Low recoil 500-1000yrd target rifle suggestions

[neededausername]

I know an older gentleman who has had shoulder surgery and back problems. He likes to shoot 500-1000yrds but his .308 is getting to be a bit much for him. He can take a couple of shots, but after that he has to put it down. I was wondering what everyone would recommend for a low recoil long range rifle. I was reading about things like 6BR, but it seems like you pretty much have to build your own rifle and he wouldn't want to mess with that. He can afford about $1500.00 for a rifle, and he reloads so price per round is less of a concern. This will only be used to punch holes in paper or ring a gong at 500-1000yrds, usually off a bench so weight isn't a big deal. He has other rifles if he wants to take meat or kill varmints. So the rifle doesn't need to have killing power at 1000yds just accuracy at that range.

 

[gathert]

Does he have a recoil reducer on it? Limbsaver makes great slip over ones for the butt plate of rifles. Put one on a Mosin and it turned the recoil down so much I didnt even flinch when shooting it and couldnt feel a thing compared to the stock butt plate.

 

[neededausername]

Yes he does. He worked in construction all of his life and his body is broken because of it.

 

[Water-Man]

Have him look into a 6.5x55 SE. He should be able to find one from Tikka T3 and CZ.

 

[Al Mack 1]

Check out Savage arms. They have some really nice long range target rifles. Some in 6br!

 

[dubbleA]

He might check into having a muzzle brake installed on his 308. Simple process and should cost appx $150. Most will take the recoil down to a 223.

 

[dzelenka]

6BR may come up a touch short at 1000 yards. It can get there, but most people who do tend to push them really hard. There are a slew of good cartridges in the 6mm - 6.5mm range that have good trajectory and are less affected by wind than his .308. Since he already has the .308, he could easily have it rebarreled in a number of suitable cartridges starting with the 6mmXC and going up to the .260 Rem. For 6.5, there are also the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5x47 Lapua. If you don't have a long action, the 6.5x55 won't work. If you are buying a new rifle, pit that one on the list. It is accurate and will get a really high BC bullet moving pretty well. .243 is generally hard on barrels. The 6mm Remington would be better. One thing to note is that most heavy high BC bullets require a fast twist barrel that may not be found on most factory rifles.

If he really has an issue with recoil, the .223, .22BR and .22-250 can all work. I would suggest a 1:6.5" barrel for the .223 or a 1:7" for the bigger cases. THis will allow you to shoot 90gr JLK and Berger bullets. They have very high BCs (.550 - .580) and can be driven from 2800 (.223) to 3200 (.22-250) FPS. They will make it to 1000 and work great at 600. 80s will work too.

Dan

 

[Wylie1]

He might check into having a muzzle brake installed on his 308.

Don't forget the ear plugs if you go this route! Might want to get some cheap hand outs for the range too just in case you're not making any friends with the muzzle brake.

 

[benzy2]

What kind of stock does he have now? I suggest you weight the current stock with as much lead as you can, assuming he likes the rifle he has. More weight is the cheaper option here. Or grab another stock and weight the sin out of that.

 

[ArthurDent]

Caldwell's Lead Sled

Why not try using a Lead Sled?

(I do not have one, but I hear they are good.)

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

 

[chris in va]

I was shocked what a muzzle brake did for my friend's FAL.

 

[dnthmn]

A muzzle brake will make a huge difference. I shot a .300 Win Mag with one and how much less it recoiled than any .30 cal I own. If you really want to go light recoil, you can go with a .223 or .243 with the really long, heavy bullets, a nice soft recoil pad and a good muzzle brake. Probably not the ideal 1000 yd gun, but recoil will be super light and you can get there with some work.

 

[essayons21]

Weight of the rifle, muzzle breaks, good supported shooting position, and a good thick recoil pad all do wonders to reduce felt recoil, often more than simply changing calibers. I have a 15lb bench gun in 30-06 that has less felt recoil than my AR in 5.56.

