Looking for low reciol NH deer rifle..

[soccerref]

took the whole family deer hunting last weekend up north and ran into a weird situation, we didn't have enough rifles

Looking to pick up something before next season with enough ummph to easily handle whitetails without giving a good smack to the less "recoil loving" folks.

My current thought is either a .243, .257 or .260

I have read/heard from a few that the .243 is plenty load it up with 75 gr hollow point or 100 gr core-lokt and its all you need to drop whitetails to any reasonable range (100+ yds easily). Plus its a flat shooting, low recoil gun.

any experience with rifles of the lower kicking calibers??

[phesnt]

soccerref

I will sell you my 300 Rem ultra mag. No recoil at all? haha! Seriously though if the boys can shoot a 20 ga 3 inch mag why wouldn't they be able to shoot a bigger caliber gun. 75 grains in my opinion too small. I like to take the animal with one ethical shot and when dealing with youngsters it is tough to expect them to be dead on accurate. Heck we can't be in most circumstances. Thompson center encore 30-30 or 308. single shot to keep them safe. My first was a lever action 30-30 good all around gun. Just my opinion.

[phesnt]

scouts 308 mountain rifle might be up for sale. wants a new pro hunter barrel.

[regnar]

bob,

If your boys or someone elses are going to shoot it I would go with the .243 and shoot a 95 gr balistic tip. That is MORE than enough to knock down a whitetail.

The reason being is that you can get a VERY light rifle in a youth configuration. A gun that fits a person properly will reduce recoile more than anything else. Also because of the low inherent low recoile of the .243 you can still manage to keep recoil to a minium with a light gun like a single shot .243.

Shooting any gun with two much recoile will do nothing good for anyone, especially kids. Low recoile permotes good shooting.

[soccerref]

phesnt said:

soccerref

I will sell you my 300 Rem ultra mag. No recoil at all? haha! Seriously though if the boys can shoot a 20 ga 3 inch mag why wouldn't they be able to shoot a bigger caliber gun. 75 grains in my opinion too small. I like to take the animal with one ethical shot and when dealing with youngsters it is tough to expect them to be dead on accurate. Heck we can't be in most circumstances. Thompson center encore 30-30 or 308. single shot to keep them safe. My first was a lever action 30-30 good all around gun. Just my opinion.

Who said anything about the boys??? This is mostly for the wife.

as for the boys, they have no issue on the kick with the 20's at duck, deer, geese, turkeys. Yesterday the younger one turned an apple into apple juice with my .30-06.


Thanks regnar, that matches pretty much what i've heard from others.

[Scout]

I agree with Plesnt the .243 is a very light round. Especially if you are hunting brush. A light round can deflect easy I do agree it will do the job if placed in the vitals. I have friends in Maine that hunted with the .243 and the .270 and had trouble with the blood trails. A good all around deer cartridge is the .308. It has very little recoil and you can get a 180 grain bullet. Take and draw a 1/4 inch circle on a piece of paper then draw a 5/16 circle next to it thats going to be the size of your bullets. Sounds to me though like you already have you mind made up. Good luck.

[regnar]

Scout,

Not to hijack this thread but I have to disagree with a few things you said, sort of.

First of all, why is the .243 a light round? .243 is only the caliber, and has nothing to do with the weight of the round ( I know you know all this, just proving my point). The 25-06 with 100gr balistic tips is a devestating deer rifle. That is only 5 gr's difference.

Second, and I will argue this till the day I die with anyone who wants to try, THERE IS NO ROUND, I REPEAT NO ROUND THAT WILL NOT DEFLECT ANY ROUND. There is simply no such thing as a brush busting bullet. Does that mean that people have never shot through brush with a certian caliber and still killed a deer? Of course not. but thats just like the guys you hear about killing deer with a 22-250 and 50gr bullets. Both are possible but anyone who does so is not an ethical hunter in my opinion (not directed at you but just a general statement ).

Your comparison of hole size is not a good one. Bullets kill by tranfering their energy to their target. this is by having the bullet expand upon entry allowing for more transfer of enegy. Depending on the type of bullet used is would be possible a .243 to have more enery than a .308.

