friendliest heavy caliber for the recoil sensitive?

Anything suitable for Bullwinkle is going to hurt you without a muzzle brake. If it's a bolt action. A semi-auto will work better for you. I'd be thinking one of the 25 to 28 calibres.
An M1 Rifle, if you know somebody who owns one, will show you what a semi can do without the felt recoil. So will an M305.
"....35 Whelen..." Think physics. Big bullets give bigger felt recoil.
 
sunray said:
Anything suitable for Bullwinkle is going to hurt you without a muzzle brake. If it's a bolt action. A semi-auto will work better for you. I'd be thinking one of the 25 to 28 calibres.
An M1 Rifle, if you know somebody who owns one, will show you what a semi can do without the felt recoil. So will an M305.
"....35 Whelen..." Think physics. Big bullets give bigger felt recoil.
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Sunray strikes again. This is simply not so. Either a .25/06 loaded with a premium bullet or a 6.5 of the flavor you prefer is equal to the task, without the drama associated with shooting a .338. Again though, if you already own a rifle, chances are it can be loaded in such a way as to pleasant to shoot and still be a viable big game killer.
 
Ardent said:
Agreed, I actually think slight people have an easier time with heavy recoil. My 110lb wife shoots my .375 H&H quite well and deems the recoil "less than you'd expect", she moves quite a lot with the rifle in recoil.
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And you own the heaviest 375H&H ever marketed!

But you're right...small shooters roll with the puches. Big thick louts like me soak up the abuse more. Just liek kicking a stone down the road...the small ones skitter off when you lay a boot into them but big rocks simply break your toe!
 
6.5x55, 7x57 and the 308win, I own all three.
The little Swede is the lightest on recoil on these three here.
I bought my daughter a 308win rifle and I have to admit, my
first choice was the 7mm-08 and I failed by buying her the 308win.
I restocked her rifle and fitted it with a Decelerator pad.
 
Tytalus said:
Make sure you go through this list too to take a look at all your options to manage recoil:

http://www.quora.com/Guns-and-Firearms/What-are-all-of-the-ways-you-can-reduce-recoil-on-a-rifle

There are a number of ways this can be achieved:

1.) Use a muzzle brake, though this can increase the noise of firing the gun.

2.) 3rd party recoil pads on the rifle

3.) Recoil absorbing pads you can wear over your shoulder

4.) Recoil absorbing shirts (they have a pad where the gun fits, can be slightly more comfortable than #3

5.) Change the stock of your gun to have a wide base, so the "felt recoil" is spread out over a larger area

6.) Increase the weight of your gun. Heavy scope, ammo belts over the stock, rebarrel with a heavier barrel etc.

7.) Action choice: semi-automatics can be easier on recoil
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I noticed this on the Winchester Safari stocks. They look the same as the super grade stock but they are much broader at the butt. The .375 is relatively pleasant to shoot. McMillan should copy this stock so people can put it on .30-06s and .270s. Those things would be downright nice to shoot with such a stock.

I wonder why more stock makers don't take the broad butt approach to dealing with recoil. Easier than a muzzle brake but how much reduction?

Come to think of it, for the problem at hand you might order a standard weight Winchester .25-06 or .270, 24" sporter or Super Grade, and then order a McMillan Super Grade or their safari pattern in a magnum fill. It would be a 9 pound rifle but it probably wouldn't kick you much.

