liquidorange

wow! thanks for the suggestions. for starters im going to put on a limb saver recoil pad. that will cost 29.99$ they claim that it is up to 50% better than stock recoil pads in recoil and vibration. the winchester recoil pad is made of hard rubber and i think offers little help. then im going to try different ammo like the 210 gr federal noslers. i did originally shoot off a plastic ammo box leaning foward so i will try a up right vertical shooting style because it does make a lot of sense. as far as length of pull and fit i dont know much about it but everything feels fine. the trigger pull is a problem . i dont have a gauge but i would have to say 6 lbs or more. it takes quite a bit to pull the trigger. i thought that this mite be common for a magnum rifle. im wondering if its adjustable on a model 70 classic or if i need to have a new trigger installed. im going to try this out in the next couple of weeks so i will give an update. thanks everyone and stay tuned!

ELKampMaster

LiquidOrange,
Sounds like a reasonable plan.

The M70 does have an adjustable trigger.
When I looked at one at Cabela' s (along with a CZ and a Ruger) the M70 had a trigger pull of 8 pounds out of the box. Prudent of Winchester to error on the side of heavy BUT that is just too heavy -- as you know -- the moment of truth comes right as you are pulling the trigger, that part needs to go quickly and smoothly. Adjusting down to 3 pounds or so will help a lot. Study the manual and see if the adjustment is straight forward if so go for it, otherwise talk with a gunsmith, speaking of which.....

Even if you are in a non-metropolitain area there is usually someone in the community known as the " gunsmith" (hopefully not just self taught). He can do the trigger for you if you don' t want to give it a shot, AND....

Ask him about the fit of your rifle to your body given your cartridge! Don' t go just by the fact it " feels fine" -- his critique may prove invaluable. He may recommend an additional inch in the stock and you can buy recoil pads from Pachmayr that have the extra inch built right into them. These two items combined with what you are already considering can go a long, long way towards putting you on the right track with your 338.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

BareBack Jack

Colorado,
The thumb hole is not painful,you still hold the rifle against your shoulder.You thumb gose through a hole in the stock,and your fingers and palm wrap around,like holding a pistol.It adds more stability and control to the gun.

As for recoil the 300 UM has alot more recoil than the 450 Marlin.In my oppion.

liquidorange

just wanted to update. i put a limbsaver pad on and now use federal 210 noslers and it is amazing how it shoots now. what a difference, my brother loves the difference so much he now wants one!

bigcountry

Ok, let me get this right. Some of you guys want people with guns to keep the noise down? This is a gun page right? I admit, shooting next to someone with a 7mmRem Mag with a muzzlebrake makes me a little jumpy. But then I think, hey this is shooting, not knitting. So I wear some ear plugs, and then put on the 35dB muffs.

Only reason I don't like brakes, is one, I have seen them hurt groups if not machined perfectly. Two, hard to clean, three, they might change POI if you take it off and put a cover on.

Oh, I forgot, makes your gun look like a flag pole.

marty1028

300 RUM hits hard but with a custom brake it hits like a 243-270 ish. The 450 hits harder. 300 RUM feels like a really hard push. 450 is like someone hit you.

oldelkhunter

I would follow EKM's advise thoroughly..technique is 95%of the battle..Don't take manufacturers advertisements too seriously either. My Gunsmith absolutely hates Sims pads and feels that they are entirely too soft and that a heavy recoiling rifle will recoil faster with one in place. This sort of makes sense since I had a conversation with Melvin Forbes a few years back and asked him what type of recoil pads he puts on guns..he uses a Michaels of Oregon hard rubber pad and not because its cheap..I am betting one of his 5 lb creations in 308 or 7-08 or 284 will rear back and kick worse then any 338 will .

liquidorange

i can only speak of my experience with the simms pad. if you pull one off the shelf and squeeze it the pad is very soft and you would think it may be too mushy to work but compared to the extremely hard rubber pad my winchester model 70 came with it is a night and day difference at the range. this was without changing shooting style. i also shot quite a few rounds off safari steady sticks because im heading to africa next month. i was holding the gun basically only with one hand and the pad made a amazing difference. i even shot some of my original hornady ammo that i thought was the reason for the terrible kick and didnt really kick any worse than the federal 210 noslers. my conclusion is shooting in hot weather and the original recoil pad was the main problem for the terrible recoil i first felt. anyway PROBLEM SOLVED! NOW BACK TO THE RANGE

westbronco

EKM's advise about bench posture was right on, and I'm glad you found it helpful. I really doubt if anyone has ever developed a flinch shooting game, but they surely do shooting off a bench. I've tried to tell many a new shooter how to sit up straight at the bench so your body is free to move. I would also recommend placing a half full sandbag between the butt and your shoulder to spread out that recoil. It will make the shooting much easier and won't be missed when you take a shot on game.

Jorgy

So when is Mag Fest 2004? I've been saving my pennies so I can shoot that 500 nitro more than twice