Recoil difference of 7mm-08 and .270?

B

baddarryl

New member
Hi all. I have a bad shoulder and the .270 bothers me after a bit. I like the looks of the 7mm-08. All else being equal how much less is the 7mm-08?
 
12.5 ftlbs verses 17 ftlbs. A 243 has 8.5ftlbs. I took a nice doe with my 223 shoulder shot with Barnes TSX bullets. Total pass through and put her down. A 223 has 3.2 ftlbs. No recoil at all.
 
You aren't giving up much by going to the 7mm

Ballistics are good and easier to shoot well for someone recoil shy.
 
7-08 (140gr@2850) .270Win (130gr@3050)​

Firearm 7.5lbs

Recoil Impulse in (lbs sec)
2.62 2.89​
Velocity of recoiling firearm (fps)
11.26 12.43​
Free recoil energy in (ft/lbs)
14.76 17.99​
 
The 7mm-08 is definitely less recoil than a .270. Do you hand load by any chance? If you do you could shoot a 120gr out of the 7-08 at ~2800fps and have basically the recoil of a .243. Or you could load 130gr bullets out of your .270 to ~2750fps and you'll be just fine. Also adding a recoil pad may help too.
 
7mm-08 + good recoil pad + muzzle brake = recoil less than a .243

120 gr bullets wouldn't hurt either. If you're just deer hunting go with a .243 with a good pad and brake. That should give almost rimfire-like recoil. People will tell you the .243 is a bit on the light side for deer. Hogwash. It's an ideal whitetail round. If you handload, an 85 gr partition over a starting load of W760 makes a great low recoil hunting load. I load it for my wife's .243 and it kills deer just as quick as my hot loaded .25-06
 
I have a 6.5-pound 7mm08 and a 7.0 pound .243.

The recoil of the 7mm08 is noticeable but not a problem, particularly away from the bench rest.

The recoil of the .243 is trivial. I've tagged some two dozen whitetail bucks with it. None of them ever moved from where they were shot.
 
Proper LOP, good limbsaver pad, and not shooting off a bench would help.

Added a slip on limbsaver to increase my LOP and add some padding on a .308 and it's felt recoil is on par to my wife's .243.

Adding some weight could help too, depending on the rifle and what you do with it...

With all that extra you didn't ask for out of the way, a 7mm-08 could have a noticable bit of less recoil, if you buy identical rifles. Rifle weight, stock fit, and shooting posture can be just as important when dealing with felt recoil.
 
I'll put it this way. You definitely know you've lit off a big game round when you fire a 7mm08. It's a significant step up from a 243 but in no way close to a 270 or 30/06 class.
 
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