choosing rifle (from hunting forum)

[Ggav]

Zorro, I currently shoot a 7mm rem mag and don't really mind the kick, but I have heard the .300 u.m. has two times the kick as the 7mm. It really doesn't make sense to me to get a long range gun if I develop a flinch while bench shooting.

Art, 95 percent of the use will be for elk hunting. My father and I hunt the third/fourth rifle season in Colorado, and with his 7mm stw he has taken an elk at approx. 512 yds., with a 140 grain bullet. however at closer yardage the bullets have "splattered" on deer when they hit bone. That's the reason I like the .300 ultra mag. It has the distance, the flat trajectory, and the bullet weight to be effective at all yardage, but back to before if it has double the kick that the 7 has os 1.5 times the kick that the stw has it may be too much.
Maybe I should just find one and shoot it for myself, but if anyone knows what the recoil is for a factory shell (140 grains) in the stw, and the same for the .300 u.m. (180 grains) that would help a lot too.
Thanks,
Greg

 

[Art Eatman]

Sounds like the "splatter" problem for the 7Mag on close-range elk has to do with the jacket thickness of the bullet. At long range, it had slowed down enough to not blow up, but still expanded enough to help do the job. So, go to something *like* the Nosler, for instance. Also, heavier bullets are assumed by the manufacturer to be used on larger animals, and the jackets are made thicker.

As far as recoil: Heavier rifles kick less; heavier bullets kick more, and faster bullets kick more.

So, compare the weights of the rifles which are of interest to you, and figure the percentage difference (including scope, ammo, and sling). Do the same for the bullet weights, and for the velocities.

Example (and I don't care about the exactitude of my assumptions. ): 7Mag, 8.5 pounds, 140-grain bullet, 3,300 ft/sec. .300UM, 9.0 pounds, 180-grain bullet, 3,200 ft/sec.

Comparable recoil: 8.5/9.0 X 180/140 X 3,200/3,300 will give you one-point-something. The point-something is the additional percentage recoil of the .300UM

Okay?

Art

 

[Ggav]

First off, thanks for the help Art, this is the first of about ten forums, and 2 months worth of searching I have gotten any sensible answer. Your formula does make sense and that would not really give the rifle that much more kick than the stw. I guess I am also worried about flinching because up until I get this rifle, I really haven't had that much oppurtunity to practice with a rifle. (I grew up hunting with a shot gun.) I really think that I am going to buy the .300 u.m. Out of all of the animals I have shot I can't remember one time feeling the kick, only when I'm on the bench! Out of all of the three guns what would your personal preferance be?