I would also suggest the 25-06. I have used one on deer for years and never had a problem. There is a moderate amount of bullet choices and many of the major companies make rifles in this caliber. the last year tha my dad was able to hunt he used my rifle to shoot a doe and a 8 point and had no complaints. He had cancer with a tumor next to the nerves in his left shoulder and the recoil was manageable even with that. Whatever you get, trying to decide what caliber to get a new gun is a pretty good problem! Good Luck

If shooting off the bench is a problem because of recoil, regardless of what you decide to go with,then by all means buy a Past shoulder pad. I always use one when shooting from the bench whether I'm shooting a .243 or .300 Mag. With the pad I can concentrate on shooting good groups and not worry about my shoulder.

My suggestion would be a 25-06 Remington. Less recoil than a 270 and a flat shooting cartridge. There are many factory loads available with 100-120 gr bullets for deer sized game and 85-90 gr factory loads available for varmint hunting. If you choose to go after large hogs there are loads available with the Barnes TSX & Nosler Partition from Federal.

Most in my camp in SE OK use the 25-06. I'm the odd ball and use a 257 Roberts. I do own a 25-06 in a Smith & Wesson 1500. Using my 115 gr handloads you aren't kicked out of the scope and generally see where the bullet strikes an animal you are shooting at.

Another thing you might consider is a .30-06, but using the new Managed Recoil ammo. Supposedly, it kicks about like a .243.

I to would suggest the 25-06 Rem.
BBJ

I own a .243, a 7mm-08, a .308 , and a .270. There is not much difference between the 7mm-08 and the .308. They are a little bit easier than the .270. In my opinion, if you want a light recoiling round that will still work for you than get the .243. You can also get a good recoil pad installed on it if it does not come with a good one ( based on the gun you choose ), and you can get a shooting shirt with a pad onthe shoulder. With this combination, you should be able to shoot just about all you want to.

If you did desire a larger caliber, you can move up to the .308 and buy some remington managed recoil ammo or some federal low recoil ammo. and shoot that. This ammo uses a faster expanding bullet ( at lower velocities ) and a lower powder charge, to get the lighter recoil. The recoil isslightly less than a standard.243 round, and has the energy to make it effective on game out to just over 200 yards. I have tried both brands, and it does what the companies say it does, and is a quality ammo.

Remington Managed Recoil is available in( .270, 30-30, 30-06, .308, ) less recoil than a.243 --- (.300 mag, and 7mm mag. ) more recoil than a .243.

Note: Managed recoil ammo will not cycle a semi-automatic rifle fully, to eject the spent case.

I hope this helps.

Good luck and God bless.

I just bought a Tikka T3 Lite stainless in 7mm-08 with a 3X9X40 Zeiss Conquest SS scope on it for my son this year. I have owned many guns over the years and this has to be one of the best setups I EVER purchased. The only drawback is that when my son and I hunt together we both want to use it. The guns setup is also very nice looking. My son shot a pig and buck with it this year and I also shot a buck with it. All animals dropped in their tracks ( both deer were shot at 125 - 150 yards). My son is very scared of reciol but he loves this gun and also shoots it well.

I dont think you'd be able to tell much difference from a 25-06 to a 270. If you honestly have a prob with recoil then maybe a bolt action isnt the gun of choice. Maybe you should go the route of an auto loader. Rems 7400 is ok but a Browning BAR(ugly though-imo) is a superb autoloading gunwith a ton of caliber choices and will have more then enough accuracy for hunting. I doubt any of the calibers will provide enough recoil to bother you.

Thanks for the input! The bench is all that really bothers me, I can take the occasional hunting shot w/o to much of an issue thats why I was reading about the 7mm08 being user friendly and not to harsh on the bench.
I live in North Central Texas but I plan to hunt all over the state.

another vote for the .25-06