If your friend is planning on reloading, often loading light loads in larger capacity cases creates a very soft recoil impulse.

 

[smartshot]

for those who have not tried the 6.8 spc out of a single barrel or a bolt action, let me tell you there is hardly any recoil and the accuracy is amazing with speer 90 gr TNT's and Sierra 115 matchkings on top of H322. The first time I shot my single shot, I made one ragged hole at 100 yards. My buddy shoots 600 yards with a custom bolt action is 6.8 spc using the matchkings, so I would think that it would generally be better at 1000 yards than a 6mm of 6.5mm round.

 

[Fullboar1]

He can keep his 308 win and just rebarrel it to a .260 remington, hell he can even use his 308 cases and just neck then down to 6.5mm. The 260rem (6.5mm08) is a superior longrange caliber (I use it for the odd F-Class 1000 yard and Bench Rest 600 yard comp). The 260 rem using good B/C bullets like the 139 grain Lapua Scenar, 140 grain Berger VLD or 140 grain SMK has better trajectory and less wind drift then a 300 winchester magnum using great B/C 30 cal bullets like the 190 grain SMK's. The 260 rem has alot less recoil then a 308 (IMHO it is about the same as a 243 firing 100 grain bullets).
Read this article and it will explain why the .260 is a great long range cal

http://demigodllc.com/articles/the-case-for-260-remington/

 

[Carne Frio]

Muzzle brake sounds good, although it could effect accuracy.
Caldwell Lead Sled works great for me. I have a bad shoulder
and the lead sled is much appreciated. I put a Limbsaver slipon
onto my 930SPX 12 gauge and it made a huge difference.

 

[Justin]

.260 Remington or .243/.243 Ackley Improved. Either of those cartridges are capable of making accurate hits out to a thousand yards.

 

[viking499]

Have him look into a 6.5x55 SE. He should be able to find one from Tikka T3 and CZ

I like this idea. I have both of these rifles.

 

[george357]

As others have stated, if your friend wants to stay with the .308 look into a limb-saver recoil pad and a muzzle break. These two together will probably get the job done. If rifle/cartridge change is wanted and all that is being shot is paper then a .223, 22-250, .220 swift, 6.8, .243 or other smaller fast cartridge should work fine.

 

[Picher]

He could screw on some weights to the rifle that could be added after setting the rifle on the rest. Placed between the trigger guard and front rest, they could reduce felt recoil by a lot.

Muzzle breaks could affect accuracy, especially as they get dirty.

 

[Cosmoline]

What about simply increasing the weight of the barrel and stock? If he's not having to carry it and isn't shooting offhand with it at those ranges, that will tame the recoil.

 

[mdauben]

There is also the question of what type of rifle is he currently using? If he's just shooting off the bench like you say, a 13-14 pound bench rest rifle (ex. Savage Model 12 BR) will soften the recoil compared to typical 7 pound hunting rifle with both shooting the same cartrige.

 

[JFrame]

I know an older gentleman who has had shoulder surgery and back problems. He likes to shoot 500-1000yrds but his .308 is getting to be a bit much for him. He can take a couple of shots, but after that he has to put it down. I was wondering what everyone would recommend for a low recoil long range rifle. I was reading about things like 6BR, but it seems like you pretty much have to build your own rifle and he wouldn't want to mess with that. He can afford about $1500.00 for a rifle, and he reloads so price per round is less of a concern. This will only be used to punch holes in paper or ring a gong at 500-1000yrds, usually off a bench so weight isn't a big deal. He has other rifles if he wants to take meat or kill varmints. So the rifle doesn't need to have killing power at 1000yds just accuracy at that range.

If your friend has a Howa or Remington 700 action .308, he might want to consider adding a Knoxx Axiom recoil-reducing stock. Unlike the Knoxx stocks for shotguns, the Axiom stocks don't seem to generate the same level of antagonism and criticism.

Or he can buy a Howa rifle pre-configured with an Axiom stock, or buy a Remington 700 and add an Axiom stock for well under the $1,500 window.


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