What do you think is my limit?
 

Hey guys, I'm 5"10 and am around 135 lbs., what do you think is my maximum amount of gun I could shoot well?

Like, what calibers, with practice, could I manage, and use effectively?


Thanks in Advance,



Josiah

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

BB .17caliber.:D

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

lol, Now what do you really think I could shoot?

It's 5 feet, 10 inches,

not 5 inches, 10 centimeters!:D

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Acctually, you are built to take recoil very well. You will move more easily, rather than soak up the force of the recoil. Tall, skinny folks tend to handle more recoil with less pain. Someone who is 5'10 250# will take a real beating compared to the same height person in a 135# frame.

Really depends on you. What sort of experience do you have with firearms?

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

You need to shoot a variety of calibers and rounds and determine it for yourself. There is no clear answer. You could just go with a caliber such as a 7mm-08 that is favored by many, as it is relatively low in recoil, yet takes game very well.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I already own a .308 bolt-action, and the recoil doesn't bother me at all, and it's a really fun gun to shoot, IMO.

I can fire an SKS just fine since I was 12, and when shooting handguns, my dad's 40 S&W is fine, I don't feel the recoil, it's one of those Taurus Milleniums, and the trigger is crappy, so that's what I think about when I shoot it, not the recoil. And I think shooting a 9mm is pretty fun.

As for shotguns, I don't have too much experiance with those, since I've only fired 2 3/4 inch in a Mossberg 500 pump-action, and it didn't bother me.

I've never fired a magnum, and the last time I shot a 30-06 was when I was 11, and I could shoot it several times, but I didn't like it.But, I haven't shot one in years, so it would be more milder now, I bet.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I think the real question isn't how much recoil you can handle. Apparently you don't mind getting knocked down, which is all good and well.

The real question is how much recoil can you handle ACCURATELY.

I'll stand up to a .460 Weatherby without a brake (although reluctantly), but don't expect me to shoot MOA groups with it. The word, flinch, comes to mind.

I am sure you could walk away from an encounter with just about anything, but being able to have the discipline to squeeze off the shot, knowing you are about to get a good thumping is the measure of your max caliber.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

That's why I mentioned what do you think I could shoot well, WITH PRACTICE.
I heard a saying, "If you're going to learn how to shoot a gun that kicks alot, you're going to have to shoot a gun that kicks alot."

I heard one guy say I should try out a .300 Win. Mag. Then there's this 15-year old guy on here who wants to get a .338, and everyone thinks he can handle it.

I'm not asking for precise "What can I shoot", I'm just asking for an educated(or semi-educated:D) guess.


I shoot my .308 very accurately,I have a Shooter's Edge 3x9x50 scope on it.(Manufactured by Bushnell).
I do well out to 100 yards; I just haven't had much practice beyond that.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Everybody is different on how well they handle recoil. I have a Marlin .450 and a lot of people will not shoot it, but my buddies wife who weighs about 110 pounds shoots it all the time. You just need to try out different guns and see how well you can shoot them.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Yeah, I guess I'll have to borrow one of my uncle's buddies' guns, and offer to pay for the ammo.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Where the hell are all you skinny guys coming from????!!!!!!!!!

5' 10", 135? And that other guy is 6' +, and 155? I'm trying like hell to get back to 5' 10" and 190lbs! I'm207 now, and I was 222 lbs. at New Years! Tell me what I need to be eating!!!! Or maybe I just need to shut my pie hole...

And no, being a lardass doesn't predispose me to taking on any more recoil. My 700 CDL in .30-06 is quite manageable, butI wouldn't call itpleasant. The R3 pad makes a world o' difference, but it took me many boxes of ammo to learn to relax, breathe, slowly squeeeeeeeze, and be surprised when the round fired. In fact, I still work at that every time at the range.

I'm thinking I should get a .338 wm, just in case I ever want to go poke a bear in the ass & get him really mad. I also have this nagging suspicion about what this latest Congress might be up to regarding guns of all sorts... Still, I'm taking my '06 after elk again this fall, & I'd take it for moose, too. If I can get close enough to the critters, I'm quite confidentIcan put the bullets where they ought to go.

It sounds like you & I need to befriend some more folks at the shooting range, & see if they'll let us crack-off some rounds on their medium bore guns. We might learn a lot about our capabilities.

Good luck,

FC

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Boy, it ain't got nuthin to do with how BIG you are! As a matter of fact, you are probably better off than alot of much bigger guys when it comes to shooting big guns! Your body will "give" and ride with the recoil, rather than smashing your shoulder between the gun and the rest of your body!

