The following is my method of selecting a cartridge/rifle combination for hunting. The thought process has worked well for me and resulted in my having rifle/cartridge combinations I can use effectively within my defined hunting parameters. Sad to say, the day of the firearms dealer with a shooting range out back is gone, at least in my world, so the handling characteristics of a particular rifle may be difficult to ascertain prior to purchase and field experience.
The purpose of this passage is to help other recoil sensitive shooters manage recoil in their hunting rifles. I am concerned with hunting rifles because they are usually light for caliber rifles, unlike military rifles, which usually weigh enough to substantially reduce the felt recoil of the cartridge. Actually, every human is recoil sensitive, some of us just more than others. It is our control of the response to this recoil that either results in a flinch or the ability to produce usable hits at the ranges desired.
There are three components to the equation; the rifle/cartridge combination, the hunting environment and the shooter. The end result is the usable group in the hunting situation to be pursued.
1] The Hunting Environment
I cover this first because it determines what types of groups are acceptable and which cartridges are acceptable candidates.
I like to term the following parameters collectively the hunting environment. This includes such factors as:
Type of hunting (still hunting, stand, mixed, etc.) style employed, the maximum shooting distance adhered to (yes, you must set a limit to be fair to the game, usually based on yours and the cartridge’s physical limits), the terrain and its cover type, and the size and endurance of the animal being hunted.
The hunting environment thus represents the collective factors upon which you base your cartridge selection and acceptable group size.
As an example: I still hunt the northern forests of Minnesota. My quarry is the whitetail deer. I will get an offhand or perhaps a sitting shot in my still hunting mode of pursuit. The distances vary, but 80 yards is the maximum in the cover populating the region I hunt. The whitetail deer has a chest kill zone of about 10 inches diameter on average (a large buck may be half again as big and a yearling doe almost half the diameter of the chosen 10 inches). For two years I carried and harvested deer with a Ruger .44 Magnum Deerfield. The shots were free of any intervening brush, and the gun delivered 5 inch offhand groups at 100 yards, with sitting groups of about 3 inches (its accuracy limit). As this rifle was not to be used beyond 100 yards, this was quite satisfactory. The third year I could not get the 270 grain projectile through even a very light amount of intervening brush, the .44 bullets having low sectional densities. Thus, I went back to my high sectional density calibers, and have been able to take shots the .44 magnum bullets did not allow in the brush.
With my high sectional density, high power hunting cartridges (.30-06, .338 WM, .375 H&H) I have chosen 200 yards as my rifle sight in distance and accept a ten inches diameter offhand group at this range. Sitting (usually practiced at 300 meters) must produce a 6 inches diameter group at 200 yards. I am still hunting whitetail deer in the fairly heavy brush of northern MN, so I need a caliber offering good sectional density in its projectiles. I do not need the 200 yards range here, as of my 6 deer shot in these woods; the farthest has been at 40 yards, with some as close as 50-60 feet. I choose this distance as I like to target shoot (at 200 yards and 300 meters) and the cartridges I’ve selected have the capability of being sighted in at 200 yards and used from the muzzle to 300 yards (my limit on whitetail from my field sitting position, from which I can sustain the 10 inch group). I use the .30-06 with 220 grain bullets, the .338 WM with 250 grain bullets or the .375 H&H with 300 grain bullets in this scenario. These bullets all have a sectional density of over .300. This high sectional density enables them to penetrate some intervening brush, something one will see here in MN hunting from anything but a stand with cleared shooting lanes, a scenario I do not choose for my hunting. Obviously, any of these rifle cartridge combinations will allow me to hunt anywhere I choose.
2] The Shooter
I have chosen 200 yards 10 inch offhand and 6 inch diameter groups as acceptable for my hunting needs. I do not shoot from the bench, rather I sight my rifles from these positions. I can go prone and shrink the groups, but this is a position of no value where I am currently hunting. I can deliver this performance with the rifles so chosen.
