Im between a model 70 featherweight and cz 550 american. featherweight is super light and carryable and I want a hunting do all (plan to drive out to the country to do some long range shoots eventually)
Thing is I havent shot it yet and its already hurting my shoulder- the cz 550 american is a pound heavier and should soak up recoil a good bit better. Not into the FS model as it has a bavarian stock that puts my eye in line with sights and not a scope.
Seeing as how I am just getting my hunting license this gun is prolly gonna see more range time than hunting time for now- what would yall do, keep the model 70 and see if I can handle the recoil or go with the cz?
This sounds like a good time to start handloading. The handloader can taylor his ammo to suit his particular requirements, which in your case is some limitations with respect to recoil; although we don't know if this limitation is real or just anticipated. I prefer to start novice shooters with a centerfire rifle loaded with low recoil ammo, rather than a rimfire. If we can get that fear of recoil out of the way early on, it saves a whole lot of time if you don't care about recoil at the outset.
Full powered .30/06 loads in a poor fitting, light weight rifle can be obnoxious even for a seasoned rifleman. But with the rifle correctly fitted to the shooter, with the addition of a decent recoil pad, loaded with ammo designed to produce lighter than normal recoil, and employing a good shooting technique, your tolerance to recoil will grow fairly quickly. Blast is a bigger problem then the bump on the shoulder, so be sure to use proper hearing protection while on the range. A .30/06 loaded with 130 gr TTSX's at 3000 fps will reach out there and kill whatever it hits when it arrives on target, with minimal shooter discomfort. You might never need more. When I'm loading ammo for first time shooters, I often use 125-130 gr bullets loaded to 2600 fps. My rather lean nephew successfully took his first deer when he was 14, with those ballistics and a 130 gr TTSX bullet in his M-1600 Husky '06.
If you like the M-70, perhaps you should choose a standard model rather than the featherweight if you think a pound or so difference in weight will help. If, on the other hand, the CZ is what turns your crank, get it and don't look back. The Brno rifles I've owned, and there have been several, have all been good journeyman rifles, with no embellishments, but great quality and performance. I also have one of the new breed of FN M-70s, in .458, and consider it a rifle good enough to protect my life with. Dogleg however bought a M-70 in .30/06 and reported that its accuracy was so dismal that he returned it, then bought a Cooper. The retailer said his wasn't the first M-70 to come back with accuracy issues. I pretty much take Dogleg's reports as gospel, so that in itself might cause me to lean towards the CZ if I was looking for a new .30/06. I do have a liking for the new Ruger Hawkeye. I bought one for my son in .270, and one could ask for little more from an off the shelf rifle.
By the way, my current .30/06 is a 1950s era Brno ZG-47 and my wife's is a somewhat tweaked commercial Husqvarna M-1600 light weight carbine cut down to fit her, and fitted with a Decelerator recoil pad. An older Tradex rifle might be worth considering.