Take a look at old Elmer Keith! He was a wiry little guy, didn't weigh much, but hecould shoot the biggest rifles ever built to be fired from the shoulder with no problems at all! I've run across small-frame, fragile-looking women who could shoot a .470 Nitro Express accurately without flinching.

Now, I'll admit that in order to be able to stand heavy recoil, you have to get used to it by shooting heavy recoiling guns, and perhaps adopt a mental attitude that lets you "hold through" the recoil until the bullet gets downrange. I personally had to do a lot of shooting with the .375 H&H before I got to where I could stop my desire to flinch, and hit targets with it. But now, I can handle a .416 Rigby with no problems as well as an 8-pound, .73 caliber flintlock rifle firing a 600-grain bullet with 150 grains of powder behind it.

Start with a .308 or .30/'06 with 180-grain bullets. When you get so you can shoot that, then try a .338 Win. When you can shoot it well, try the .375 H&H or equivalent. Once you can really shoot the .375, you are ready to take on ANYTHING on this planet-just use the right bullets!

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

cut the soft drinks and fast food and that will do WONDERS. plus, get some exercise. it's often overlooked how important that is.

just fyi, i'm 6'1" 165 lbs. former cross country runner ;)

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Check, check, and check. 5 years ago, I did those things, & lost 60 lbs. I kept it off pretty well, 'til I started recovering from my divorce. At that point, I kept telling myself I "deserved" a few things, mainly alcoholic.;) That brought me up past where I oughta be. Of course, I also told myself I deserved to get back into shooting & hunting, & that's been wonderful!

I had to give up step class aerobics because my body got so used to it that I wouldn't even get my heart rate up. Now I do interval training on the treadmill, along with a weight routine set up by a personal trainer. I don't get to watch a room full of hotties bouncing & jiggling anymore, but I'm getting a better workout.

I s'pose it's just my body type. The thinnest I've ever been in my adult life is 175#, and that was when I was having marital problems, and then again during the subsequent divorce. I was wasted away (for me, anyhow.) At 190#, I won't becarrying too much extra fat.

Even now, I can run 3 to 4 miles at a clip, & my recovery is great. I've also been training in Tae Kwon Do for 3 years. I've just been doing it with a tad more insulation than I'd like!

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

you seem to have a good head about it on your shoulders so you probably know this but i thought i'd mention that it's also not always what you eat but how much you eat.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I agree w/ these guys - just got for it w/o bring afraid of the kick and you'll be fine. Always let the gun suprise you a little when it goes off and you won't have a flinch to worry about.

I'm 5'7" 190lbs (working my way back to 175lbs where I look/feel best withvisits to the gym every morning at 5:30am --from 201lbs on 1/20/07) and my business partner is 6'2" 320lbs.He is MUCH more recoil sensitive then I am. I don't know if its because I grew up shooting and got kicked by guns plenty at a young age, where as hedidn't shoot a gun until he was in his 20's, or what.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I have to agree with everyone. Its all on how much recoil you can handle. Im 5'10" and 145 pounds and I can shoot my 338 Ultra Mag very well. But on the other hand my little brother is 6'3" and weighs around 170 pounds cant handle anything over a 300 Win Mag.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

In my educated estimation, every gun is different. Different styles and stock designs as well as weights will have significantly unique recoil patterns. I have shot 300mags that were like small calibers and I have fired a Parker-Hale .270 that I don't care to shoot again. I also have 44 mag marlin lever gun in the safe that will loosen your fillings. Bullet wt. can greatly affect recoil as well as the design of the bullets ogive or surface that touches the lands. So, Therefore my guess is that unfortunately you must fire a gun and load, in a hunting situation, not just off a bench, to know how well you can handle it. And yes, borrowing a few to try is an excellent way to learn just what you can handle. I remember those younger days when you wanted every gun you see, and bigger is definitely better.....but now, I can afford to lose a little on one if I don't like it and get rid of it.....and through lots of trial and error I have learned that I would rather have a 308 that I can shoot verycomfortably and accurately that a 300monster mag, firing the same bullet, that makes me close my eyes and get my face out of the way as I squeeze the trigger! I will much more likely hit where I intend and the critter doesn't know the difference what it was fired from, I assure you.

Good Luck,

Dave in WV

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

You are about the same size as my 14 year old son. He shot a 7MM-08 last year with no problems. 30/06 was a little too much. This year, I got him a 7 Rem Mag - loaded the 168 gr. Berger VLD bullet to only 2730 fps (starting load). He said it kicked about the same as the 7MM-08. I plan to increase the horsepower of the loads as he gets bigger. I would rate his tolerance for recoil as about average.

