difference in recoil

[okieshooter]

Probably asked before but........ I have shot a 30-30 contender of a friends and it did not bother me a bit. I am wondering how much more harsh a .308 would be in the Encore. I would love to start handgun hunting but don't want a large caliber to turn me off first thing. I know it depends some on the person but how much difference does there seem to be??

[Hopalong7]

     If a 30-30 Contender didn't bother you at all, you shouldn't have much trouble with a 308 in an Encore.  As you know recoil is quite subjective from all sorts of angles.  The difference in the weight of the two pistols(about a pound)makes a good deal of difference,  different grips can have quite an effect,  both calibers have a wide range of bullet weights that come in to play and both calibers can be loaded "mild to max".  Even if you don't reload, the choices are still pretty wide open.
Walt

[Ladobe]

Walt nailed it.

But if you want some numbers to compare one to the other, a simple recoil calculator will get it done.

Here's a simple one you might try...

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

Larry

[okieshooter]

I put in dummy numbers with weight of 7.5 shooting a 150 gr. bullet until I got the recoil numbers to match Chuck Hawks recoil chart. I then changed firearm weight to 4 for 30-30 and 5 for 308 and come up with almost identical numbers for the recoil. Does that sound about right I guess. If anyone has the actual numbers for the calculator plug them in and let us know what you see. Thanks

[Ladobe]

You'll get a much more accurate picture by using actual loads than trying to shortcut the calculator.

Realize also that the same bullet in the 308 can be loaded to much higher pressure and so faster velocity than the 30-30, and that increses the recoil.    So the closer the velocity in the comparison, the closer the comparison.  

Some actual numbers from actual loads...

308 w/Win748  
150 gr bullet  
2540 mv  
43.0 gr powder  
5.5# firearm (Encore)  
17.62 recoil energy in (ft/lbs)    
 
Load Two - 30-30 w/Win748
150 gr bullet
2310 mv
34.5 gr powder
4.5# firearm (Contender)
16.53  recoil energy in (ft/lbs)
  
Change to some proven loads for each with H4895, same bullet but with almost 20 more grains of powder for the 308 load and so a big difference in velocity, and the recoil numbers change to 22.42 for the 308 and only 9.08 for the 30-30.    Now the 308 has more than twice the recoil of the 30-30.
  
Bottom line IMO is that in real life the 308 will have more recoil than the 30-30 more often than not on the TC pistols just because of the loads that will normally be shot in it.

Still comes down to what you can tolerate.   My regular loads in my 375JDJ's pushed 44 pounds of recoil on my Contenders, and to me they were pussy cats to shoot.   My 416 Rigby Encore on the other hand started getting nasty after only a few shots fired, but it thumped you with well over 80 pounds of recoil.
  
YMMV  
  
  
  
  

[Grumulkin]

I've shot both the 30/30 in a braked braked Contender and the 308 in a braked Encore and they're about the same.  I believe the stock design and lighter weight in the Contender increases felt recoil a bit over the Encore.

Actually, try full house 44 Rem. Mag. loads in a Contender; they're worse than either of the above.

[Ladobe]

I can only partially agree with the first comment above in that weight does impact recoil.   IMO what determines "felt" recoil as far as the grip design goes is your shooting technique, how they fit your hand and what they are made of.   The Decelerator Pachy's really tame handcannons on the Contender frame, and that more than makes up for the pound less weight between them and the Encore if it wears factory wood/composite grips.   

As for the 44MAG... that can be true if you mean the above 308 and 30-30 loads.  But it is not that much worse in ft/lbs of recoil energy than them even with the hottest heavy bullet 44MAG load in a lighter weight Contender 10" octagon barrel (would still only be around 21 ft/lbs of recoil energy).    Put Pachy Decelerators on the octagon 44 and I think you'd find that the felt recoil with it would seem less than the 308 on the Encore.

IME&LO-YMMV...