If your shooting a synthetic 30-06 unscrew the current recoil pad. Go to Home Depot and buy 2 lbs of plumbers putty. Start off by putting one lb of putty into the hollowed out part of the shoulder stock. Buy a limbsaver recoil pad and reassemble. Your rifle just got a little heavier but the added weight will diminish recoil considerably and it didn't break the bank.. If one lb of putty isn't enough add more. If your not happy with the setup you can remove all the putty.
Low recoil rounds???
- Thread starter J.R.2
- Start date
6.5x55's and 7x57's have been used on Scandinavian Moose and African plains game since they were invented more than 100 years ago. About as popular in Europe as the '06 is in the U.S. I think that 100+ years of cartridge development has made them plenty lethal. Translated into U.S versions... 6.5 Creedmore or 7mm-08 are excellent choices for anything 400 yards and under.
VikingsGuy
Well-known member
Witt Machining has a great made to spec break that doesn't require threading, not the prettiest thing in the world but took the edge off my 300wsm for my son and I can go back to no break when I want. The break itself was cheaper than either a typical break or cost of barrel threading alone, let alone the combined price. I was skeptical but gave it a try. The 300wsm with full loads now recoils like a 7mm08 (or less).
sbhooper
Well-known member
Look no farther than a Creed, with a 24-inch barrel and shooting the Barnes 127 LRX. It will not beat you up and will kill everything that you need to kill. You most likely will not ever catch one of those bullets, launched at around 3000 fps.
Gunner46
Well-known member
I never really understood the advantage of a 'GOOD' recoil pad until I put an Air Tech Limb Saver on my boat paddle Ruger. I can honestly say that my felt recoil was probably cut in half !
Even with it being a 7/08 popping off a couple boxes, on the bench, would be bruising. Now, it's eazy-peezy.
Even with it being a 7/08 popping off a couple boxes, on the bench, would be bruising. Now, it's eazy-peezy.
Laelkhunter
Well-known member
7mm-08 My 11 year old grandson has one, and shoots it well. My Elk guide in Chama has twin sons, both of which use 7mm-08 on Mule Deer and Elk effectively.
rookhawk
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JR2, I sympathize with your plight. No one hates recoil more than I do which is embarrassing as I’m a giant.
I detest the recoil of a 30-06 or 300 winmag off a bench rest, yet I shoot 375s, 416s, 458s, 500 nitros with no issues. How? Shoot off sticks and you won’t take all the recoil in your shoulder.
As for calibers, you’re onto something important here. The Brits studied recoil and found that the most an average soldier could shoot accurately with repeated shots was 14-16 pounds of felt recoil. The 30-06 is around 19-21lbs. So your reaction is normal.
Calibers that have lots of punch and do much more than their caliber suggests:
243 Winchester - around 6 pounds recoil
6.5x55 - around 11 pounds
303 Brit - 14 pounds
7x57 - 12-14 pounds
7x64 - 17 pounds
If you don’t like the traditional calibers above, the techno-cool, plastic rifles shoot the following copycats:
6.5 creedmore
6.5x284
7-08
260 rem
280 rem
And if you want to grab a 1970s rifle off a buddy:
270 win
284 win
264 win
257 roberts
6mm remington
A proper shot from any of these will kill a deer. Most will kill an elk. Some will slay a moose.
You don’t need silly recoil to hunt if you get the milder calibers and shoot off sticks to avoid building a flinch.
I detest the recoil of a 30-06 or 300 winmag off a bench rest, yet I shoot 375s, 416s, 458s, 500 nitros with no issues. How? Shoot off sticks and you won’t take all the recoil in your shoulder.
As for calibers, you’re onto something important here. The Brits studied recoil and found that the most an average soldier could shoot accurately with repeated shots was 14-16 pounds of felt recoil. The 30-06 is around 19-21lbs. So your reaction is normal.