Normally, Ilook atrecoil tolerance in terms of how many shots I can fire without fighting the flinch reflex. Believe it or not, with calibers as light as the .22-250 you can start flinching at about 200 rounds. With the .308 Winchester, things are pretty good up till about 35 or 40 shots. I can shoot a .300 Winchester 8 or ten times before I start fighting the flinch urge. By about the 3rd or 4th shot, the .340 Weatherby has me twitching. With harder recoiling guns, I generally shoot them in the Caldwell Lead Sled for sighting in. Never feel the recoil in the field when hunting.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I just eat homemade food as much as possible, and work out, and let my teenage matabolism take care of the rest.:D

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I don't think I'd want to get a 7mm Rem Mag, 'cause it's pretty much going to have little or no advantage over my .308 in comparison to other calibers.

Part of the reason that I want a bigger gun is that I want to have the capability of making 300 yard shots without having my bullet drop 4" or something like my .308 does.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I dont know how much less bullet drop you want but here are some balistic tables on 308, 7mm Mag, and 300 Ultra Mag.

308 With 150 Grain Bullet
Velocity
Muzzle - 2820
100 - 2611
200 - 2410
300 - 2219
400 - 2037
500 - 1863

Energy
Muzzle - 2648
100 - 2269
200 - 1935
300 - 1640
400 - 1381
500 - 1156

Bullet Drop
100 - 1.8
150 - 1.6
200 - Zero
250 - -3.1
300 - -7.8
400 - -22.6
500 - -46.0

7mm Mag With 150 Grain Bullet
Velocity
Muzzle - 3110
100 - 2927
200 - 2751
300 - 2582
400 - 2419
500 - 2262

Energy
Muzzle - 3221
100 - 2852
200 - 2520
300 - 2220
400 - 1948
500 - 1704

Bullet Drop
100 - 1.3
150 - 1.2
200 - Zero
250 - -2.3
300 - -5.9
400 - -17.0
500 - -34.0

300 Ultra Mag With 180 Grain Bullet
Velocity
Muzzle - 3250
100 - 3048
200 - 2856
300 - 2672
400 - 2495
500 - 2325

Energy
Muzzle - 4221
100 - 3714
200 - 3260
300 - 2853
400 - 2487
500 - 2160

Bullet Drop
100 - 2.0
150 - 2.3
200 - 1.7
250 - Zero
300 - -2.8
400 - -12.3
500 - -27.3

I feel that a 7mm is a decent step up from a 308 without gettin into the Ultra Mags. The 7mm has mild recoil compared to the Ultra Mags also.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Could you get any stats on the .300 Win. Mag.?

I don't think the Ultra Mag stat helps me out much, besides, the ammo isn't common.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

300 Win Man With 180 Grain Bullet

Velocity
Muzzle - 2960
100 - 2274
200 - 2595
300 - 2424
400 - 2259
500 - 2100

Energy
Muzzle - 3501
100 - 3075
200 - 2692
300 - 2348
400 - 2039
500 - 1762

Bullet Drop
100 - 1.5
150 - 1.4
200 -Zero
250 - -2.6
300 - -6.7
400 - -19.3
500 - -38.7

The 7mm Mag is a 300 Win Mag case necked down to a 7mm bullet. And seems to me to have alot more mild of recoil.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Yeah, it does look like the 7mm Rem Mag is the superior in ballistics, except for the .300 RUM.

It has the best trajectory, excluding the .300 RUM.

I would think that the .300 Win. Mag. would have an advantage of some sort over the 7mm Rem Mag, I guess the main thing is a bigger bullet.



So, the 7mm Rem. Mag. would actually double the velocity, reduce my bullet drop in half by two inches at 300 yards, and not have to recoil much?

Okay, I hate to be too demanding, but since some people mentioned the .338 Win. Mag., could you post it's ballistics too? I'm not really worried about recoil too much right now, I just want to weigh all my options, you know.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

in my opinion you can shoot any thing you want if you dont flinchwhen you shoot. shoot what ever gun you have avaliable that feels right and you feel is a good gun for what you plan on doing. dont be discouraged by your body structure i have a similar body structure and i like to shoot anything i can

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

Retaks - FYI - The 7 Rem Mag is not a .300 Win Mag necked down to 7MM. The .264 Win Mag, 7 Rem Mag, and 338 Win Mag all share the same case dimensions except for the neck. The .300 Winchester has a longer body and holds more powder.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

So, anyone besides edguello think I could shoot a .338 Win. Mag. after practicing with 180 grain .308 ammo?

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

OK i have been Corrected. Thanks Roskoe. I was told that it was a 300 case necked down. I never actually looked for myself. I dont think you would have a problem with the 338 Mag but i dont see a need for it. A 7mm mag or 300 Win Mag is plenty for all North American game out to 300 yards and prob even farther. All the 7mm Mags ive shot have had about the same recoil as my 30-06. I dont mind posting the balistics on anything i can get them on. I dont want you to make your choice on what people say alone. Id want to be as informed as i could be.

