Recoil 308 vs 300 Win Mag?

[Woodchuck]

My advice is to find somebody who will let you shoot theirs so you can see for yourself before you buy. It may not bother you as bad as you think. Felt recoil varies so much between individual setups it’s hard to tell until you shoot it. I have a 270 wsm that is fairly unpleasant to shoot and a 338 wm that doesn’t bother me much at all, even though they’re both fairly light rifles it’s just a different feeling recoil

Great advice. 

[theleo]

My advice is drop down in bullet diameter if you want flatter shooting, more thump, and minimal recoil. The 270 win, 280 rem, 280ai, 270 WSM, 6.5-284, and the 6.5 PRC would be the direction I'd go. Personally, I've yet to see a situation where a magnum is any more effective inside of 300 yards than a non magnum option, so I opt to not put up with any more recoil or noise than necessary.

[Alchase]

Stock design plays a big role too, but I can tell you my .300wsm kicks significantly less than my old .300 win mag in near identical rifle weights. I’ve never shot a .308 to compare it to. 

 

A .308 in a crappy rifle with a crappy synthetic stock, will kick harder than a 300 WM in a good rifle.

Neither of My 300 WM Sako 75 Finlight, or my Ruger M77MkII 7MM,  kick as hard as my Rem 700 SPS Tactical in .308 with synthetic stock.

The total package is more influencing on felt recoil than caliber.
Unless you are comparing identical rifles in different calibers.

[BDildine]

following along, just the other day my wife started talking about maybe getting a elk rifle for herself, of course i'm onboard with the idea, i archery hunt elk, but was thinking of a .308 for her. she shoots my .270win (weatherby vangaurd) all day and doesnt bother her (she loves ringing the gong at the range)

(not trying to thread jack)

[C-Money]

I too, am not a fan of a lot of recoil. I usually carry a .270 win with 140 Accubonds or a 30-06 with 150 Hornaday interlocks for elk. I've bench shot the 300 wsm, 300 win mag, 7mm mag...they are just not fun to me, and I feel my accuracy can suffer from the recoil they dish out. I'd feel real confident for elk with a standard cartridge with a .257, .277, .284, .308 bullet. Its pretty amazing what a standard cartridge will do to an elk with a good bullet.

[Alchase]

following along, just the other day my wife started talking about maybe getting a elk rifle for herself, of course i'm onboard with the idea, i archery hunt elk, but was thinking of a .308 for her. she shoots my .270win (weatherby vangaurd) all day and doesnt bother her (she loves ringing the gong at the range)

(not trying to thread jack)

I would buy her a matching .270, LOL

[WSU]

following along, just the other day my wife started talking about maybe getting a elk rifle for herself, of course i'm onboard with the idea, i archery hunt elk, but was thinking of a .308 for her. she shoots my .270win (weatherby vangaurd) all day and doesnt bother her (she loves ringing the gong at the range)

(not trying to thread jack)

My wife elk hunts with a 270 and 130 grain ttsx bullets. It kills elk just fine.

[Cab]

advice from an expert on killing elk. He does a great job breaking it down. Hope this helps.

[C-Money]

Could have swapped "Caliber" For 'Cartridge" in the verbiage...But YES!!! This is an excellent video!!! I feel the same way...good for folks to see what an elk looks like getting smacked by a 300 win mag vs a 308 win... not any different. Great video.

[kirkl]

I have remington 300wm with a synthetic stock and i put a limbsaver recoil butt pad on it and I can sit there and shoot a box of bulletts through it. It kicks less than my remington 270 mountain rifle which hurts after a few shots.

[Igor]

I'm looking at buying a new rifle for elk and have been looking seriously at 300WM, 300WSM, or 30-06.  I currently shoot a Rem 700 in .308 with a pretty short barrel and the recoil is very comfortable, but I know that I'm fairly recoil sensitive.  I also have a good slip on recoil pad on it because I'm tall and need the extra length.

My question is how much more punishing is the 300WM/300 WSM vs the 308.  I really want to go that direction, but I'm a little nervous about buying a rifle only to find out I can't handle the recoil.  I 62 and doubt I will be taking shots at 500 yards, but I would like to be able to reach out to 300+ yards if I need to.  Oh yeah, I would like a moderately light gun for comfortable carry.  So, it's pretty simple...I want a powerful, flat shooting rifle with no recoil that's not too heavy.  Any advice?

Not sure where you are located, however if you are in my neck of the woods, I have a Winchester Model 70 in .300 WM that you can test drive.  It's no lightweight.......rifle, scope, sling and ammo put it at just over 9 lbs.  For me the recoil is manageable, but I realize that felt recoil is a bit subjective.

[meatwhack]

In two of the same rifles 300wm is going to have substantially more recoil than a .308. It’s simply physics.

[dvolmer]

In two of the same rifles 300wm is going to have substantially more recoil than a .308. It’s simply physics.

this is a true quote.  When sighting in rifles, 300 mag knocks your shoulder off compared to a 270 or 30-06. after a couple of shots you will be flinching like crazy in anticipation.   Get a good lead sled and you will be fine sighting it in.  for me, in a hunting scenario it is totally different.  Maybe its adrenaline or whatever but I dont notice recoil all that much when shooting an animal.  Seems to be the same with sound.  Shooting without hearing protection is painful when sighting in your rifle.  In the heat of the hunt the sound is hardly noticeable. 

[JakeLand]

When doing bench time with a .300 win mag ya the shoulder feels it plain and simple
For me . When pulling the trigger while hunting I can’t tell you what recoil or the percussion is

[j_h_nimrod]

One thing I did not see mentioned is practice. I am pretty insensitive to recoil, but after not shooting big guns for awhile (a couple months) I found myself anticipating and flinching after a few shots. Once I recognized this I found I could turn off the flinch and shoot well again. As long as I shot a couple times a month I was good to go.