reduced recoil for the 308

[tuffteddyb]

the reduced loads worked well in my wifes 308,dropped her muley buck,with no problems at all,i believe they were federal,170 grains,were sweet to shoot also,great out to 150 yards.
she has moved onto a 7/08 now which she loves and is a awesome caliber.

 

[Iron Glove]

I'm ignoring the "manly" comments but will add that I'm just now going through the process of introducing my elderly, petite wife to hunting. She was recoil shy so I bought her a compact ( almost kid's size ) single shot .243 and loaded up a bunch of reduced loads using varying amounts of Trail Boss.
Took her to the range, put on the muffs and started her out with the lightest loads and worked all the way up to factory 125's.
The point of the reduced loads was to get her used to the recoil and noise gradually, if we had started right into the factory loads she likely would've flinched and maybe even given up.
After shooting 25 or so light loads ( always asking "Is that gonna kill a deer" ) she didn't even notice the factory load. So, our process worked.
I'll probably do the same for her with many of my other rifles, including the 308's.

 

[selig]

I think 105 gr. is the heaviest the 243 Win. goes. Probably just a slip up.

 

[RememberTheSomme]

Never used these but you could try Hornady's 125gr SST Custom Lite!

Recoil factor should be down 40% at least, and still be doing the job out to 150yds,........ somewhat like a 7mm/08.

 

[Mrwired]

A trick I was told about was to put some dry (put it in the oven for a while to ensure no moisture) sand in the hollow of the stock. It acts just like a "dead blow" hammer. Very effective at taking out a lot of the recoil. Yes, it will affect balance slightly but not near as much as one would think.

 

[Turkeyslayer 1300]

and he WON'T find them-there's no demand for reduced loads, therefore, they don't make them- the only way would be to re-load

That would be incorrect Remington and Federal both have reduced recoil .308 loads.

 

[Calum]

A trick I was told about was to put some dry (put it in the oven for a while to ensure no moisture) sand in the hollow of the stock. It acts just like a "dead blow" hammer. Very effective at taking out a lot of the recoil. Yes, it will affect balance slightly but not near as much as one would think.

Would that not increase the effect of impact against shoulder tissue?

 

[ndb86]

Would that not increase the effect of impact against shoulder tissue?

the heavier the gun the more recoil it absorbs before it gets to your shoulder.

 

[ongaro]

just shot a buck at close range (tree stand) with fushion 308 managed recoil i also shot a 300 win mag and many others . The inner damage the 308( managed recoil) did was very impressive. not sure at longer distances but at short they work well . I am 220 lbs and can shot and do shot the 300 but at 30 yards ,why?

 

[Mrwired]

A portion of energy is absorbed by the sand moving within the cavity thus less travels through the stock and in to the shoulder. Bounce a ball on concrete and then take the same ball and bounce it on a pile of sand, there's a difference.

 

[H4831]

"-----the lightest loads and worked all the way up to factory 125's."

Typo, maybe?

 

[trapoholic]

Are you kiddin me? Its a 308 :S

 

[Boomer]

Load a 125-130 gr bullet intended for big game to about 2600 fps. Recoil and report are both mild and won't scare the pants off a novice shooter regardless of gender. IMHO a downloaded .308 or .30/06 trumps a full powered .243, and a .243 with a short barrel has a disagreeable muzzle blast.

More important though is the fit of the rifle to the shooter and the presence of a good quality recoil pad.

 

[Calum]

the heavier the gun the more recoil it absorbs before it gets to your shoulder.

Yes I know this, it's the idea of turning ones rifle into a dead blow mallet for the shoulder that I'm confused about.

Why not just fill it solid instead?

 

[Pathfinder]

I tested speer 130 gr. bullets with 44 gr. of 4064...pretty accurate in a Stevens 200 - 308 win.

 

[rookie wildcat]

Yes I know this, it's the idea of turning ones rifle into a dead blow mallet for the shoulder that I'm confused about.

Why not just fill it solid instead?

Physics. A fluid (in this case slightly packed sand) moves slower than a solid mass (the stock). Because the sand is not tightly packed, the molecules cannot transfer the energy of recoil immediately. This is due to the fact that the sand particle actually has to travel the small amount of space (newton's 1st law aka the Law of Inertia) before it can transfer it's energy to another grain. Because it has to transfer an equal amount to several grains, that energy is absorbed by many. since the grains are not all in a straight line, then the energy is dispersed in various direction. Since some of that energy is used in travelling a short distance, then dispersed in random directions, the recoil is reduced since the energy is used up before it gets to your shoulder.
See, easy...

 

[gorky]

A good recoil pad and a slip-on recoil reducer are both useful. My biggest suggestion is good hearing protection. For most new shooters, I recommend double plugs as it is the noise that can be the most problematic. Also, take it slow and easy. Give her time to recover between shots. If she bruises easily, things get painful real quick. My wife has this problem and I have to be careful to slow her down.

 

[Mrwired]

Now we're talking Wildcat!!! Can we bring in those little steel balls on a string where you let one knock in to the line and only the last one actually moves. To make it sort of line up with this forum.....the balls could be used for a black powder gun Good for 70 yrds with a slight cross wind.