new elk gun, need ideas.

I was always told that synthetic stocks help assorb recoil.
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I've been told that on a number of occasions too but the simple math is that plastic is lighter than wood and with many synthetic stocks being hollow ot some point many of them are much lighter than their wood counterparts.

taking newtons laws into account it makes perfect sense that contrary to internet marketing, many synthetic stocks are in fact worse for felt recoil. of course there are exceptions to the rule like hogue's rubber overmold stocks.
 
Most synthetic stocks flex a bit under recoil spreading out the recoil. My friends swear their MacMillan stocks give less felt recoil than the original wood stocks. I replaced my wood stock with a MacMillan and though it is lighter, I couldn't tell any difference. MacMillans are expensive however.
 
A 308 is a legitimate 400 yard elk gun, a 30-06 is more than capable at 500, your 300 WBY is a 600 yard gun. IF you are good enough to shoot them at those ranges
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I'd love to hear KRAIGWY's take on this.
 
If you hate the 300 WBY there is no use dressing up the pig. Not to insult the cartridge, but if you already hate it and it is in your heat that it is going to kick your butt, it's hard to fix that and get it shooting good groups.

IMHO the perfect power range for elk is the 300WM/WSM. That will take you to a good 800 yards, in the right hands. The wind correction to get to ~700 was not hard for me at all, on the one I shot that far.

I am not a fan of the 7mm simply because I have known too many people who lost elk shot with them. I will not say this sample is representative of what the cartridge could do, but like I said about the 300 WBY once you get the doubt in your head it is better to go with it than try to fight it. :) I prefer 30cal and 338cal holes in elk, just me....

For more average ranges (200-400 yds), why not a 30-06 pushing 180gr bullets? Seems like a no-brainer to me. Common cartridge you already have dies for, and WAY less recoil than the 300 WBY. If I was not going to shoot over 500 yards on elk I would see no need to take more recoil than that delivered by a 30-06.
 
After trying a lot of guns, I settled on a Tikka T3 in 308 for my walking-around hunting. Acceptable recoil, light enough to carry, affordable price (so you won't make the $700 with optic). But then, usually around 200 yards is where I try to limit my shots, unless I have a fixed stand with known distances to shoot.
 
One man's opinion,2 cents!:

There is a disconnect,

"My .300 Wby hurts to shoot" Valid,reasonable statement!Applause!!Honest.

Is just about guaranteed if you are shooting a rifle that you hate to shoot,you will get squinty eyed and cringy when you shoot it,unless you are accidently very focused and diciplining yourself through the shot.

That being said,as you have demonstrated honesty,how good of an idea is it to focus on the over 350 yd shot?
I am not saying you can't shoot,or shoot 350 yds.

I am suggesting that its not that often (except in dreams)that elk pose out where you can see them during hunting season at a quarter mile away.

If/when they do,OK,you see elk.Do you absolutely have to shoot at first sight,or can you say,if they are not alarmed "OK,now is when it gets exciting,the stalk!Heads down,feeding,I can make it to that tree,slink,slink.Now,to the tree line...slink slink,50 more yds,etc."

If you haven't done that,try it.Its gets tingles.

I believe in carrying the best under 350 yd rifle.It carries better,and it does not hurt you so,by shooting better,it is actually more effective at any range.

At those ranges,350 or less,a .308 will kill elk just fine.So will a .270,7mm express,30-06,etc.

And,if you have a suitable rifle you are familiar with,at this point in time,go with it.

If you are an elk hunter,you can get your elk with a 30-40 Krag,A .303 British,or a Savage 99 in .300 Savage.If you aren't,a 338 Ultra mag is not going to make you an elk hunter.

One option,you like your .243?Some folks elk hunt with them,I'd call a .243 a little light for elk.Maybe leave your .243 a .243,(gunsmith won't have time,anyway) but finding a Rem 700 like your .243 should not be hard. Get a matching .308 or 30-06.Or,some of the other mfg rifles.If you hate your WBY,you don't need money,trade!
 
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for years I was told that i had a flinch. I never noticed it and for the life of me I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. all I knew was that I could not hit a derned thing with my older brothers 243(exact same as the one I inherited). he never had problems with it and liked to show off regularly that I was just a flincher.

well when the family moved away and older brother stayed in town I got dad's gun and threw a scope on it and grabbed a couple boxes of ammo and went about trying to sight it in. it was one of the biggest struggles of my life, no matter how much I shot that thing I could not get it zeroed just right and every time I thought I got close I would take it hunting and miss every deer I saw by several feet. I was getting discouraged.

one day, when it was blatantly obvious that I was not goign to get a deer that year with the current zero on the scope walmart was running a sale and the cheapest 243 ammo was no longer 80 gr remington corelokts but instead were 100gr federal power shoks. I figured that I would give them a shot since money was kindof scarce for a teenager who got by on doing odd jobs and once I got to the range I put out the first 3 round group and was about to do my usual head scratch when I noticed that even though the group was way off center as usual...wait a minute..they were all within an inch of eachother.

less that half a box later my gun was zeroed for the very first time and I have never touched the scope again. however through all those trials I got one very nasty habit which has become detrimental in more than one hunting trip... VERY STRICT CONCENTRATION. even though I hate the kick on the weatherby to a great degree I am usually able to push all that fear and self preservation instinct aside long enough to get a couple shots off.

Case in point:
I got the weatherby out to the range on saturday just incase I end up having to use it for elk season and even though I was only able to get 5 shots off before the shoulder said "no more" and the barrel got so hot I figured any more groups would going to spread out, I was able to get a decent 1 MOA 3 round group, make a correction and shoot 2 more into a 1 1/4 MOA group, just short of 2 inches above POA, at 100 yards.

it's not really a matter of "I can't make the shot" it's more of a matter of "I don't want to make that shot".
 
