Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
briandg said:With that rifle, You have a softer buttplate guiding the force over a much larger area and through padding on your shoulder that doesn't exist on the back of the hand.
The other side of that argument is that when you shoot a handgun you've got several "hinge" points/pivots that can and do move but when you shoot a rifle you are essentially just taking that shock into a (relatively) immobile part of your body.
When I shoot my Encore, my wrists, elbows and shoulders all move. When I shoot a 12ga, I just get kicked in the shoulder.
Apple to apples....
I have an Encore Pro Hunter 15", stainless, chambered in 7mm-08 and topped with a Burris scope. Total package weighs in around 7.5lbs. My uncle has a Browning X-bolt also chambered in 7mm-08 and topped with a Sightron SII Big Sky scope, which weighs in at a nearly identical 7.5lbs. I have, more than once, shot the exact same ammo from those 2 guns on the same day. Both factory and handloads.
I, personally, would MUCH rather shoot my Encore.