LAstly I do agree with you that the .308 is an excelent all around deer rifle. But if someone was looking for a lowrecoil gun I would not reccomend it. A .308 with a 180gr slug is not low recoil (it is not sever either) Add that to something like a .308 mountian rifle and you get a little gun with a big wallup !!

I liken this debate to those who think that you need a 12ga to kill everything becuase it has more power.......WRONG!!!!!

Again, I am not flaming you or anyting like that. I am simply trying to give rational behind my opinion.

[b4rifle]

I feel the same as regnar on this one. I believe that energy transfer and bullet construction is far more important than anything else. Familiarity and comfort is not far behind that. I think that any cartridge(regardless of caliber) in the proper hands, used within its ballistic limitations will ethically take deer sized animals.

Here is a quote for you all.
"The most deadly thing on the battlefield is one well-aimed shot."
GySgt. Carlos N. Hathcock II, USMC Sniper

[soccerref]

Haven't made up my mind on anything, just asking questions and gathering information from as many sources as I can, then decide which sources are based on actual use and which are (like my personal views on this one) based on reading/word of mouth. Simple as that.

People who have done LOTS with guns are a good source, as are hunters who have been around for awhile. Just trying to find a suitable gun that is light enough to carry and not kick so much that the shooter won't want to shoot it for practice. .243 is one that comes up alot that I know squat about. I would like to pick up another rifle to match deer hunting needs against "low recoil"
needs (which rules out phesnts bazooka )

My .30-06 with 180 gr bullets probably deflected two weekends ago, can't figure out how I missed at 50-60 yds at a deer standing still but partially blocked. Couldn't have been me

[wjsmall97]

A .260 or 7mm08 in a browning a-bolt micro hunter.Then replace the recoil pad with a sims limbsaver and a timney replacement trigger spring and you have a sweet shooting low recoil rifle.I did just that to a .270wsm and the recoil is reduced and the trigger is real nice to shoot.If interested drop me an email and you can check it out.

[troutpro]

I agree with regnar. I would go with the .243, though I don't have much experience with one and don't know much about its recoil. Last year my uncle took a buck with his .223 and it only ran 75 yards or less. Now I would not recommend a .223 because I feel as though it would be safer to use a bit more power. My brother uses a .243 so I have handled one and I have a .243 round in my hand at this time. Realize I don't have much experience with the .243 but until now I have heard nothing bad said about the round.

[soccerref]

this probably isn't fair to ask, but can anyone put the following guns in order of recoil, less to most (I know depends on load, gun etc, but generalities will help here)

20 guage with slugs (2 3/4 inch)
.44 mag carbine semi-auto
.243
.30-06 semi-auto heavy gun
6mm
.260
.308
7mm-08

I can get my hands on some to shoot, I have the .44, 30-06 and 20 gauge just trying to get a relative idea of recoil of the "out of the box, setup for deer" recoils.

[b4rifle]

You also have to factor in the type of firearm you are going to choose. I have a semi-auto 30-06 that will kick me less than any of the 308 bolt guns I have fired. The only time I will fire my 870 with 3 in shells is when I have to. Most of the cartridges listed would not give a noticeable difference between them. I would categorize them as:
low=243, 6mm, 260
mild=7mm-08, 308
medium= 20 ga, 30-06
I have never fired a 44 carbine, so ?

[regnar]

Bob,

B4rifle is right. To many varabile to be able to rate them any way other than how he did.

I will say that the locals up north at the camp are taking a liking to the 7mm-08. Pretty mild recoil for an out of the box gun. One of the guys bought a small framed winchester in put a really good recoild pad on and his 10 year old is shooting deer with it. The guys mother has one and his father won a browing a bolt in the same caliber at emmersons.

B4rifle gave you the best words to choose a round from. And in order to do that you have to practice. recoil not only reduces the desire to practice it promotes bad habits.

I dont think you can go wrong with it. I am going to by Klye one of the 3 barrel combo guns you can buy in single shot and the rifle is going to be .243.