If you don't mind me asking, in what general area do you hunt?

I know you said that you do not like the recoil from the 300 but I can tell you from personal experience that a lot depends on a particular rifle.

Case in point my two brother in laws and one of their freinds bought Rugger 7 mags from the same shop just west of I.F. the oldest BIL and the friend bought their guns at the same time with consecutive serial numbers. The youngest BIL bought his a year or two later. You can literally lay all three side by side and not tell them apart. All have the same scope rings base wood lam stock the whole nine yards. The ones with consecutive numbers are fine to shoot while the one bought later kicks like a mule. All three shoot the same reloads my oldest BIL produces. I bought a Rugger 7 mag with the old boat paddle stock and it was somewhere between the two extremes as far as recoil.

I have since sold the rifle and they still have theirs, but I did wind up with a RMEF raffle gun that is a Winchester 300 win mag. I think it has less recoil than the 7mag I had and definitively less than my youngest BIL'S. I am even loading some near max 180 grain loads over some reloader powder(don't remember which one of the top of my head)

The point is, I don't think you are going to solve your problem by just switching from one magnum to another, you might just need to try a whole new rifle altogether, the 30 cal magnum may be just fine. If I were you I also would consider a non magnum caliber. Depending on which elk unit you hunt I believe you may be right about your yardage limitations. But I have yet to hunt an area in south east Idaho where you could not do it with a 30-06 or 270. I know you don't want another 06 and you don't like the 308 both of which are fine calibers for this area, but have you looked at a 270?

Marlins XL line is a good option for your price range, I really like my 308 that I got and I was just about 500 for the rifle and the scope. I bought a Vortex scope that seems to be holding up just fine, even the one on my 300 is doing well.
 
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If you don't mind me asking, in what general area do you hunt?
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generally I hunt in 11 and 11A but I got drawn for the late cow elk in 11X which is only about the northern half of 11 where Hells Canyon meets Craig MT.

my brother has a Ruger MKII with ultralight stock in 7MMRM which he constantly whines about shooting. my brother in law has a remington 700(lefty bolt) with heavy wood stock also in 7 rem mag. back a month or so ago when we were chronographing our intended elk loads I finally got fed up with my brother's complaints of a sore shoulder and fired it after already having bruised my shoulder with the weatherby. needless to say I was disappointed. even with an ultralight stock his 7MM still failed to even make me wince on with a bruised shoulder and then I shot the brother in laws which reminded me more of the kick from a 1903 springfield than a magnum hunting rifle.

as a kid I remember going to the range and shooting next to a cop that we "knew" calling my brother a wuss for rubbing his shoulder from a 7mm kick while he was shooting a 338 lapua. my brother gave him the rifle and said "you try then". I then proceeded to watch a police officer(which I never had much respect for to begin with) aim, fire, scream and drop my brother's rifle as his eyes filled with tears and his hand went to his shoulder...

I figure that my brothers 7mm might be a little above average when it comes to recoil and still does not hold a candle to my rifles recoil. I think I would be happy even with that small step down of going to one identical to his, though my brother in laws is more of the target area that I am hoping for.
 
Looking through the rifle inventory you post,I see a 1903A4 Springfield.

Now,I do not know what you call fun,but if I lived in Idaho and had a cow tag in a good place to hunt,I know what I'd be carrying!
 
Looking through the rifle inventory you post,I see a 1903A4 Springfield.

Now,I do not know what you call fun,but if I lived in Idaho and had a cow tag in a good place to hunt,I know what I'd be carrying!
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I've thought about it but the last thing I want to do is to be banging my $3000 C&R sniper rifle(which I spent much of my summer restoring) off of rocks all day...

sorry to say but the A4 will not be making this trip.
 
About that awful Weatherby 300 mag recoil

I think you might not find it so bad in an actual hunting situation. (adrenaline). I too was disappointed with the recoil at the range after I bought it, but when I brought down a nice elk at the Salmon River Primitive area in Idaho, I fired 3 shots and I swear it felt like squeezing off three .22 long rifle rounds. ;-)
 
If you like the rifle, but hate the recoil, there are a few options you can go to. 1st is to install recoil pad designed for that purpose. Kick-eze comes to mind. That should reduce felt recoil. 2nd would be to install a muzzle brake. That will reduce recoil some. If you dont care for the looks of your rifle, then get another stock. Personally I like Richards Micro-Fit, but dont go for one of the factory 2nds. They have a lot of styles to choose from, different woods, grades of wood, and laminates in varying colors. Prices will vary depending on type of wood and grade.
 
How about a 270 wsm almost mirrors 7 mm rem performance. And should have relative recoil. Plus you have good selection of bullets. A 160 grain partition would be a good bet.
 
Quote: How about a .270 wsm almost mirrors a 7 mm rem performance. the 7mm rem mag has better downrange performance because it can use heavier bullets.
 
Have you ever tried...

a "sissy pad"? You know, a 1/2 inch or so thick protective cushion that straps on your shooting shoulder. Mine is made by Allen.

I wear it at the range, because I practice during the summer and early fall, when I am usually wearing only a thin shirt (warm weather).

I am shooting a Win Mod 70 Classic Featherweight chambered in 270 WSM.

During hunting season, my hunting clothing has enough layers (cold weather) that I don't need the pad to absorb the recoil. Also, as someone already said, the adrenaline related to shooting at game makes recoil pretty well unnoticed.

Try it - it might work for you- AND it is a whole lot cheaper than a new rifle and scope. Of course, maybe you just want a new rifle and scope.:D
 
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