When did folks become such recoil wimps?

J

Jim870

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It wasn't that long ago when the .308 and .270 Winchester were considered very capable but mild mannered big game cartridges that were well suited to nearly anyone women and teens included. When did they become beyond the comfort level of most meer mortals?
I am by no means unaware of how effective mild recoiling rifles shooting quality bullets can be I have just been noticing a lot more hunters and shooters being very concerned over the amount of recoil produced by rifles that as recently as 10 years ago were often suggested as all around cartridges for those looking for a first rifle.
 
I'm not sure, 30 years ago I used to think 7mm Rem Mag was heavy recoil... Now I would say that 416 Rigby would fit that bill for me...

Bottom line, I'd rather a guy shoot a 243 well, than a 300wsm poorly. Everyone's mileage will vary.

Cheers
Jay

Obligatory pic of my old Cadex Tremor in 50BMG, miss that rifle!
 
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By the time Textbook of Small Arms was printed in 1909, the British had determined that 15 ft lbs was as much recoil as every man fit for military service could handle.

Way back when, the US Army noted that shooting scores went up using the Remington Model 8 in 25 Remington compared to the 1903 in 30-06. I don't think anyone considers the Model 8 to be more accurate than the 1903.
 
I think people became recoil wimps when the intermediate cartridge took over as the popular plinking round. When you shoot nothing but 223 then a 30-06 it retina detaching by comparison.
 
Recoil is subjective.

I don't have an issue with a couple hundred rounds out of a sub-seven pound .308 bolt gun each day, for several consecutive days. That's what I did when I took rifle 270 at Gunsite. Then again, I also own a .376 Steyr and don't find that recoil excessive (although it is rather stout).

I do think that muzzle brakes have their place on semi-autos that are firing .308 or cartridges with similar energy if rapid follow-up shots are desired....but I've never seen the benefit of a muzzle brake on a bolt gun. If you've invested the right amount of energy into the right sort of training, then you'll be back on target when you've cycled the bolt.
 
For the average hunter shooting a 30-06, 308, 7mm mag, 300 win mag etc etc 5 times a year (3 to sight in rifle, then 2 more on an animal if you use an -06 ;)) is no big deal. Now that guys shoot 100's of shells a day your shoulder gets sore after a while. I used to be all about shooting the big guns. My 300 RUM was my go to for everything from hunting to target shooting. Not only did my shoulder hate me, so did my wallet. I can bang steel with a 223 or 6.5 all day for 1/2 the price of a magnum and still have my shoulder intact when beer time rolls around.
 
People don't seem to be able to get over flinching. The heavier the recoil the more the flinch it seems. I am amazed at all the youtube videos I have watched where the reviewer has a terrible flinch. And we are suppose to believe them when they say a rifle is inaccurate lol. I have worked with a lot of full bore shooters who had bad flinches. Most got over it but some never could. So it seems that rather than develop good shooting skills the average shooter these days just ops for a low recoil cartridge.

To me 308 is mild recoil. I have shot a lot of guns with a bigger kick than that! But the second issue is can you use a rifle with a caliber that doesn't kick as much but give you the same stopping power for your intended targets at the range you will most likely encounter them. If that is the case then why go with a gun you can't handle when something else will do the job just as well.
 
What is “popular” changes pretty quickly. 20-40 rnds per range visit with an unbraked magnum can be a lot off the bench or prone. Offhand,sitting, kneeling is less likely to be painful. The cost of buying or reloading magnum cartridges is the driving force behind less powerful everyday rifles. A 30-06 does what 90% of hunters need. The little 6 and 6.5s punch paper better, easier, and cheaper.
 
I think when many of us get older, some of us realize (maybe smarter) you don't need all the thump and power you once thought you needed... .416, 338-06, 7mm Mag, .308, .280 Imp, .270... all gone...

There isn't anything I will ever hunt that I can't do it with my .243.
 
guntech said:
I think when many of us get older, some of us realize (maybe smarter) you don't need all the thump and power you once thought you needed... .416, 338-06, 7mm Mag, .308, .280 Imp, .270... all gone...

There isn't anything I will ever hunt that I can't do it with my .243.
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I hear ya, but I have plans for Africa one day... So the 416 Rigby will be around my place for a bit yet...
 
blupul said:
When we stopped shooting 5 rounds a month and started shooting 300 a day .
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I suppose that makes sense from one viewpoint. I could also make the case that back when I was a kid, just about all my friends were shooters, and we shot as often as we could. It was much easier to find places to shoot, and we took full advantage...never guessing how much more restrictive it would become as we got older. Now, for many people, shooting is an event. Pack the car, drive to the range which may be many miles away, and then try to get in as much trigger time as possible in the hours they have at the range. Folks like that may consider themselves to be serious shooters...and they may very well be...but how many times a week can a person do that? How many times a month? When I bought my first house, having owned only a condo before that, a place to shoot on my own land was just about my number one consideration. I want to shoot every day; being away from home for days or weeks at a time, as I often am for work, is horrifying because it means no shooting.

Now take a once-a-week shooter, and give him access to the internet. He buys a rifle, mentions it on a forum somewhere...and like clockwork, some expert who has in all likelihood never even held a rifle in that chambering will pipe up and warn the new owner that his pride and joy will cross his eyes, bruise his shoulder, knock him on his ass and turn a deer inside out every time he pulls the trigger. So the poor schmuck goes for his weekly range trip, scared green, expecting to be physically pummelled and, miracle of miracles...the prophecies are true. Of course they are true! He knows it's gonna hurt...so it hurts.

The best thing my father did for me when I was learning to shoot as a kid was to not mention how horrifying and painful and brutal that old .303 was going to feel after I had been plinking with a .22 all day. I wasn't expecting to be battered...and so I wasn't.

So that's why people today are recoil wusses; it's because of the internet. :)
 
And we've started shooting heavy for caliber bullets. I don't shoot anything under 200gr in my 300 Win Mag. We've even got 250gr 30 cal bullets now. Almost no one shoots a sub-180gr out of a 300 any more. 143gr in a 6.5mm is pretty standard; close to a 150gr 308 bullet (and 150gr 6.5mm bullets are available). Even my .224" rifle shoots an 88gr bullet at 3200 fps. That's equivalent recoil (still very low, just an example) to the usual 90gr 243 Win or 87gr 250 Savage.
 
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