7mm-08 versus .308 ,recoil

[mrnyman]

I took out my New Savage to the range on Monday to sight it in , its the Model 16 in SS, .308, great Rifle great round , my favorite round in an autoloader, The rifle were laser accurate with a Nikon 3-9 scope on top , But i find the recoil from the Bolt Action a too much for my shoulders being that i have damage to my rotator cuffs , after a while my shoulders hurt like hell.

I were wondering if the 7mm-08 round would be milder but with similar ballistics, i really love the .308 and would keep it too.

Anybody ever shot a .308 and 7mm-08? I have never even seen a 7mm-08 much less shot one so i have no experience to go by.

How do they compaRE RECOIL wise?

Thanks Nyman

[Lycanthrope]

The 7mm-08 has less recoil....especially if you get down in the 120gr bullet range.

A .243 is even kinder with 100gr pills.

If I had shoulder issues, I'd get a muzzle brake.


Lycangetabrakethrope

[Rundownfid]

The .243, 7mm-08 and .308 all use the same base cartridge. The 7mm is necked down, so one gets more speed and less recoil with the lower bullet weights. The .243 is just more of the same, with really light bullets the recoil gets very tolerable, and speeds are excellent. Bullet weighs up past 100 are usually recommended for deer.

So to answer your question the way you asked it; yes, the 7mm will give you slightly less recoil all things being equal. The .243 even a bit less, .260 Rem is right between the .243 (6mm) and 7.mm at 6.5 mm. All excellent cartridges, with big followings among knowledgable shooters.

[DougX]

If it's just going to be for deer,go with the 243.7mm-08 isn't that much "lighter" in recoil.

[Tomcat088]

I agree with everybody here. The 7mm-08 does have less recoil than the .308, but with the heavier bullets, not all that much less. With the lighter bullets it'll have a fair bit less recoil. The .243 will have quite a bit less recoil, even when you start to get into the heavier bullets for the .243 they don't have as much recoil. A lot of people put down the .243 but that little round has more punch than people usually think. If you look at the threads where I've run the numbers of it against the 30-30, it puts the 30-30 to shame, especially at longer ranges. People don't like to talk about this either, but if you're using the proper bullet design and limiting your ranges appropriately, a .243 WILL take an elk.

If you are wanting to take animals heavier than deer, you'll like the .260 or 7mm-08 better. You can always use the lighter weight bullets from those cartridges to take the recoil down to almost .243 level. That then leaves you the option to move UP to heavier weight bullets if you wanted to take something like an elk or bear with that particular rifle. ALL of those cartrides will have flatter trajectories and less wind drift than the .308, IF you use the right weight of bullet pushed fast enough. Some of the combinations will have a little more wind drift if they're not fast enough, but will still shoot flatter. Since the bullets are lighter than the .308 bullets, if they're not pushed fast enough, they'll have less kinetic energy. On smaller game, or at reasonable ranges, it won't be much of an issue to consider. If you're looking at shooting at longer ranges (past 400), then it may be something to consider and the heavy bullets will typically carry more K.E. further. There are exceptions to this generality though.

I KNOW that you'll have better luck with the smaller calibers since recoil is an issue. Your shooting will probably improve as the round count goes up because you won't be in pain and fighting that. As stated, if you choose a 7mm-08, shoot the lighter bullets for less recoil. Even the "light" bullets for the 7mm-08 will still give you plenty of K.E. for large game. The same thing applies to the .260, it's a great round and with some loadings has identical trajectory (drop and wind drift) to the .300 winmag. The .243 will have a great deal less recoil than both of those options, even with it's heavy bullets. IF you shoot lots of rounds (in the thousands), then the .243 is going to eat through barrels faster. We're talking about 2,000 rounds or a bit more. If it's a hunting rifle, it'll never become an issue in your lifetime. As you saw, shooting 2,000 rounds from these types of rifles can be hard on the pocket book, and on the shoulder. From the sound of things, all of them will be acceptable alternatives. As Lycan said, if you want to shoot heavier bullets and recoil is an issue, you can also brake the rifle. Different brakes typically have differences in their effectiveness and uses. I don't like brakes as much as most people because they GREATLY increase the noise of the rifle. On a hunting rifle, or a rifle that you use in a closed blind or space they can really be deafening. If you don't mind dealing with the increase in noise and sometimes the pressure waves they give off, they're another great way to decrease recoil.

[bnkrtstk]

Before you give up on the .308, try a Limbsaver recoil pad. They really work. I too have rotator cuff damage and the Limbsaver makes my Stevens .308 a joy to shoot.

[PocketProtector]

I have Remington Model 7's in both .243 and 7mm-08. Seems the recoil is the same....very light. That's why I normally choose the 7mm because ballistically, a far superior round.

[mrnyman]

Thanks for the replies guys, very informative, Yes the Rifle will be used for Deer here in Pennsylvania where the shooting distance to a deer is usually not that long, the .243 seems like a good candidate.

(1)Does anyone know if the .260 is based on a long action? As i much prefer a short actioned Gun?

(2) could the .243, 260 with light bullets double as a varmint Gun in case i get to go Varminting one of these days?

Bnkstr, thanks for reminding me about the Limbsaver i must look into that.

Thanks , Nyman

[Tim Ault]

Thanks for the replies guys, very informative, Yes the Rifle will be used for Deer here in Pennsylvania where the shooting distance to a deer is usually not that long, the .243 seems like a good candidate.

(1)Does anyone know if the .260 is based on a long action? As i much prefer a short actioned Gun?

(2) could the .243, 260 with light bullets double as a varmint Gun in case i get to go Varminting one of these days?

Bnkstr, thanks for reminding me about the Limbsaver i must look into that.

Thanks , Nyman

#1 yes the 260 is SA same case as the 243/7-08/308

#2 yes again both are stellar in that role ,But then again the 308 with lighter bullets like the 125 gr speer TNT is good also out to 300 yds. and with similar recoil.

I have a similar situation with my right shoulder and basicly shoot only cast bullets in my 30 cal.'s ,I dont know if you reload or not but If it were me I would keep the 308 since it seems your happy with it and either reload or find loads with less bullet weights or something like the "managed recoil loads" Or as others have said a good recoil pad helps alot same with adding some weight or a recoil reducer to the rifle. Good luck....

Tim

[dk99358]

You said it hurts 'after a while'. How many rounds is that, 5, 10, 30? For a hunting rifle, if you can get it sighted in and then run a few (10-20) rounds each practice session, you should be good to go. Also, once it's sighted in, don't shoot from the bench, shoot field positions where you can 'give' with the recoil

I'm pretty sure there is 'Reduced Recoil' factory ammo available. That might be an option. Reloads that approximate the 300 Savage would be effective to 300 yds and have less recoil.

There should be some slip on recoil pads available, try one of them and see if that helps.

I would never try to talk anyone out of buying a new gun but am just throwing some thoughts out there.

Dale