felt recoil, 243 vs 270

[fr0sty]

I took the gun my daughter is going to use this deer season to the range to sight it in. I didn't notice much difference in the recoil vs my 270 win. Not sure how well she will take the recoil.

Maybe my memory of the 270 isn't too good. I will be taking that one out soon.

Anyone have experience with the recoil difference on these two calibers? I use 130 grain federal rounds in the 270. I don't remember which Remington's I used in the 243. I think both rifles are close in weight.

[Gordie]

my sons rossie 243 has light recoil more than I thought it would but its not that bad. We shoot 117 grain remingtons thru it also.

I know the recoil is way less than my brothers remington 270

[harvey lee]

I own and have shoot both calibers. Both are bolt action remington 700 rifles.

Using the same type loads, I believe my 270 kicks a tad more.

[SmilinBob]

If you make a big deal out of it, "felt recoil" will be a huge issue, if you just introduce the gun and tell her its going to make a bang and have some recoil, but know that you are in control of the gun, and have her follow good shooting techniques I can guarentee it will not be a big ordeal. The problem arises when someone introduces the drama of a larger caliber and the mental factor takes over. I will say this with the caveat of leaving out some of the bigger magnums, but anything from 223 to 30-06 when introduced correctly should be a non-issue to any new shooter. Again, take the focus OFF the caliber and teach "this is a brand xyz gun in 123 caliber, now take up a good, solid shooting position, acquire your sight picture, remember your breathing techniques, focus on the target, imagine your shot, and squeeze the trigger focusing on your target some more." You will see the response after the shot being "I hit it!" not "that gun kicks!" I have introduced a fair number of new shooters and this technique works and usually leads to "leads do it again". And start her shooting now, not the hectic weeks and crowded ranges of sight in days, the bad vibes and multiple opinions coming out of those will be picked up and carried in a young mind for a long time.

[fr0sty]

Thanks for the tips bob. I will keep that in mind when I have her shoot it. The plan was to take the .22 and .243, then have her shoot both after I got the .243 sighted in.

I did a [PoorWordUsage] job getting it sighted, so all she got to shoot was the .22

I shoot fairly often in the summer and fall to keep sharp for deer season. I will be bringing her along each time so she can build skills, confidence and muscle memory.

[TooTallTom]

fr0sty, one thing we do with bolt guns for sight in to get on paper is just pull the bolt and look down the barrel at the target, and compare the sight picture to what's in the scope. Obvioulsy, you don't want to move the gun at all.

After we're on paper, we aim at the bull and pull the trigger. Then just re-aim at the bull and have someone else move the crosshairs up to the hole in the paper. Again, not moving the rifle while adjusting is key.

Basically, you're setting the scope as if you meant to hit whatever part of the target you hit rather than trying to walk the rounds into the bull.

[fr0sty]

I have heard of that before, but never tried it. I shoot off of sand bags when sighting in. Will that be stable enough to hold the rifle when re-adjusting the scope?

I normally bore sight it using my neighbors yard light. Must be 100 yards or so. From there, I am usually on the paper at 50 yards. Not sure what was happening. The mounts all looked tight.

I went back today and started at 25 yards. First shot was a little high and to the left. Next one was low enough, but still a little left.

Went to the 50 and it looked about the same after a couple shots, so I moved on to the 100. Didn't hit the paper. Thinking I was high, I held right on the bottom of the target and shot. Hit the paper, but was 2 inches high of the center and a hair left. Adjust the scope down about 8 clicks and shot again. No paper. At that point and after I was just wasting ammo, but it was still a good time

The only drag was the guy next to me with the 300 winmag and muzzle break. It was quite the shocker when he touched that thing off. I moved off my bay and shot only when he was adjusting. He was actually knocking empty ammo boxes off the guy to his left. Yikes!

fr0sty, one thing we do with bolt guns for sight in to get on paper is just pull the bolt and look down the barrel at the target, and compare the sight picture to what's in the scope. Obvioulsy, you don't want to move the gun at all.

After we're on paper, we aim at the bull and pull the trigger. Then just re-aim at the bull and have someone else move the crosshairs up to the hole in the paper. Again, not moving the rifle while adjusting is key.

Basically, you're setting the scope as if you meant to hit whatever part of the target you hit rather than trying to walk the rounds into the bull.

[SmilinBob]

Fr0sty, if you are anywhere near the Becker area bring it on it to Keeler's Gunsmithing, I will take a look at it and have a laser boresighter that a lot of customers have told me is only about 2 inches off when they take it out to the range. I have another one, but that is proof it is only to get you on the paper, its a good 4-8 inches off depending on the gun. And it a good chance to meet some fellow FM'ers and [PoorWordUsage] about guns a bit.

[fr0sty]

Cool, thanks for the heads up. I live in Sartell, so it's pretty close. I do like learning to sight my guns, so I will likely work through it.

It's great to know a recommended gunsmith is nearby though!

Fr0sty, if you are anywhere near the Becker area bring it on it to Keeler's Gunsmithing, I will take a look at it and have a laser boresighter that a lot of customers have told me is only about 2 inches off when they take it out to the range. I have another one, but that is proof it is only to get you on the paper, its a good 4-8 inches off depending on the gun. And it a good chance to meet some fellow FM'ers and [PoorWordUsage] about guns a bit.

[TooTallTom]

You can definitely do it off sandbags, but you do need a second person. (Which you probably will need either way, so...) After you're on paper, just aim at the bull and fire on round. Then re-adjust yourself and get the crosshairs back on the bull (not the point of impact), and then have the other person with you adjust the windage and elevation until the crosshairs are on the point of impact. Don't move the rifle while you're adjusting the crosshairs from the bull to the POI.

Essentially you're adjusting the scope after the fact so that it looks like you meant to shoot where the bullet impacted. The second shot should be much, much closer to the bull.

A couple of tips which you might've thought of: only load one round at a time for safety's sake, and take the caps off the adjustment screws before you fire that first round, so there's less screwing around between shot, adjustments, and shot.

[fr0sty]

Well, I took the 247 and my 270 out to the range today and got both sighted in. Things are looking good. After shooting them back to back, it is easy to feel the difference in recoil. The is less, but not drastically so.

I am going to try and take my daughter out tomorrow for a few 50 yard shots...

[bmc]

frOsty,

My 11 year old daughter has a H & R Handi Rifle in .243. I put a Simms Vibration Lab slip on recoil pad on the gun and she could shoot that thing till the barrel melted down! LOL

A guy I know started out his 12 year old daughter w/ a 30/06 w/ the SVL slip on recoil pad and no problems for his daughter at all.

IMHO they are an amazing product, especially for younger shooters.

Brian

[fr0sty]

Went to the range today. I took one shot at the 50 yard target to be sure it was still on. She took two and they were right on. Switched over to the deer target and she put 6 in the heart

Bob, I took your advice about not mentioning recoil. When she took her first shot, I asked right away how she did. Worked like a charm.

Next step, 100 yard targets!

[TooTallTom]

Awesome! That's good news. I'm always happy to hear about a new shooter.

If it's possible, encourage her to try some off-hand shots as well as rested, just to get a feel for them. This will also help to re-enforce the idea that a good rest is worth thinking about pretty constantly when in the field.