All of us have recoil limits. I can shoot a .458 Lott, but I will produce effective groups to my definition only to about 100 yards. I also do not enjoy shooting such a rifle. My recoil limits extend to the .338 WM and the .375 H&H for ability to shoot within my defined parameters.
3] Rifle/Cartridge Combination
This is where the hunter/shooter must choose what he is comfortable with and what will suit his hunting environment and thus meet his imposed performance criteria. I have had the fortune to try many different rifle types and brands, so I can select my firearm with some previous knowledge of what works for me.
The rifle cartridge/combinations I have chosen are enjoyable to shoot for me. I look forward to range time and honing my shooting skills with them. This is important.
In the .30-06 cartridge, where recoil is light to me, I can use a rifle/scope combination weighing as little as 8 lbs with the 220 grain bullet and perform within my imposed limits. This weight allows hand carrying all day with no induced fatigue influencing a snap shot at the end of the day.
In the .338 WM cartridge with a 250 grain bullet loading, I must seek a rifle weighing at least 8 lbs to be comfortable with the recoil. At 8.25 lbs, and with its ergonomics to my liking, the Ruger Model 77 Sporter in this chambering is usable to me. With a peep sight installed it weighs under 8 ½ lbs and allows accurate shooting to 200 yards. With a Leupold Rifleman 2-7x scope attached and a leather Whelen sling installed, the set-up weighs just about 9.25 lbs. The recoil and capabilities of the scoped set up allows me to open the range to 300 yards limit. I can carry the combination unslung all day and still perform a snap shot efficiently at the end of the day.
In the .375H&H my rifle should weigh 9 lbs with iron sights for recoil management on my part. My Winchester Model 70 Super Express weighs this. With a Burris 2 3/4 x scope installed in Leupold lever activated detachable scope mount/rings and wearing a Whelen leather sling, the set up weighs about 10.25 lbs. This is too heavy to allow comfortable hand carrying with the possibility of my responding to a snap shot at the end of the day. If I was not still hunting, but in a situation where a slung firearm was feasible as the carrying mode, I would use this rifle.
Attached is a recoil comparison matrix to serve as a reference point for cartridges and firearms types with which the shooter may be familiar.
Recoil Comparison Matrix
Sample Cartridge bullet weight/velocity rifle weight recoil
.243 Win 100 gr./3000 fps 9.0 lbs (*) 9 ft. lbs
.30-30 170 gr./2100 fps 7.0 lbs 9 ft. lbs.
.44 Mag 270 gr./1700 fps. 7.0 lbs 15 ft. lbs.
.30-06 150 gr./2700 fps. 7.5 lbs 18 ft. lbs
..30-06 150 gr./2700 fps. 8.5 lbs (**) 16 ft. lbs
.30-06 220 gr./2400 fps. 7.5 lbs. 23 ft. lbs.
.30-06 220 gr./2400 fps. 8.5 lbs (**) 20 ft. lbs.
.338 Win, Mag, 250 gr./2600 fps. 8.25 lbs 34 ft. lbs.
.338 WM 250 gr./2600 fps. 9.25 lbs (***) 30 ft. lbs.
.375 H&H 300 gr./2500 fps. 9.0 lbs 41 ft. lbs.
.375 H&H 300 gr./2500 fps. 10.25 lbs. (***) 36 ft. lbs.
Some notes:
Marlin 336 carbine without scope weighs about 7 lbs.
Ruger Deerfield Carbine weighs about 7 lbs without scope.
Many .30-06 rifles unscoped weigh about 7.5 lbs.
I included a scoped .243 Win rifle weighing about 9.0 lbs as a reference, as many shooters have shot a similar set up (*) for varmint hunting.
In general, a scoped 7.5 lbs. rifle could be taken to weigh 1 lb more than the unscoped version (**).
The .338 WM Ruger Model 77 Sporter with scope and sling and the .375 H&H Model 70 with scope and sling weights as measured (***).
