Mountain Cur

I hope to buy a rifle for my kids next year. I was wondering if there is really that much more recoil from a .308 compared to the 7mm-08 or the .260? I would really love to get the .308 but if recoil is that much of a difference, I'll probably choose the .260 over the 7mm-08. What do you guys think?

HEAD0001

You need to tell us more about your kids. I know a 14 year old that is afraid to shoot a 22 LR. And I know a first grader that shoots a Winchester 1300 Turkey gun with heavy loads. It depends completely on your kids. Tom.

Mountain Cur

Well, my daughter is 13, I'm about 5' 8'' and she is almost as tall as me. She shoots my old marlin 336 in .35 remington with 200 grain bullets, she killed her first deer last year, and her second one this year both one shot kills. Both with me sitting beside her!She's also getting an 870 youth model 20 gauge for Christmas, she just doesn't know it yet. My son is only 5 and I don't know for sure when I'll start letting him use an actual firearm. He currently shoots a daisy bb gun lol. I started my girl out shooting with a lever action .22 to get her usedto using a scope, and when I moved her up to the .35 she drilled a 2 inch bull at 100 yds, and that gun only has a 4 power scope on it. That's irrevelant to this topic, I just wanted to brag on her a little bit.

HEAD0001

Irrelevant to the topic. Lord no. I would brag on my daughter a whole lot more than that. It sounds to me like you are doing it right. Congratulations on her success. Tom.

James B

Just for you to compare. the 260 with a 140 grain bullet has 13.6 lbs of recoil. The 7MM-08 with a 140 grain bullet has 12.6 lbs of recoil. The 308 with a 150 grain bullet has 15.8 lbs and your 35 Remington with 200 grain bullets has 13.8 lbs. This is with 7.5 lb rifles in 260 and 35 Rem. and eight lb rifles in 7MM-08 and 308.

Mountain Cur

Wow, thanks James, that's good info. But that leads me to another question. Real world actual shooting, I wonder how much of adifference that 2 lbs. will make? I have to think not much. I need to find one of my friends with a .308 and shoot it sometime at the range.

CrowGuy

The 7mm-08 is a great gun. Very accurate and hardhitting with little recoil. For the most part, those two pounds won't mean much physically, but mentally they may. I have both guns, a 7mm-08 and a .308. The .308 does "kick" slightly harder than the 7mm-08.

8mm/06

This link below might help a bit in your quest for knowledge. I think it may be where James B researched his info, but I know it's available in a variety of books and charts. It is merely one source of info,.... there are others.
It is interesting to see where all your cartridges and/or rifles fall on the chart, including those you have thought about purchasing.
Take a look (again) at the tameness of the 6.5 X 55. Albeit the #'s listed are for a fairly moderate and un-agressive loading. Typical of what you might choose to push through a vintage military. Although I might slow it down a hair for an older Model 94.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

ranger140892

I have rifles in all three calibers. My wife shoots them mostly. She says the 7mm-08, with 140 gr bulletsrecoils less than the 260 Rem with 140 gr bullets. And of course we're getting faster velocity out of the 7mm-08.However, our favorite load in the 260 is Sierra 120 grPro Hunter @ 2875 fps, and we both say it recoils the least of all. She's killed a lot of deer with that rifle and load.
I would prefer her to hunt with the 308 with a Barnes 130 grTSX @3000 fps, (recoils about like the 7mm-08 w/140's)but she thinks her 260 is magic and won't use anything else on deer. Go girl!

SwampCollie

To be quite honest, if you were to put all three calibers in the exact same rifle (lets say a Model 7 Remington), and were shooting 140s and a 150 out of the 308, the difference would be almost un-noticable. A lot of felt recoil has to do with the cut of the stock and the recoil pad, although, a great cut and fine pad will never make a 338 kick like a 243, if you know what I mean.

I am a huge fan of the 7-08, and I am nearly as equally fond of the .260. I do like the 308 too, but that 7-08 is just so sweet.

With regards on the direction you should take...if you really think you are going to need that extra bit of bullet diameter that is the difference between .284 (7mm) and .308, then go ahead with the .308. If the recoil with 150's is a bit much for her, go with some of Federals Low Recoil 170gr loads. They will give you about the same trajectory/distance as your .35, with less recoil to boot. When she is ready for the 150s or 165s, you can step her up. But unless you are going after some larger game like elk/moose etc, I'd really go with the 7-08. Besides, the 7-08 has killed piles of elk, some outfitters may express concern, but that depends on the outfitter frankly.

But do make sure you get her a rifle that fits her well, and has a good pad, like Remingtons R3, which is a Limbsaver/Simms pad.