300 WSM Recoil - Your Comparative Experience

[davsco]

i previously had a tikka t3 in 300winmag that kicked like a friggin' mule! you never feel it in the field, but it hurt big time at the bench. no brake. sold that a while back and last year got a t3x lite in 300wsm. with a hellfire brake on it, it really doesn't kick at all. i put on a pair of earpro muffs before taking a shot in the field and noise doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Go West Old Man]

i previously had a tikka t3 in 300winmag that kicked like a friggin' mule! you never feel it in the field, but it hurt big time at the bench. no brake. sold that a while back and last year got a t3x lite in 300wsm. with a hellfire brake on it, it really doesn't kick at all. i put on a pair of earpro muffs before taking a shot in the field and noise doesn't bother me at all.

Assuming you added the Hellfire brake, have you fired it without the brake? If you have, how was it and what’s your comparative opinion to your previous kickin’ mule 300 win mag? Thanks.

 

[260madman]

I had a M7 in 300 SAUM for a while. When working up loads I was using H4350 (I think) and Ramshot Hunter. Max load with H4350 wasn’t bad at all about like a 30-06. The max load with Hunter was ridiculous in recoil. Difference in velocity was a little over 50fps. I use Hunter in my 30-06 and it’s pretty stout with a 168. My 180 load with Big Game feels like less recoil.

moral of my story is pressure curves are a bitch.

 

[Reburn]

This ^

Use this calculator to compare apples to apples.

JBM - Calculations - Recoil

www.jbmballistics.com

For comparison, a standard common 180 grain load at 2900 FPS only has 75% of the recoil of TDHanses berger 215 load in the same gun. That's a big difference in the same cartridge, both loads are beyond capable.

This guy gets it. For the record here is some of my gun weight vs recoil ft lbs.

Tikka 300wsm switchlug - 7.89 lbs - 30.7 ft lbs without brake. I havent shot it without the brake. WIth the brake its not bad at all. Maybe even less then my barrett. Just loud. I dont dare shoot it without a brake or can.

Tikka 6mm creed switchlug - 7.94 lbs - 10.6 ft lbs. no brake. same gun. barely kicks.

Tikka 223 rem switchlug - 7.99 lbs - 4.2 ft lbs. no brake. Doesnt kick at all.

Rem 700 270win - 10.16 lbs - 15.2 ft lbs. no brake. doesnt kick bad. Came with a 1/2" recoil pad and bruised me badly. Switched to a 1" limbsaver pad and its a joy to shoot. Has a bartlein 3b barrel so it doesnt have muzzle rise at all.

Barrett 6.5 creed - 6.92 lbs - 15.0 lbs. no brake. Has got some kick but managable. Definately more kick then my 270.


The gun weight has as much to do with it as the chambering. 20 ft lbs is the base I try and stay under and 15 ft lbs and under is the butter zone. Negative comb is better then straight comb stocks IMO. Limbsaver recoil pads take out most of the bite. Bullet weight plays as much into this as anything else. So does barrel weight as it relates to muzzle rise on recoil vs straight comb or negative comb stocks. The numbers dont lie but they dont paint a complete picture either. Just a jumping off point. 20 ft lbs and over is where alot of guys start getting flinches.

 

[davsco]

Assuming you added the Hellfire brake, have you fired it without the brake? If you have, how was it and what’s your comparative opinion to your previous kickin’ mule 300 win mag? Thanks.

not sure i fired it before getting the brake. given that the mv, energy etc are comparable between the wm and wsm, pretty sure the base recoil will be roughly the same. so the brake is making a huge diff. i'm shocked as to how little recoil there is at the bench vs the prior one that was painful.

 

[Hooknbullet2]

I have two 300WSM’s. Both are great to shoot and my perceived recoil without a brake is less than my 7mag.

 

[Go West Old Man]

I have two 300WSM’s. Both are great to shoot and my perceived recoil without a brake is less than my 7mag.

Thanks. That’s encouraging. Would you share what mfg. they are, or are they custom?

 

[Hooknbullet2]

Thanks. That’s encouraging. Would you share what mfg. they are, or are they custom?

One is a Hill Country Rifle Harvester Winchester Model 70 in a McMillan stock. The other is a Weatherby Vanguard SUB MOA.

 

[RafterH]

My Savage 300 WSM is a cake walk with 180 Accubonds compared to my 444 Marlin with 265 Hornadays. It is very close to my 30-06 with 180 Partitions. Of course this is perceived recoil which we all know is different for each of us.