Hunting Forum

My sh oulder is not what it used to be and my 30-06 seems to kick a little harder each year. Just wondering if anyone has any real world experience on deer with either Remington’s 125gr Reduced Recoil or the 170gr Federal Fusion Lite ammunition? I hunt in Texas and most shots are 50 – 150 yards. If no one uses this ammo does anyone have any firsthand experience using a Limb Saver, Pachmayer Decelerator or Kick-eez recoil pad? I have read reviews on all three that say they work well but some are sticky and they trend to break down or deteriorate after a few years.

Again welcome to the boards czech8.  I put a pachmyer decelerator pad on my 30-338 magnum years ago because it was beating me up.  I'd fire half a box.  And, woould have to put it up because it was giving me head aches from the recoil.  It tamed the recoil way down.  It doesn't kick any harder than my 270, 0r -06 does now.  So, I would imagine that it would tame your -06 down to say.  No harder than a 257 or 22-250 probably.  I've read reviews on the light recoiil ammo. And, I saw right here on the web somebody posted one time that they were impressed with how light the recoil was.  And, It worked well for putting deer down at the ranges that you mentioned. You could maybe try a combination of both. A pad and the ammo.

Posted By kbennet on 20 Feb 2013 04:04 PM
I also only shoot reloads in all of my guns so I don't have any personal experience with factory "reduced recoil" loads. However reducing the recoil of a cartridge also equates to reduced bullet velocity and/or energy and increased bullet drop. With a .30-06 and whitetail deer at ranges under 150 yds, this shouldn't be much of a problem.

As for the recoil pads that czech8 mentioned, I have used them for many years and have them on many of my rifles and shotguns. I have Limbsaver pads on my 3 hardest kicking rifles -- a .375 RUM, .300 Weatherby, and a 7mm Rem mag. I also have Pachmayer Decelerator pads on my Trap and Skeet shotguns, and on a .50 cal inline muzzleloader, and a Kick-eez pad on my 12 ga Rem 870. All of these pads work very well and I have not had any problems with any of them. I also think they are better than the factory pads.

I also have either mechanical or mercury recoil reducers in the stocks on my .375 RUM, .300 Wby, 870 Rem, and both of my Trap and Skeet shotguns. I don't know if mechanical or mercury is better. They both add 5-8 oz weight to the stocks, and they noticably reduce felt recoil.

To further reduce felt recoil, I have KDF muzzle brakes on my .375 RUM and my .300 Wby, and I had both of my Trap and Skeet shotguns ported. This greatly reduced the felt recoil of these guns and and with my O/U Citori, it virtuously eliminated the muzzle jump allowing for a very quick second shot for doubles targets.

The other thing that I have done to many of my rifles and shotguns was to either replace the factory stock or modify it so that it fits me. I even modified the stock on my favorite bolt action .22 rimfire rifle so it's length of pull and feel is the same as my hunting rifles which allows cheap and good practice for hunting.

With everything that I have done to reduce the recoil of these rifles, the .375 RUM, which out of the box was the hardest kicking rifle that I had ever shot, now has a felt recoil about the same as my 7mm Rem mag; and my .300 Weatherby kicks less than my .270 Win.

Posted By czech8 on 22 Feb 2013 08:18 PM
Some other information that I guess I should have included. Rifle is a Savage 110 w/wood stock. Not sure of the exact weight. About a year after I purchased it I sent it to magna-port. This was many years ago and I can't remeber if it really made any difference on the recoil. Not sure if this is due to the magna-port or not either but, there isn't that much muzzle jump... 
  
 ...Then I can do something with all the brass I have been collecting over the years. I mean some of it is 15 - 20 years old but that stuff doesn't go bad just setting around does it...
  

The magna-port slots were designed to reduce muzzle jump, which they do.  In their own advertisements, they say that magna-porting will reduce felt recoil by up to 15%.  Other porting or muzzle brakes that have a greater area of openings (circles, slots, or whatever) will reduce felt recoil by 40% or more.

As long as the brass you have been collecting has been kept dry it should be fine to reload.  The same with powder and primers, although some powders may oxidize over time if they have been exposed to air, and loose some of their oomph.

Posted By jlh2 on 23 Feb 2013 01:32 PM
Another one of the advantages of loading your own besides the fun part. Been reloading my own reduced loads for my -06 for years. I like to take it out shooting just for fun somethimes, but not a big fan of recoil. So, I load my own reduced loads: 150gr. Hornady Soft Point, 24.0gr. of SR4759 powder, CCI 200 primers. I get around 1950fps muzzle vel. About like shooting the .243. Even knocked over a few deer with it out to 100yds.

Many reloaders have been doing this for a long time.  It wasn't until after the big ammo makers brought out such shoulder cannons as the .300 RUM and shooters bought them then complained of the recoil so they then started marketing reduced loads to make their cannons shoot like a .30-06.

I took this a step further many years ago and started casting lead bullets for most of my centerfire rifles.  These are great for inexpensive practice and are very easy on the shoulder.  I even have cast bullet practice loads for my .375 RUM and .300 Weatherby.