Boomer said:
If you already own a .308 or a .30/06, handloading will allow you to build loads that are within your recoil tolerance. The purchase of reloading equipment can be much cheaper than the cost of a new or even a used quality rifle; but the sky is the limit and it isn't hard to spend a fortune on this stuff should you want to. The .30/06 load I choose when teaching a novice shooter, drives a 125 to 130 gr bullet to 2600 fps, and both recoil and blast are quite mild, much milder than factory loads of similar bullet weight, in either the .30/06 or .270. When you stick a Barnes 130gr TSX/TTSX into the mix, recoil remains light, but the combination will be effective on a broadside moose. The 130 gr TSX has a similar length to a 150 gr lead core bullet. The original .30/06 load that Stewart Edward White used extensively in Africa, on antelope that approached a ton in weight, was the military 150 gr FMJ, at 2700 fps. Your 130gr TSX load is better, being dimensionally similar, but due to the expandable nose, straight line penetration is ensured. The expandable length of the bullet, that is the depth of the hollow point, is the same within caliber, be it a 130 or a 180 gr, as the weight of these bullets is determined by the shank length, rather than the length of the nose section. It will fully expand over normal hunting ranges, and the TSX's reputation for deep penetration will ensure the job gets done, without fear of recoil, even in a relatively light rifle.
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This seems like a very good idea.
 
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Kevan said:
Now that's a big load of baloney ! You are obviously not a Moose hunter.....
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I don't think sunray has ever left his keyboard, and he doesn't use it for research or reading either.....

He is quite an amazing individual actually, it's really hard to be wrong as often as he is, odds are you would get something right once in a while!!
 
I bought a 6.5x55 sako 85 with the laminate stock and love it, it is gentle enough to shoot for an afternoon and the 140 grain bullets will do what I want them to. there are 156 gr. bullets available in Canada if you want bigger and I think you can get a 160 gr solid in Europe if you want to hunt elephants lol. The 7mm-08 is pretty interesting ballistically and if I were looking at long range I would pick it over the swede cartridge but the 6.5x55 should carry you pretty well out to 300 yards without an issue although hunting moose I would keep the shots a lot closer in personally 300 yards plus is a long way to pack a moose with a buggered back ;) . I agree with looking into an Semi Auto as much of the recoil pressure is busy compressing springs and moving metal compared to a bolt action.
 
If the .308 hurts you, I'd recommend trying a .260, or 6.5x55. If that's still too much for you, go with a .243, but ONLY IF you are VERY particular about what shots you'll take and those you'll pass on, and ONLY if you will feed it with very stout bullets, of the mono-metal (Barnes TSX etc.), bonded (Nosler Accubond or Swift Scirocco), or Partition styles.

.243 is good for big game, but lacks the horsepower to help on even slightly marginal shots.

All that said, the best answer may be a heavier gun, with a different stock profile, or perhaps a semi-auto.
 
What about using Remington's 'Managed Recoil' ammunition (which,as advertized, provides 50% less recoil), say in .308, in a 7 lb bolt-action rifle with a Limbsaver recoil pad?

This would give very light recoil, equivalent to or less than 7mm-08 or 6.5x55 (at about $2.00 a round), in factory ammunition that costs only about $1.00 a round.

Typically, most of the ammunition that we go through in a year is fired at the rifle range. For example, at the range, one might fire 20-40 rounds a day, one or two days a week, for 10 months; whereas, during hunting season, one might only fire one to a few rounds. And, it is only at the range that one perceives the recoil. And increased perceived recoil can significantly reduce accuracy. Thus it is very useful to limit both the recoil and the expense of rifle range shooting.

However, there is another possible advantage of limiting perceived recoil using the Managed Recoil ammunition in .308 at the rifle range: .. you would have the option of switching to regular .308 ammunition during hunting season, again at only about $1.00 a round. The increased energy and flatter trajectory of the regular ammo would be advantageous, and the increased recoil will not be felt during the hunt.
 
I have a semi 30-06 so it had manageable recoil already,but ended up switching to a Boyds laminate which came with a pachmyer deacelerater pad on it and I find between the pad and the extra lb or so it cut the recoil in half again.
 
In case it isn't drilled into your head yet. Buy whatever caliber you feel can take game at your max distance and then get it threaded for a brake if you need one. I know they are loud but just use ear protection when you sight it in and then if you do things right you'll only take a shot or two in the field.
 
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