probly the bestgun if your in alot of pain is the .243 and ill get alot of flack for saying that but it has enough power to kill white tails and black bear i know from personal experiance. the .243 is a love hate gun people either love them or completely hate them. if you can take some recoil i would recomend short action rounds sutch as .308 and 7mm08. if you still find you want more umph then id go whith .270 , .260 , 6.5x55 sweedish. and you can lighten recoil by adding a but pad to your stock or possably a boss . hope e been helpful , good luck and good hunting!

also winchester makes some good wsm cals you might wanna look into

Baller, I am with Zgrimshaw on this one, but you need to read a thread titled Rifle size Help. Many also recomend the 7mm08. In the end it will be your choose, a kick pad will help with any gun, there are other recomendations for other recoil devises, that almost say they will make a 300 win mag feel comfortable. If you are able and have the availibility try some see which works for you. But a 243 with a limb saver has little painful kick and will kill about anything In North America, with the right shot placement.

There's always the good ole .30-30........

I would recommend the 30-06 using reduced recoil ammo after installing a Sim's Limbsaver recoil pad and a Dead Mule mercury recoil reducer in the buttstock before having a grind to fit Sim's installed. If funds permit I would suggest either a 7MM-08 or the Swedish 6.5X55MM which can be had in a couple of major makers models or do as I did and get a Swede surplus 6.5X55MM and have it sporterized by Kimber America. The cheaper way to go would to be either the first suggestions I gave or buy a new Ruger Amercian Rifle in one of the lighter calibers they offer. Just yesterday I saw the Ruger at a local gun store for $349.99. I had my right shoulder repaired back in Aug 2012 and it still is a bit painful when shooting but if your rifles are already zeroed then the one shot needed for killing a deer won't be that bad. I also had my left shoulder repaired back in 1983 and the clavicle was reattached with a couple of screws and a piece of wire. I can tell you if you work at it the shoulder as you know will get better as it only takes time. You can find both the Sim's and the Dead Mule at http://www.brownells.com or http://www.midwayusa.com and if you order them now you can have them installed and be hunting a no more than a week or so.

30-30's are good guns but still have pretty good recoil that why i didnt say 30-30. i have the new ruger american rifle in .270 and the quality is farr better than the price would lead you to believe, id highly recomend one. they come in .243 , .270 , .308 , and 30.06.

Your shoulder sounds painful. Not sure any caliber will work. Have you given any thought to a pistol or maybe a "contender"? Just take 85% of the shoulder out of the equation. Just a thought....

How soon do you want to shoot/hunt again? I had arthroscopic shoulder surgery less than 30 days before deer season, I hunted with the Redhawk in my left hand that year. By the next year, I was good to go with full power ammo in both my 270 Win and 358 Win.

I'll second Big Dawg with the reduced recoil ammo to fit your 30-06 or if funds permit, buy a 243, 6mm Rem, or 250 Savage. Also, you could consider one of the 22 centerfires with a premium bullet (Barnes TSX, Nosler Partition etc). I'd hunt deer with them but not anything bigger.

BTW, the doctor's biggest worry was that I would slip in the woods and try to catch myself with the repaired shoulder, thereby ripping out his handiwork. So I wore a sling and swath to keep the right arm tucked in tight to my body. Just something to keep in mind.

Dale

.30-30 heavy recoil????? Of the rifles I hunt with (.30-30, .270 win, .35 Whelen, .300 WBY), I would have to say the .30-30 is the lightest recoiler of the lot. My 6 y/o son shoots a .30-30 off the bench. The lightest recoiling gun, I hunt with, would have to be my Taurus Tracker M-44 revolver.

Are any of your stocks synthetic? If so for around $60 you can get a recoil reducer such as a dead mule or mercury tube and it will slide in easy. I added 2 to a Rem 700 with synthetic stock in .300 WinMag. It still has a little kick but no where near what it was like. Before the dead mules and after a sholder/upper arm injury it sat in the safe. Now it enjoys the range at least 2 Saturdays a month. I can post a pic of the super easy way I installed mine with no adhesives and yet have them stay put until I want to remove them.

Or as many others suggest the good old .243 or 30-30.

Some recoil charts that may help.  These are on stock, unmodified shotguns and rifles

http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_r..._table.htm

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm


Shotgun  chart:



Rifle chart (LONG):

Had to break into two posts due to number of attachments

Rifle charts continued:

And one more....

its not so mutch the recoil of the 30-30 i was talking about , he had shoulder surgery and most 30-30's ive shot have very little but pad on them . dont get me wrong i love 30-30s but what isnt mutch recoil to you or me could be a lil differant to someone who just had shoulder surgery

so true a past recoil pad could work or .243 with good bullets or just let it heal take a camera out and get them next year don't
rush the shoulder I did that and screwed it up again know I have no medical and can't get it fixed again

there are also re-coiless butt stocks out there (they are normally custom made for your gun) but they absorb 95-99% of the recoil on any rifle or shotgun..a friend who had cancer in the bones around his neck and shoulder continued to shoot skeet, pistols and to hunt using his 30-06..all through his treatments and then very shortly after some very major surgery...I shot his guns and I'll tell ya what when they claim re-coiless they mean re-coiless...look into these...they worked for him...

With a Sim's Limbsaver recoil pad, reduced recoil ammo, and a Dead Mule recoil reducer installed you will be able to shoot as much as you like. I have these installed on my 2 Mausers in .300 Win Mag and 6.5X55MM and they make all the difference in the world when shooting especially the .300 Win Mag. I installed 2 on the .300 Win Mag with one in the buttstock and then I routed out a channel in the forearm underneath the barrel and when I glass bedded the reciever I simply glassed the other one in as well. These 2 along with the Sim's recoil pad make shooting it all day not a problem. The 6.5X55MM had very little felt recoil and by installing the pad and Dead Mule made it comparable to shooting a .22WMR !

You Guys are amazing Thank you all for the Good advice. I Now have direction and am sure I will make the right choice for me. AGAIN THANK YOU!!!!!

Hey Baller
I see that you shot 180s through your Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. I have the same gun and just started reloading for it. Tell me about it, what ever floats your boat.
Joe Termite

The least amount of recoil (the same caliber to caliber comparison) will always be a "autoloader type" gun.

The "best" will be the gas operated.

Might be a good time to consider a .223/5.56 and / or a .308/7.62 in a AR platform (before they are outlawed).