.30-06 Kicks Like a Mule

[troupe]

There used to be a video out there some place of unknowing folks shooting a elephant rifle in a lab environment, funny as can be. Makes you feel sorry for the unknowing.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Shooting Buddy had a custom built M1 Garand. He died and I was selling off all his shooting gear.
The action on the Garand was Chrome plated and fitted in a light weight walnut stock.
A real looker. Thought about keeping it for myself but after 10 rounds, gave up on that idea. Nasty recoil that just wasn't that much fun to shoot. Put it in the Gun Shop on consignment. Shop owner said I priced it too high?? That's typical.
Priced it at $1000.00 and it sold the next day with NO hesitations.
Thinking about the recoil in my M1A. Havn't fired it in quite a while so I may be in for a surprise.

 

[LiveFire]

I always warm up with my 500sw mag rifle first. It makes my 7mm rem mag and 308 feel like rimfires.

 

[Charles]

Shot a friends Mdl 70 kicked so hard told him i would sell it if it was mine had a couple of remington pump guns that was no where as bad

 

[Gary in MD]

I have two 30-06s, A custom Cooper and a Sako. Both have nice recoil pads. Both loaded warm and recoil not bad at all.
YMMV

 

[Diverjeff]

There used to be a video out there some place of unknowing folks shooting a elephant rifle in a lab environment, funny as can be. Makes you feel sorry for the unknowing.

 

[Downeast]

That's why I have hunting rifles and target rifles. Some are supposed to kick. Funny, when I shoot a nice buck I never feel a thing.

And mine have been sighted in for years. A check shot every fall (the scopes are always solid) and I'm good to go.

 

[whatsupdoc]

Shooting Buddy had a custom built M1 Garand. He died and I was selling off all his shooting gear.
The action on the Garand was Chrome plated and fitted in a light weight walnut stock.
A real looker. Thought about keeping it for myself but after 10 rounds, gave up on that idea. Nasty recoil that just wasn't that much fun to shoot. Put it in the Gun Shop on consignment. Shop owner said I priced it too high?? That's typical.
Priced it at $1000.00 and it sold the next day with NO hesitations.
Thinking about the recoil in my M1A. Havn't fired it in quite a while so I may be in for a surprise.

Shoot M1A all the time, mild compared to my 06. My 308 AI is a puppy compared to this M70.

 

[hogpatrol]

I too have joined the pansy ranks. For the manly ones, run a couple clips through this puppy. .458 win Garand.

 

[209jones]

Long ago learned the value of a milder cartridge for the range, I still have a 7RM, a 300H&H and a 30R Blaser, the 7RM will be going down the road, keep the 300H&H and the 30R. The H&H is 10lbs 2oz and ok to shoot on a bench for me, 30R is around 9lbs and good to go. For range guns, I got spoiled by shooting Schuetzen with a 32-40, even the 7-08 took a bit of getting used to after shooting that all spring. Stock fit and a good pad make one hell of a difference too. I had a Rem 700 in 338WM, Custom shop KS Mtn Rifle, that everyone who shot it said was better than their 7RM's or 300WM's to shoot, I agreed with them on that. It had a McMillan stock, good pad, 375 length action, blind mag and a 24" bbl, only thing lighter at the time, off the shelf, was a Sako, out of 9 guns on the counter.

 

[Bc'z]

I too have joined the pansy ranks. For the manly ones, run a couple clips through this puppy. .458 win Garand.

View attachment 1306508

I'll pass

 

[choprzrul]

30-06 22" heavy sporter XBolt in a Boyd's At-One stock. Pretty tame with 168gr Speer Gold Dots running 2842fps. Between the Little Bastard brake, the weight of the rifle, and the shape of the stock there isn't much recoil.

Since you probably don't want to thread your barrel for a brake, or add a recoil pad.....there are several paths you can take to reduce felt recoil.

1. Shoot lighter weight bullets. Load up some 124gr Hammer Hunters. You don't have to max out fps, just find a middle of the road load that groups well.

