Ruger American .308.

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gahuntsman

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I recently purchased a Ruger American chambered in .308. At the point of purchase, I bought a box of Remington Core Lockt shells, 180 gr. Growing up, I grew up shooting a .243 Conn. Arms (I believe that was the company.......single shot, heavy wood and steel gun.....looked a lot like a single shot shotgun).

After shooting 10 rounds through the .308, I started noticing that the recoil from this rifle was starting to get to me, and shots 11-14 literally caught me jerking the trigger. I settled down and was able to finish off the sighting in and was able to move the shot placement back to where it was, which was grouping very nicely. All told, I ended up with 19 "kills" and 1 that would have been a front shoulder shot on a deer.

I am just wondering, even though I love where the 180 Core Lockt were grouping and felt comfy with it, will dropping down to a 150 gr., 165 gr. or 168 gr. reduce the amount of recoil any? Or am I just going to have to deal with it and face the fact that the .308 is most definitely not the .243 of my youth?

Literally, it has been 6 days since I sighted the gun in, and where I was putting the rifle against my shoulder is still sore.

Thanks in advance for any information about this, and I hope to learn more about guns in general from this forum.
 
Yup , reducing bullet weight will reduce recoil . I've never thought the 180 was the right bullet for the .308 , too heavy . I never load anything heavier than 165s and usually 150s , in the .308 . If I need to shoot 180s , they come out of my .300 Win. Mag .
 
I have the same exact rifle. Of my the 4 308s I have had or have it recoils the most. It is also the lightest of the 4. I primarily stick to the 168 grain loads and lower.

308 does have noticeably more recoil than a .243 though.
 
Drop down to 150's as has been said but something else that will help even more if you don't mind adding weight to the rifle would be to take the recoil pad off the butt of the stock and fill that empty hole with something to make it heavier. There are many different ways to accomplish this, one of my favorites is mixing up a bunch of epoxy and BB's and filling up the empty space. A heavier rifle will naturally recoil less.

Also adding a muzzle break will help greatly and protect the crown of your muzzle at the same time.
 
Will a 150 gr. bullet still have enough knockdown power for hunting deer in N. GA
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In a word, Yes.

But...when you say "knockdown power" are you really asking about the ability of your chosen to bullet to kill the deer, or are you really looking for "knockdown" power?

I don't know that the 308 truly has that capability. I'm sure a 416 Rigby or maybe the 458 Lott might knockdown your deer but there's a good possibility you'll get knocked down in the process. :eek:

I would not hesitate to shoot a deer out to 400 yards with a 150 grain bullet from a .308.
 
The 30 gr weight difference between 180's and 150's would reduce recoil from around 22 ft lbs down to about 19.5 ft lbs. The greater problem is that you selected a 6 lb rifle. From a rifle that light you are getting what would be 30-06 recoil from a standard weight gun. To be honest that is what would appeal to me, but light rifles recoil more than heavy rifles.

180 gr bullets are WAY too much for Georgia whitetails anyway. Standard 150's are just about right, actually a much better choice. The 180's are designed for elk and larger bear and might not expand as reliably on a small deer.
 
150 GR. Federal Fusion is what Ruger uses in the Am. .308 for in-house purposes and what they recommend in a factory load for it. I'm aware of reduced-recoil loads for .243 and 7mm08, not sure if they are available in .308 but if so, you may want to look into them.
 
"knockdown" power
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There is no such thing as "knockdown power". It's a made up term that ammo and rifle companies, magazine writers, etc. use when they are trying to hype up a cartridge/rifle's performance.

There is the combination of velocity, energy, sectional density, bullet construction, and shot placement, which will create terminal shock when the bullet impacts the deer. That will determine how fast the deer gets "knocked down". Unless you shoot the deer with a cannon, the bullet itself will not knock the deer down.

To tie all this back into the OP's topic, the difference in a 180 vs. 150 grain bullet will not make as much difference as a cup and core vs. bonded or solid copper. Cheap 150 grain cup and core bullets will be plenty for Georgia deer. The deer here in NC are of similar size and an 85 gr partition from a 6mm rem or .243 has "knocked down" plenty of deer within 20 yards of the shot and never lost one.
 
To the OP...I also own the Ruger American in .308 (and .243) and yes the recoil is less with the 150g bullets. But more to the point it is my experience that the RAR is also more accurate with the 150g bullets. The .243 doesn't seem to be that way, it's accurate as hell with anything from 58g to 100g.
 
Your dentist can help you!

I want a lightweight, powerful, rifle.

I want a rifle with mild recoil.

The two are mutually exclusive. Simple high school physics dictates this fact, and you can't fight physics!

The easiest way to reduce recoil is to add weight. My Model 12 trap gun weighs about 9.5 lbs. it's a pussycat. That's about 1 Lb. heavier than a normal Model 12.

