If you were buying your first hunting rifle.....

A light rifle is handy to carry and will be fine for experienced shooters and new shooters with higher recoil tolerance. Remember that most of your shooting will be sighting in and practice, to get to know the rifle. Shooting light rifles from a bench is not always a good choice for a new shooter. If you develop a flinch it will carry over to the hunt.

I have a m70 featherweight 300winmag that I got for sheep hunting. Recoil is tolerable but It is not a rifle you would lend to a new hunter.

A 270win is a good rifle for people who are still determining how much ecoil they are comfortable with. Also, 6.5 Creedmore.
 
Ok, so what is a good comparison for rifles and calibres if I wanted to compare recoil? I currently have in my possession a very nice 270 that was offered for sale to me and loaned for a period of time to try out. It's very pretty and slick, it shoots accurate and well but I do notice some thumping recoil. That being said, I don't know what to compare it with. It's also a composite stock so it's light, which I like, but I know that will be the trade up probably.

Keep in mind I'm new to this and this is my first hunting rifle. In terms of recoil, I have a wooden stock shotgun, a couple of SKS rifles and a 22. The 270 packs a bigger punch.
 
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Ok, so what is a good comparison for rifles and calibres if I wanted to compare recoil? I currently have in my possession a very nice 270 that was offered for sale to me and loaned for a period of time to try out. It's very pretty and slick, it shoots accurate and well but I do notice some thumping recoil. That being said, I don't know what to compare it with. It's also a composite stock so it's light, which I like, but I know that will be the trade up probably.

Keep in mind I'm new to this and this is my first hunting rifle. In terms of recoil, I have a wooden stock shotgun, a couple of SKS rifles and a 22. The 270 packs a bigger punch.

Recoil is a funny one, as it is very subjective from person to person. Stock shape, rifle weight, and the cartridge all play a role.

Have you fired any other "hunting rifle" calibers? 270 is not a particularly heavy recoiling rifle, but it is no 223rem either. 308win will be right in the same ballpark, and 30-06 will recoil more (assuming the same rifle).
 
Recoil is a funny one, as it is very subjective from person to person. Stock shape, rifle weight, and the cartridge all play a role.

Have you fired any other "hunting rifle" calibers? 270 is not a particularly heavy recoiling rifle, but it is no 223rem either. 308win will be right in the same ballpark, and 30-06 will recoil more (assuming the same rifle).

No, nothing different recently.

I have a synth stock 270, so does my brother, and I'd like to compare them to see where mine stands. From there it would be nice to try something different but I don't necessarily have my eye on anything different except a lever action 30-30 I'd like to add to the collection. Maybe that's where I start the comparing.

The think I remember from shooting clays in my youth was being handed a shotgun and noticing the subtleness of the wooden stocks. Although heavier, they were *usually* more forgiving.
 
Recoil is a funny one, as it is very subjective from person to person. Stock shape, rifle weight, and the cartridge all play a role....
I agree. There is the "free recoil" portion that can be calculated objectively, I think that's what blakey's numbers are. That number matters, but it's just a part of the "felt recoil", which is what we're ultimately talking about. Subjective, as you say. After many years and many rifles, I still find it hard to predict felt recoil with some rifles - i.e., some still surprise me.
 
Ok, so what is a good comparison for rifles and calibres if I wanted to compare recoil?...
Compared to your 270 Win? I think the simplest would be to go to a significantly lighter cartridge, like the 243 Win. Or a significantly heavier cartridge (if that's the direction you're leaning), like the 300 WinMag. Compare using a rifle of similar weight if you can (the exact same model would be best, of course). Even if they're remotely close you should get a reasonable "feel" for the difference in recoil.

IMO, your 223 and SKS are not really useful comparisons, and the 12ga is probably changing too many variables.

Heck, if you're recoil sensitive, you might well be able to find that out just by comparing ammunition with different bullet weights in the 270 you already have. I think Remington makes 100gr and 150gr for 270.
 
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