2. Add weight to the rifle. A Harris or Caldwell bipod is going to be about a pound. Leupold steel bases and rings along with an illuminated 30mm scope might add another 1/2 pound....depending upon your current setup. A full magazine and spare rounds on the stock add weight.

When I calculate an 8 lb rifle shooting 168gr at 2842fps , it tells me it has 22.3 lbs of recoil. Adding 1 pound of rifle weight to the calculation drops recoil to 19.8 pounds....or 2.5 pounds less.

Using the 1 pound extra weight + shooting 124gr HH at 3100fps reduces calculated recoil to 15.2 lbs....a 7.1 pound reduction. Bumping the weight up another 1/2 pound drops the recoil to 14.4 pounds.

 

[rockhound78]

Now THAT would be a hoot to shoot!!!! I shoot my Remington 375 H&H downloaded to about 2000-2200fps. Its a light gun. I save the bigger stuff for my Ruger 77 as its a couple pounds heavier

 

[AckleymanII]

Gentry muzzle breaks with ports slanted forward takes out at a minimum of 40% of the recoil, without the horrendous concussion. They are on all my family's rifles from 270 to 7 STW. Two 257 Weatherby's kick less than a 243 Win.

270's and 30/06's KICK, limbsaver plus Gentry makes a great combo, even for teen agers.

 

[David Milisock]

3 things none of us will ever beat. Father Time, Mother Nature, and gravity

That's kind of like 3 things that don't lie. Young children, the extremely drunk and yoga pants.

 

[bline]

I have a Remington made P17 WW1 sporterized and I shoot 180 gr 30/06 factory stuff from it and fire CMP 30/06 ammo from my Garand. I love that recoil from both and I am 71 years old.
But, I only shoot them off the bench to make sure they are sighted in and then it's offhand only. If you are exclusively shooting off the bench then the recoil is going to get to you in short order.
I do a lot of trap and skeet shooting as well as stove pipe bored flint lock rifles using Goex as a propellent. So I am used to getting pounded and have built up a resistance.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I hate two things. Recoil and muzzle blast. Brakes are a no-go for me. I already have 35% hearing loss in my left ear. Don't need any more.
That is why I spend my $$ on suppressors. Take the recoil and the noise out. Electronic muffs with plugs in make range time fun time again. I can shoot my 7 mag as much as I want to. My 7TCU rifle is just plain fun. I love hearing the bullet hit the deer (or target). I can tell when I get a good hit and hear the deer run and fall.

 

[David Milisock]

I have a Remington made P17 WW1 sporterized and I shoot 180 gr 30/06 factory stuff from it and fire CMP 30/06 ammo from my Garand. I love that recoil from both and I am 71 years old.
But, I only shoot them off the bench to make sure they are sighted in and then it's offhand only. If you are exclusively shooting off the bench then the recoil is going to get to you in short order.
I do a lot of trap and skeet shooting as well as stove pipe bored flint lock rifles using Goex as a propellent. So I am used to getting pounded and have built up a resistance.

I have a P17 also and the weight helps with the recoil. My son's Smith Carona A303 has substantially move felt recoil.

 

[troupe]

That is it, to funny. I would not want to be on the receiving end of that cannon. I had heard or read that it was a .600 something.

 

[natdscott]

I guess my particular steel/skeleton -06 just doesn’t bother me that much.

I know what to expect, the rifle and I roll together, and I run the bolt. No big deal.

I don’t try to shoot it 40 rounds at a time, and I don’t shoot it prone a lot, unless I put a coat on, since I can’t sling into it hard like I do heavily-built target rifles.

Lightweight shotguns with heavy slugs bother me more. Hornady’s SST slugs are just not that much fun after the first one.

Bigger rifles used to bother me more than they do now, but I’ve learned how to handle recoil better, and a lot better trigger focus.

To great extent, I think a person can learn to live with recoil: accept that it will happen, learn to manage it, and otherwise, put it out of your mind so it doesn’t F up the Aim-Fire circuit.