In your opinion which hunting rifle has the most recoil? Which one is the shoulder destroyer?

Question

Muzzle loaders, Self reloading, Military rifles, Shotguns don't count. I'm talking about legal hunting/shooting rifles for civilian use with store bought cartridges.

I just want your opinion not the exact 100% hands down correct answer. Keep your thumbs down to yourself its an open forum.

Answer 1

577 TYRANNOSAUR Developed by A-Square fires a 750-grain bullet at over 2500 fps for 11,000 ft-lbs of muzzle energy (that's .50 BMG territory).....here is a video of it being fired: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-EVqT3XEzss

I would call that a shoulder destroyer.

Answer 2

This can be any rifle. If the rifle does not fit you good then the recoil will be worse. Same thing goes with if you are not holding a proper stance recoil will be worse.

I have shot just about everything from 17rem to a 50bmg (M-2) and a Mk-19Mod-4.

I highly doubt that a 700NE would be FUN to shoot at an all day range session. Even a 600 NE on that hand.

The 475 A&M mag is said to be like going 5 roudns wiht a heavy weight boxing champ. it has a muzzle energy of 10,000 ftlb.

When you reach the levels of power like the 475 A&M mag and 577 T-Rex you are in a place that you do not need to be. 375 H&H or a 460 Weatherby Mag will do to kill anything on the planet.

Answer 3

If you hold the weapon to your shoulder properly, have a good pad on the stock, and if the stock is decently made, then recoil really shouldn't be a problem.
The Weatherby .460 (which I've fired a lot) has a powerful but not painful recoil. (The 500 grain bullets are also very expensive, hundreds of dollars for a box of them.) It's a very heavy, solid gun and the "bubinga wood" stock soaks up a lot of the blowback.
A 10 mm Mannlicher bolt action rifle gave a pretty good punch; an old, double-barrelled .500 Nitro caliber Holland and Holland Royal rifle was powerful but as a heavy, well-padded weapon it wasn't as painful to the shoulder as it was to the ears.
My 30-.06 and 12 and 10 gauge shotguns will hurt if you don't mount them properly before you fire.
I'm normally a side-by-side shotgunner so I'm used to a good healthy kick, plus I'm a fairly beefy, muscular fellow. But other than a little bruising after a long day w/ lots of rounds fired, I've never been overwhelmed by any of the guns above, which I believe have some of the most powerful recoil of any weapon existing.

Answer 4

Of those I've actually shot, 460 Wby had the most recoil, but it didn't feel like it. If the stock fits and you use proper technique, there's really no problem for a few shots (though you do get a headache if you shoot too long at the bench).
The worst felt recoil was my 348 Winchester when I was a kid, because the LOP was too long, and it had that major drop that levergun stocks have, not to mention a metal buttplate. After I grew into it, it became a pussycat.
My youngest, when he was about ten, shot a 500 BPE we were fooling with (no idea what load it had been regulated for), and it knocked him over backwards, but he got up, brushed his rear off, and shot the other barrel. That's the only time I've seen that happen on a gun except a couple that doubled.

Answer 5

My Krieghoff .500 Nitro Express Double packs a hell of a punch. I hit both triggers while hunting in South Africa in 2005 and NEVER want to relive that experience. I think it compairs to the .700 Nitro when you hit both triggers. I also have an AR50 from Armalite thats a .50 BMG that I shot without a supressor and I thought I broke my shoulder. These are the biggest I've been in contact with but I can honestly say they KICK LIKE A HORSE!!

Answer 6

Stock fit is more important than caliber.

I had a ChiCom SKS that embarassed me with how uncomfortable it was to shoot. I replaced the stock designed to fit a skinny 18-year old ChiCom soldier with a stock with and extra two inches to the length of pull, and recoil virtually disappeared.

If you want to limit the response to cartridges reasonable for North American game, I figure it would probably be the .338 WinMag in a light rifle.

If you want the for real, shore enough shoulder breaking champion, it would be the .700 Nitro Express. You have a 1,000 grain bullet at 2,000 fps, IIRC, recoil energy approaches 200ft/lb, and that is in a rifle weighing nearly 20 pounds.

Doc

Answer 7

The .416 Rigby or .460 Weatherby Mag probably has the most recoil of any real rifle. However, you aren't likely to see many of those.

Of the commonly used rifles, the 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win Mag, .338 Win Mag, .300 Weatherby, and .340 Weatherby probably have the most recoil, with the .340 and .338 highest.

Answer 8

I've shot most rounds including a 10 gauge shotgun and the rifle that almost dislocated my shoulder was a friends .55 (?)caliber black powder muzzle loader. That was my one and only experience using black powder muzzle loaders. It definately gave me a lot of respect for the hunters/soldiers that had to use it in the field.

Answer 9

the big bore rifles for African hunting are the hands down most punishing rifle to shoot.i have fired some of these the 458.460 wetherby and the 375 h&h and they will knock the crap out of you.I have a friend that use to do alot of hunting on the dark conntanaint and he fire these rounds so much that it almost put him blind.the recoil had over time had knock the retnia loose in his eyes.

Answer 10

Recoil is pretty much a function of power vs rifle weight. A lightweight rifle chambered in a powerful round (like a 7mm mag, or 300 mag) will hurt when you shoot. I would imagine something like a .444 marlin would be up there, too.

Answer 11

Certain guns and style stocks have more than others

My 50cal hawkin muzzleloader can be downright brutal when I shoot big solid conicals with 90 grains

And my 6 1/2 pound Savage 7mag can be equally as brutal in that light weight setup.