arms, and I don't want to have to drop my head down, not one bit, to be able to acquire the sight picture. Especially with friskyrifles I want to shoot in a "heads up" posture.

This type of "drop at the heel" stock that I favor does cause the rifle's muzzle to jump up a bit, which with a bolt action, doesn't bother me at all since jacking in another round will break your stance anddisrupt your"sight picture"anyway. However, you do have to pay attention how the stock "welds" to yourcheek and whether it will "recoil clear" or catch your cheek, for my physique --- no problem at all.

My favorites for handling recoil are the CZ European Lux "hogbacks"(416 Rigby and 458 Lott), Winchester Model 70 (375 H&H, 30-06) [straighter, but heavier out of the box]. Remington 700's are okay, though my 270hurt meoften inmy early years as the stock (length of pull) wasn't long enough for my physique (and I didn't know any better).It would put my thumb into my nose/upper lip on occasion--- bad for accuracy on prairie dogs when you are running thru a 50-60 rounds at a setting.

The super linear, "all the recoil comes straight back" type stocks are NOT my favorites --- though they DO look sexy and quite cool--- however, to me theyfair poorlyon reducing felt recoil, especially if it features a fly weight synthetic stock combined with a frisky cartridge (duhhh!).That said the folks I've observed that seem to like them theBETTER for recoil management are the NFL lineman type body physique-- no neck, lots of muscle, bound up tight --- the same guy whosejowls will likelyget "clipped"in the "cheek weld" zone by the recoil due to the muzzle rise if his rifle has too much drop at the heel.. These guys seem to like the recoil to just come straight back, but honestly they are built to take it. Even with that kind of rig,modifying it to createa heavy enough rifle and then adding a QUALITY ENGINEERED recoil pad can go a long way towards managing recoil.

Move into the heavy hitters and they'll teach you to pay attention to this kind of stuff aplenty.

James B

Of course the fit of the stock is important. What I meant is that just because a rifle fits one guy who is 6 ft 2, does not mean that it will fit another guy that is the same size, in the same way comfort wise. Every guy or gal that is a certain size can't order a stock of certain demensions and all have a good fit.

The same goes for people in general. No one of eight line backer types feels recoil in the same way as the next guy. You will have to test for yourself to see what makes a rifle fit you personally.

ELKampMaster

If our responses address the fundamentals of the issue, then those who are askingmaypickup onwhat is going on andnot have to suffer through"chasing their tail" going from one rifle/model/cartridge demo to another,rather they can maketheir ownsound decision.

Otherwise, ahunter could be handling a rifle with what would be the perfect fitting stock for him or her, but it could be a light synthetic with a frisky cartridge and they could end up shying away from that rifle/model/cartridge combo by lack of understanding --- "Wow, that kicked hard, don't want one like that" when the fit was great and the weight was wrong.Or, they could be handling what could be the very best rifle forhim or her, but findthat every one of them soldl come straight from the factory 3/4" too short for that individual (try a "velcro on" recoil pad with spacers to get it to a fit where you can really tell or not). If the hunter knows this, thenthe recoil challenge is grasped fairly easily and the desired result achieved. Otherwise the tail chasing (i.e. rifle shopping/demoing) goes on and on and until the process eventually justcollapsesin a gunstoresomewhere under a salesman's closing pitch.

Recoil management is just complex enough tonot readily submit to a simplistic or abbreviated answer; yet it is really not that hard either and for sure is not "black magic"/no-guidelines just gotta wing it as some would imply.One alternative is the "tried and true" American favorite.... "the school of hard knocks---just wing it---run out and buy something---hope for the best"approach; buy it---try it---maybe you like it! One may have to buy and sell a few rifles by going this route,but one is bound to find "the right one" sooner or later and in the processhelp keep the gun shops in businessso thathas to bea good thing.

Sniper151

My favorite hunting rifle is a Remington model 700 VLS in 308 Win. I like feel of the weight forward, heavy barred rifles and the wooden stock is very comfortable.