Many dentists still use film. Every piece of film has lead foil in it. The Dr.s typically have to pay to get rid of it. Ask your dentist to save it, and offer to pick it up periodically. It's really good, pure lead.

It's also in foil form, so it is easy to pack in to spaces like the hole in the stock for the stock bolt.

In addition a good recoil pad REALLY HELPS.

Check Brownell's, modern popular rifles often have premade recoil pads for them. No fitting, just screw it on and go.
 
There are a few things you can do to help out. You can stay with the same gn bullet or even heavier if you desire. Use a Shoulder Pad,place a better stock pad on it and as mentioned, add some weight to the stock. Do not over do the weight as to make it rear heavy or unbalance it to much. As was pointed out dropping down to a 150 will not reduce recoil all that much.

Oldsap- Why do you say that the weight is not good?. Interested here. The 308 shines when you get to 175 or higher. Even the 200 gn shoots like a dream out of them.
 
If you reload or know someone that reloads, you can actually drop down to a 125gr bullet and still be very effective. If you are really set on 150-180's, I think I would add a muzzle brake. They make a world of difference in recoil at the price of increased noise (ie, don't shoot it at a indoor range!!!).
 
As stated, if you go to 150 area, it will be less but not that much.

Too late for the OP but for others, once your shoulder gets sore, stop. Regroup (pun intended) You keep pounding it and as the OP posted, it stays bad for longer (and the older you get......) It will also be more sensitive for a long time or may stay that way. As the add says, if it hurts don't do that.

I would consider a slip on recoil pad when target shooting, sighting in. In the case of the RA I would get the thickest one (most padding). Some you can stack. Add it onto the RAs existing. A bit awkward or odd but should be fine for bench work.

I have also found myself not snugging up my dad's 1903 30-06 Sporter we shoot for fun and hurting. I know better but my heavier guns I don't have to and (and yes I have a slip on pad for that.

The 308 is not bad but its a very light rifle in the RA.

A 150 in 308 will kill any deer jut fine. Some work better than others and you can get too much expansion on a deer and ruin meat so its something to research and see what seems to work best.
 
The Ruger American is considered a "field' rifle which means that it is to be carried much and shot little.

Recoil tolerance is cumulative which means that it is bearable on the first shot but probably not on the 20th.

The trick is (while at the bench):
1-Space your timing between shots,
2-Use a slip on recoil pad (as suggested above),
3-A combination of #1 and #2.
 
Well, I went and bought two boxes of 150 gr. Remington Core Lockt this evening, as my birthday is about a week away and I was given the money from my in-laws to do with as I saw fit.

I understand the physics behind gun vs. recoil. I understand that this rifle is plastic and metal and not heavy, which translates into increased recoil. Consequently, I also realize that having a heavier gun will reduce recoil. I have told my wife this several times while perusing the guns at various locations, and explained it to a woman that couldn't have weighed more than a 100 lbs. and was dead-set on buying a .30-06. I have shot several rifles over the years, but never 20 shots within 30 minutes, attempting to sight it in. Granted, I did have this rifle perfectly sighted in at 5 shots, but felt the need to keep shooting to make sure I was comfortable with it.

What took me by surprise is the amount of recoil coming from a .243, which I loved shooting, to a .308. Also, watching videos on YouTube psyched me out a little, as I was watching folks shoot it and the recoil seemed slight. Needless to say, it was a bit of a difference between video and physical mule kick.

Now that I realize that it is just my mental aptitude that was lacking when it came to shooting this gun, my next question is about flight patterns of various grains.

My gun was sighted in with the 180 gr. shells. With the 150's, it is my belief that they will rise up above what the 180's were shooting at. At 100 yds., will I be seeing a significant rise of flight, or will it be about the same?
 
Stock shape and fit has a big influence on how you'll feel the recoil.

If it really bothers you, a Limb Saver pad is relatively cheap
 
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Not commenting just where your located doesn't offer me the ability to judge how big your deer are. Up North in Michigan or MN where the 10 point bucks are 200-lbs plus average field dressed. 180-gr. are preferred by many. Down in Dixie or out on the East coast where the deer are typically smaller. Perhaps a 130 or 150-gr. is considered best for the purpose. But as I recall the 308 was military designed with 147 gr. for best overall performance. So off hand I would think civilian ammo in the 150-gr. weights is what you may want to consider shooting. A little bit easier on the shoulder. But anything in bottle necked brass 30 cal and large is going to be bothersome in store bought ammo. But without question your choice of rifle & its caliber is a good one. No doubt that 308 will harvest anything you may want to hunt in the lower 48. As for recoil get yourself a Past shoulder pad if it bothers you that much.
 
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