Calibers that have lots of punch and do much more than their caliber suggests:
243 Winchester - around 6 pounds recoil
6.5x55 - around 11 pounds
303 Brit - 14 pounds
7x57 - 12-14 pounds
7x64 - 17 pounds
If you don’t like the traditional calibers above, the techno-cool, plastic rifles shoot the following copycats:
6.5 creedmore
6.5x284
7-08
260 rem
280 rem
And if you want to grab a 1970s rifle off a buddy:
270 win
284 win
264 win
257 roberts
6mm remington
A proper shot from any of these will kill a deer. Most will kill an elk. Some will slay a moose.
You don’t need silly recoil to hunt if you get the milder calibers and shoot off sticks to avoid building a flinch.
Aussie_hunter_JD
Well-known member
For what it's worth 7mm08 which is a great cal is essentially just a 1980 ballistic clone of the 1892 7x57. But it was newer and fancier sounding so it had to be better? I know in Aus some guys will turn their nose to a 7x57 as an over the hill old cal that can't cut the mustard (i honestly had one guy tell me i was a fool and all I'd be doing was watching wounded deer run off, to my face mind you). Same guys rave about 7mm08. For the history nut, karamojo bell killed hundreds of elephants with the old cal, and jim Corbett numerous maneating tigers and leopard. Myself though less impressive have 4 deer from 4 shots with mine.
You'll find most of the "cool calibres" are like this.
You'll find most of the "cool calibres" are like this.
rookhawk
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- 39
Specific to his initial question with his 30-06, Hornady Custom-Lite ammo in 30-06 is quite good and will reduce recoil by more than 30%. My kids use this ammo in 243 for hunting inside of 200 yards.
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Yeah that stuffs great! I got two boxes of it tossed in for free when I bought my .300wm. Was awesome to get a feel of the gun and get some fire formed brass without beating myself to death. It would be no problem to sit and shoot 40-50 rounds in a day. My dad and I were laughing about it, it honestly felt like I was shooting the .25-06.
Laelkhunter
Well-known member
Good point. The 7x57 is a fine cartridge. If you don't reload, I think the 7mm-08 might be found with more effective bullets in factory loads. Not sure what factory loads could be available for 7X57 with the variety of bullets that can be found in the 7mm-08.
rookhawk
Member
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- 39
Yes and no. Yes, there is a larger variety of ammo for the 7-08 available via mailorder. No, I don't believe there is "better" ammo available for the 7mm-08 via factory loads. Permit me to explain my opinion:
The ammo that truly makes a 7mm-08 or a 7x57 truly work its magic is the really heavy for caliber stuff. Awesome BCs, tremendous penetration, ability for the bullet to open and function well at many velocities, and lastly the ability for the bullet to have excellent weight retention. If those are reasonable requirements in the reader's mind, there is actually better ammo for the 7x57 than the 7-08. The 7-08 loads in the US cater to the "lets go kill a deer" offerings in large part and are loaded to the conservative SAAMI specifications. The 7x57 loads are built to cater to the global (e.g. Africa-Europe heavy game) customer and the loads are considerably hotter built to the CIP specifications, not SAAMI.
Some examples of heavy for caliber in 7x57 that can be found with a bit of searching:
156gr Norma Oryx
175gr Nosler Partition
160gr Swift a-frame
140gr Barnes TTSX (*note, this is the volume of a 175gr lead bullet)
When I did some Internet poking through the piles of 7mm-08 ammo, I actually found less options on several sites of heavy for caliber bullets in premium ammo for 7mm-08.
Point being, it will take some searching to find the right factory load for either caliber, however that really is the whole point of the 7x57 and its twin anyway, something completely lost on the product marketing teams it appears. (because even 7mm-08 heavy for caliber large game loads are made by the Europeans, not the Americans)
At last count, I've used the 7x57 for the following hunts: ~ impalas, bushbuck, kudu, warthog, zebra, baboons (raiding our camp), duiker, klipspringer, waterbuck, hyena, black bear, whitetail, elk, and a lot of stuff I cannot recall I'm sure. The caliber will work just fine with heavy bullets for anything that walks North America, all at <14lbs felt recoil.
