Is it just me???

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings!

This might seem strange, but the hardest kicking, most punishing recoil I have EVER experienced with a rifle has been with my Remington 700 VS chambered in .308 Win.

I have shot rifles chambered for everything from .17 Remington to .300 Win. Mag. and NOTHING has beat me up like the Remington .308.  Interestingly, a close friend owns a Remington 700 in .300 Win. Mag - the EXACT SAME RIFLE (the long action version is called a "Sendero", other than the name and caliber it is identical to mine) and I have squeezed off 4 boxes of ammo in an afternoon from his rifle and not felt half as trashed as I do after a single box from my .308.

Also interesting - I once owned a post-WWII era Spanish Mauser originally chambered for .308 Win. (not a re-chamber, it was designed as a .308 rifle) and that old ugly thing with solid wood stock and literally an IRON STRIP for a recoil pad was absolutely MILD in comparison to my Remington 700 VS.

What gives here?  Am I the only one who is experiencing this?  What possible explanation is there for this that would make any sense?

Best wishes,
Bawko

[Daniel]

No, it's not strange at all. A couple of years ago I was at the range with a friend of mine. I was shooting three rifles that day, my friend had only one. I had just finished shooting a group with my .300 Weatherby when my friend (who was a novice shooter) asked if I would shoot his .30-06 Winchester because he thought something might be wrong with it. His shots were all over the place. I proceeded to put two shots right next to each other, but that's all I could take. That .30-06 kicked twice as hard as my .300 Wby. It was absolutely punishing. I told him if he wanted to shoot better he should probably get something else. The rifle was accurate enough, but there's no doubt he had developed a flinch in anticipation of the worst recoil I've ever encountered.

[CEJ1895]

Atomic Chicken - Nope you aint alone on this one! My cousin had a Rem 700 ADL in 308 that you couldn't pay me enough to shoot! :shock: I've shot a lot of hard kicking rifles - .300 RUM, 375H&H, 45-70, 458, etc.. After 5 rounds my shoulder hurt worse than 20 Garret rounds from the 45-70! Must have been a bad stock design or something but that rifle soured me on the .308! Gimme my 06  :-)  CEJ..

[paperpuncher]

I think the problem might be the rifle/stock and not the calibre. I have a heavy barrel Remington 700 VLS in .308W (9+ lbs) that is not unpleasant to shoot from the bench :grin: . On the other hand, I have a pre-64 Model 70 Winchester Featherweight (6 1/2 lbs) that leaves me with a bruised shoulder after only 10 rounds from the bench  :cry: .

[dbuck]

This is a interesting subject, I have shot 308's all my life, from M-14 that I carried in the Marine Corps through Remington 700 and I can shoot them all day long and not be effected by it.  I shoot service rifle completion at Camp Perry and you have to shoot 80 course along with spotters and it doesn't bother people.  I will put about 800-1000 rounds a summer through an M1A.  I have a Weatherby Vanguard in 30-06 which I love to shoot.  Now given in completion I use a shooting coat and when I'm at a regular range shooting my sniper rifle (308) or my 30-06 I use a recoil pad plus all my stocks have deaccleator pads on them.  I can't understand why yours is hard kicking.

dbuck

[Lawdog]

Bawko,

Try checking the pull of that Remington.  Bet it is to short for you and the butt area is to narrow.  Also the weight of the rifle comes into play too.  You want one of those light weight rifles you have to trade off for something.  Recoil is what you get in exchange for less weight.  A 6 pound rifle packs a punch on both ends.  Small groups and tight lines to you.  Lawdog
 

[cowpoke]

One of my buddies has a Remington 700 ADL, an older one, in 308 and he hates the kick and his dad hates the kick.  I don't know why that particular rifle is so unfreindly but it is.  They also shoot several other rifles in similar and larger cartridges.  They avoid that one like the plague.

He has talked about getting a different stock, but has not gotten around to it.

[rickyp]

I once had a 700 adl in 30-06. The first time I shot it it about knocked me off the bench I was sitting on. I tried a Muzzle break, and decelerator recoil pad to try and make it shoot softer. Nothing I did helped
this rifle could bot hit a tobacco barn at 100 yards and not due to me flinching .

I just bought a savage model 10fp-le2 in 308 this things hardly kicks at all.

[dbuck]

I agree with LawDog, but the problem you have here, is how much money do you want to spend and if so will it solve the problem.  Example you can purchase a Bell & Carlson stock for your Remington at a cost of around 200.00 which is bedded and has a deaccelator pad already installed and this will add weight to the rifle, then I guess you could go the extra mile and put on a heavy barrel which will run you another 400.00, get my point or you can do it the American Way "Send it down the road" and get another one.  This is one reason I don't like light rifles, their is no free lunch, their is always a trade off.

dbuck

[mountainview]

One thing I used to be afraid of was shooting my 25-06.  From when I got is as a youngster, and for many years afterwards, it made rimfire rifles look real attractive. Then I had a gunsmith work the trigger down to a more manageable 3.5 lbs from whatever the factory setting was. Night and day difference for me. My problem was anticipating the recoil in large part because of the heavy trigger pull. Now for some reason I can't explain in 10 words or less, since the trigger works with much less pressure I find myself keeping full concentration on the sight picture and squeezing instead of waiting to get my shoulder walloped. Accuracy has gone up dramatically and I enjoy shooting my 25-06 a whole lot now. As many others have posted, a recoil pad is far better than most metal or plastic plates since it distributes the pressure over a larger area.

Then too I have to admit there are no doubt some rifles that just plain knock you around.

[jim21]

I had one of those mausers in 7.62x54,it kicked like putting a 12gauge a
inch from your shoulder.It was a killer,I put one of those $39.95monte-carlo synthetic stocks on it.That took care of the problem.

[GRIMJIM]

MY 7MM RUM DOESN'T KICK HALF AS MUCH AS MY 30-06 WOODSMASTER. THAT LIGHT LITTLE GUN KICKS LIKE A MULE.