I could not remember if the .243 was a carbine or not. I have tried several things to reduce the recoil of the gun and the felt recoil is now way less then it was before. A nice recoil pad was added which for my self made the length better and did not seem to affect the feel for her so it was a good option--It did reduce felt recoil a lot. I have been working on load development. The loads are not reduced to .44 special loads and really are not reduce at all they are just not full house loads and they are a great deal less felt recoil for me, however she has not shot them and will be unable too for sometime. She is very new to hunting/shooting. I do not like this caliber for her either because she can not estimate yards ( we are working on that). I would rather her have a flat shooting round, this gives her the advantage of longer shots with out having to think about much more than thats inside of 200 yards. But she found a gun that fit her so I am working on making the gun pleasant to shoot but also am working with her on yardage and ballistics. I would like her to keep trying other options I think when she does get to shoot again she will be fine with what I have done. She says she did not like the recoil (she shot 25 rounds after saying that so it is not a issue) but this is after having shot the .357 which to me feels like a .22 after having shot the heavy loads in the .44mag. However, she shoots my .270 like a pro and never complains about the recoil only the weight of the gun (this was the point I was making with my wife as an example, although after reading my post it may have not been clear---recoil bothers her but no more than me so it is really not a big deal but to her not being able to hold steady because the ergonomics and weight of the gun killed her confidence). My point blank software also has a recoil calculator (fun stuff). I have ran all the numbers here is roughly what I remember without having to pull out all the numbers again. ( I had to rerun some that I forgot)
.357 6 ft/lbs 7.5 fps
.44 mag factory load 14 ft/lbs 12fps
.44 mag reloads 10 ft/lbs 10 fps current most accurate load 0.88 in 5 shot group at 75 yrds.
30-06 reduced match loads 9 ft/lbs 8fps
30-06 youth hunting loads 9ft/lbs 8fps
.270 15ft/lbs 11 fps
Velocities were estimates from load data book
factory loads were calculated using published velocities from a 7.5 in barrel taking the average powder amount from load data book flipping over to load data for rifle with same amount of powder and using velocity from rifle data ( I know it is not accurate but works for my estimates)
She has not yet shot my new to me 03A3 and my like it with the youth loads.
What was the problem with the 44 vs the .357 in the same rifle for her? If it was recoil, you can always load the 44 Mag down to 44 Special levels.
She said recoil at first but it is more of a confidence thing. I made the mistake of try to explain hold over at various distances ( she does not know the .357 has similar ballistics). I just told her to keep her shot close to 50 yrds with the .357. That is what I should of said with the .44 mag but am afraid she will have trouble getting game in that close every time and may get frustrated. Which was why I was trying to explain hold over and is why I would like to find another option. She will not be able to shoot again till about October, so will have a little bit of time for her to try some different things out but will probably not get her a rifle till next year. I hope she takes a liking to the .44 mag but I also want to keep it for myself--it is a sweet little rifle.