338 Win Mag With 225 Grain Bullet
Velocity
Muzzle - 2785
100 - 2517
200 - 2266
300 - 2029
400 - 1808
500 - 1605

Energy
Muzzle - 3871
100 - 3165
200 - 2565
300 - 2057
400 - 1633
500 - 1286

Bullet Drop
100 - 2.0
150 - 1.8
200 - Zero
250 - -3.5
300 - -8.8
400 - -25.2
500 - -54.1

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

YOUR SIZE DOESN'T MATTER TOO MUCH WITH RECOIL IF YOU GET IN SOME GOOD QUALITY SHOOTING PRACTICE.
I HAVE A FREIND WHO IS 6' 3" TALL AND WEIGHS 177 POUNDS. HE HAS BEEN ON HUNTS TO ALASKA AND AFRICA. HIS GUN OF CHOICE IS A .416 RIGBY, THEN THE .375 H&H MAG. HE HANDLES BOTH OF THESE GUNS BETTER THAN GUYS THAT ARE SHORT AND STOCKY OR TALL AND BROAD SHOULDERED. THE KEY HERE WAS HIS SEASONED SHOOTING EXPERIENCE.

NOW DONT GET ME WRONG, I DONT RECOMMEND GOING OUT AND BUYING A 450 DAKOTA FOR YOUR FIRST GUN. CHANCES ARE YOU MIGHT NOT EVER WANT TO SHOOT ANYTHING LARGER THAN A .338, AND THIS IS FINE, TRUST ME.

I WOULD RECOMMEND GETTING YOURSELF A GOOD 22 CALIBER RIFLE. LEARN THE FEEL OF TRIGGER PULLS. THE 22 IS THE PERFECT GUN TO GET USED TO PROPER GUN CONTROL AND SQUEEZING OF TRIGGER WITHOUT FEAR OF RECOILS. ONCE YOU ESTABLISH YOUR PROPER HANDLING, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER A LIGHT RIFLE LIKE A .243 OR 7MM-08, OR MAYBE 30-30....(THERE ARE OTHERS BUT THESE ARE JUST SUGGESTIONS) IF YOU PLAN ON SHOTGUNS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO START OUT WITH A NICE 20 GAUGE EITHER IN PUMP OR SEMI AUTO.

AFTER YOU HAVE SHOT ANYONE OF THESE KINDS OF GUNS AND GET SEASONED WITH SHOOTING THEM, YOU WILL REALIZE THE NEXT LEVEL YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO TO.

WHO KNOWS, YOU MIGHT END UP ONE OF THOSE GUYS SHOOTING HUGE MAGNUM LOADS......YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.

MY BEST ADVISE IS PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.....AND LEARN PROPER HANDLING AND SHOOTING MECHANICS BEFORE YOU JUMP UP TO THE MAGNUM CARTRIDGES.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

I have both a 7 Mag and a 300 Win Mag. There is a pretty big difference in recoil.

I can shoot easily a 100 through the 7 Mag and my shoulder is a tad sore. I shot about 60 or so last week and left range thinking my shoulder is pretty sore. Next day was all bruised up nd the 7 Mag did not do that.

The 7 Mag is pretty low recoiling. The 300 is manageable but keep in mind you cant shoot as much at a time.

I like shooting both, but given a choice like the 300 better. I like a little more recoil, tells you more power.

Now those RUMS I am not sure of. I do like to shoot too much and would hate to go and shoot a few and leave.

RE: What do you think is my limit?
 

IMO perceived recoil is mainly in the mind and ears of the shooter. The rest comes with practice and fit of the gun. If the stock isn't a good fit it'll beat you up. Example Rem 7600 in 35 Whelen, the wood stock w/ plastic but plate hit like a ton of bricks. Replaced with a cheapo Ram-Line synthetic with a recoil pad, less than half the weight. Believe it or not it reduced recoil by half. Now it's the perfect compliment to my other woods gun a m94 in 307 win. You have to try different guns to see what's most comfortable. A 308 is never too little gun. In my experience most people tend to be more accurate with lighter recoiling rounds. With my 223, 243, 257 and 6.5 are joys to shoot and fatigue takes a while to come. The 270 wsm, 307, 06 and 35 comes a lot quicker. My range sessions usually start with the smallest / ligthest recoiler get shot first to stave off the flinch from fatigue and usuall last around 120-150 rds depending on what I'm shooting. Getting used to a particular gun and how you roll with it can also affect how you perceive the recoil.