Felt Recoil - what has been your experience

[Northern Shooter]

@AZDAVE
A mate bought a 458 win mag for a bargain price with a box of factory ammo that had only fired 2 rounds.
After firing 2 rounds himself he sold it for a bit more than he paid still with 16 rounds.
He said it was more than sporty in the recoil dept. What he said isn't repeatable even in this rough crowd.
The rifle weighed in at just on 7# , no wonder she kicked a bit. Thin barrel and a but not much thicker than a fence paling that had been attacked by termites. Recoil pad was hard rubber about 1" wide
Bob

I’ve seen quite a few lightweight 458WM rifles in the 7.5-8.5lb range, that’s just too light. I imagine it’s due to the popularity of the cartridge and being able to be chambered in standard long action rifles. The Ruger No.1 is a good example.

I find my new Model 70 at 9.0lbs to be too light for full power 500gr 458 WM loads.

I believe 10.0-10.5lb would be an appropriate range for that cartridge. That brings the recoil numbers down to around ~65 ft-lbs.

 

[ldmay375]

I agree of subjective. Regardless of bore diameter, case capacity, weight, recoil calculations or fit; I will not be using a rifle brings real pain to me on a regular basis.

 

[Jay Kelley]

I've got a CZ550 American in .375 H&H and a 557 Carbine in .30-06. Felt recoil is about the same. Kind of stiff, but a trip to the range isn't a frightening prospect.

On the other hand, I've got an H&R single shot 12 gauge that beats you up even with the lightest loads. I didn't notice it when I was 18, but at several times 18, that thing just hurts.

 

[saswart]

I think @saswart just needs to man up and grow a pair

My 450 Rigby was a learning curve and took some getting used to. Dubbed that the Chiropractor...

My new 500 Jeffery with Silvers Recoil pad makes the 450 feel tame...

DWB (Deon)... Hahaha, I probably need to yes. But then again, it seems I can handle it...

 

[AZDAVE]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen 7 Lbs in a 458WM would be punishing. That whole rifle sound like it was a bad idea from the start.

 

[HookMeUpII]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen 7 Lbs in a 458WM would be punishing. That whole rifle sound like it was a bad idea from the start.

I have a Ruger No1 in 458WM and depending on who you ask, it should be somewhere from 7.5-8.5 lbs. The recoil is punishing, just as you described. I've shot 12g 3.5" slugs, 300WM, 45-70, 30-30 from a light lever gun, etc. This is something else. The 458WM in the Ruger is enough to really, really ring your bell good. The only thing I feel comes close is old school 3.5" 12g slugs from a light pump. Basically a grizzly bear park ranger round.

Bolt guns definitely add weight but the problem then becomes feeding a big bore belted cartridge. The 375 HH seem to feed OK but supposedly, the 458WM is not great to cycle in a bolt gun. So a double might be the way to go there, price aside.

IMO, which doesn't matter much, the 416 Rigby is the ultimate round and you can see why it gets so much praise. Tremendous power, good SD, and no belting.

I guess it's all relative though. I'm sure if I was looking down the barrel at a cape buffalo I probably wouldn't be thinking much about the recoil.

 

[BWH]

Maybe I am just a masochist, my first big game rifles were shotguns. I learned proper holding form and trigger control. I can't say that I enjoy recoil, but it just doesn't bother me. You never feel it when shooting at game anyway. My 2 brothers never wanted to hunt deer as they were afraid of the recoil. My son and daughter are also not bothered by recoil.

You are not wrong here…. I think people that are use to shooting slugs or heavy waterfowl loads are less susceptible to recoil. The recoil from those are more significant than most rifle loads. All very subjective.

 

[DLSJR]

I’m a bit late to this thread as I’ve just returned from a few days duck & goose hunting in Idaho. One thing that may have been mentioned but I didn’t notice is the effect a foam filled fiberglass stock has on reducing felt recoil. All of the rifles I hunt with have Brown Precision fiberglass stocks. They flex a bit under recoil and that has a dampening effect on recoil. I’ve discussed this with Mark Brown, owner of Brown Precision, and he told me that high speed photography shows their stocks flexing under recoil which noticeably reduces felt recoil.

Case in point…. My son shoots a .375 H&H Model 70 Safari Express that still has its original wood stock. The gun is 100% factory original and weighs right at 10 pounds. My .375 is a custom rifle built on a pre-64 action but with a Fiberglass stock and weighs 8.9 pounds. Shooting the exact same ammunition, a 300 grain TSX atop 70.0 grains of Reloader 15, my son shot his rifle 3 shots, followed by 3 shots from my rifle. Upon finishing he immediately said “I’m putting a fiberglass stock on my rifle before my next hunt with it.” I then shot both rifles and we completely agreed that recoil of my rifle felt noticeably milder than from his rifle, despite being a full pound lighter than his rifle. The difference was the fiberglass stock vs the walnut stock.

 

[Northern Shooter]

I like to express the magnitude of recoil on these big bores as multiples of 180 gr 30.06 loads.

From the Chuck Hawkes Table & Online Recoil Calculator: a 180 gr 30.06 out of a 8lb rifle produces 20.3 ft-lbs of recoil, let's call it 20.

A 300gr 375 out of a 9lb rifle produces almost twice the recoil (37ft-lbs)

A 400gr 404 Jeffery out of a 10.25lb rifle produces just over twice the recoil (41ft-lbs)

a 400gr 416 Rigby out of a 10lb rifle produces almost 3x the recoil (58ft-lbs)

A 500gr 458WM out of a 9lb rifle produces 3.5x the recoil (70ft-lbs)

A 570gr 500NE out of a 12lb rifle produces 4x the recoil (80ft-lbs)

A 570gr 500J or 505G out of a 11lb rifle produces 5x the recoil (~100 ft-lbs)

and so on.

Of course we could run the numbers all using the same standard 8.0lbs rifle but that starts to get scary the further you go up.

 

[HookMeUpII]

You are not wrong here…. I think people that are use to shooting slugs or heavy waterfowl loads are less susceptible to recoil. The recoil from those are more significant than most rifle loads. All very subjective.

Most of my hunting is waterfowl, with a 12g, and heavy loads. The 458WM from an 8 lb rifle is just out of control. I shoot a lot of 12g loads, yearly, as well.

I am sure if my 458WM was a 12 lb bolt gun, it would be a lot better.