Recoil help options questions

Hi guys. I have a recently purchased savage 16 trophy hunter xp in .308. The problem is the recoil beats me up and it is not enjoyable to shoot at this time. I also purchased a limbsaver recoil pad which helped but not enough. I posted about this on another forum and it was recommended I come here to discuss some of the options they presented.

1) some claimed a new stock would make it more comfortable to shoot. How does a new stock reduce recoil? What stock should I look for and where?

2)some suggested I replace the light 22 inch barrel with something longer/heavier. Obviously this would reduce recoil but not sure how difficult this process is? Is it something anyone can do or is it complicated? Where do I buy a barrel and what kind?

3) muzzle break. My barrel isn't threaded so how difficult is this option? How much are good muzzle breaks and how much do they reduce recoil?

4) sell and buy or trade for a different different caliber

I am also happy to hear any additional thoughts you have about the above options or any other options you recommend.

Thanks

I guess most aftermarket stocks are heavier than the factory originals. I hear Choates are kind of heavy.

When it comes to recoil or felt recoil....weight is your friend. Heavy stock and barrel means more mass to push back at your shoulder BUT if you bought the rifle to hunt with then the extra weight becomes your enemy ( more pounds to lug around). I guess you have to decide what you want to use it for and go from there.
Just curious.....is this your first center fire rifle ?

Thanks for the reply. My only other centerfire rifles are a .223 ar15 and a 44 mag lever action marlin. Neither kick anywhere close to the .308.

So as far as a heavier stock what do you recommend? Where to buy?
How about the barrel, same question.

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Originally Posted by palerider338

When it comes to recoil or felt recoil....weight is your friend. Heavy stock and barrel means more mass to push back at your shoulder BUT if you bought the rifle to hunt with then the extra weight becomes your enemy ( more pounds to lug around). I guess you have to decide what you want to use it for and go from there.
Just curious.....is this your first center fire rifle ?

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What weight bullets are you shooting? If you are shooting 180 drop down to the 168 or 150. This will reduce recoil. Or have a brake installed on the barrel and shoot the heavy bullets.

Rebarell to a 260 remington and dont look back. The 260 is far superior to the 308 with half the recoil. Changing barrels on a savage is a cinch and can be done in a few minutes.

The rifles you currenly shoot, .44 mag and .223 are light recoiling rifles to begin with. To me the .308 is a ***** cat. try a .35 Whelen. I shoot that with a hard buttplate and no problems. I find that most people that have a reciol problem with rifles never hold the rifle tight into the shoulder so they are hit, not pushed by the recoil. If a limbsaver pad isnt enough add wgt to the rifle with a heavier stock and/or barrel and keep the limbsaver on. 150 and 168 grain bullets may also help. I do not think yu will find many on this forum that consider a .308 as a hard recoiling round.

El Lobo

Savage recommends Federal GMM 168 gr SMK's for that rifle.

I can see why you "seem" to feel the recoil more ......the AR platform is more ergonomically friendly and the lever action is probably heavier.

If you are going to use the rifle for hunting you probably won't feel the recoil once the adrenalin starts pumping.

Stock choices are a little limited right now with that newish bolt release in the trigger guard. If you like the AR style platform take a look at XLR Industries stock for bolt rifles.

@ ellobo : T-Rex anyone ???? That will pound you good.

Here is a thread on a stock that would work with your Savage (if you like wood laminate): http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...od-stocks-none

I believe the guy who did it, did it for recoil reduction as well.

I also agree with the suggestion to rebarrel to a cartridge with less recoil, but I would suggest 6.5 Creedmoor. ;)

Research the 260 remington, 280 remington, 280 Ackley Improved or even light 7mm loads kick less than the 308, with a much more efficient bullet. Don't quote me on that, I haven't looked at the charts. It's funny how 30-06's and 308's are the most popular calibers in the south and the east, where the deer are the size of rabbits and they don't shoot past 100 yards. Out west we take elk with 25-06's out to 380 yards just fine. But seriously, downsize. Read some ballistic charts if you hand load and you'll find the 308 doesn't bring much to the table pound for pound versus other calibers, except added recoil :confused:

I hated shooting my 308 until I switched the stock to a choate ultimate sniper, and added the 26 " stainless heavy varmint barrel. Now with it weighing close to 17 pounds I don't even notice any recoil. The barrel swap is stupid easy. Problem is now it weighs 17 pounds... Don't really worry me because I don't hike around with it.

17 pounds? I hope you are able to drive that tank literally right up to the bench at the range you shoot at.

Aftermarket butt pad?

Also, here is a video of how effective a muzzle brake can be. Granted the brake is for a 338, but I am shooting a 308. Without the ability to shoulder the gun, you really get to see how well they reduce recoil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcHHt...ature=youtu.be

He already has installed a limbsaver pad. I would suggest trying a reduced recoil load such as Hornady Customlite or handloading to lower power levels.

The Model 16 is a hunting rifle so it is light. If it has a plastic stock and you don't mind a little bit of extra weight you can remove the filler in the butt stock and add lead fishing weights or bird shot or BB's. Then epoxy them in place and let it dry.

Brakes will work on reducing recoil but nobody at the range will like you. The concussion going to the sides will drive away fellow shooters or get you a good cussing.

Since you say it's your first .308, did you buy it for hunting or target use?

Stock shape has something to do with recoil too. The vertical grips and straight combs of thumbhole and benchrest stocks allow your hand to take part of the recoil and push the rifle straight back into your shoulder instead of letting it buck up. weight does help, but its not the only factor. My 280AI does NOT kick less than a 308! It kicks less than a 7 mag but 60+ grains of powder still generates some recoil.

Have a muzzle brake installed by a gunsmith. Greatly reduces recoil and should only cost a few hundred

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Originally Posted by stomp442

Rebarell to a 260 remington and dont look back. The 260 is far superior to the 308 with half the recoil. Changing barrels on a savage is a cinch and can be done in a few minutes.

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+1, but pretty much requires handloading. I actually bought a new .308 and rebarreled it without ever buying or firing a single .308 cartridge. Went straight to .260 Rem, but then I'm committed to rolling my own bullets. Otherwise I'd have gone .243.

As Werewolf stated stock shape has a lot to do with felt recoil. My plastic stock only contacts my shoulder on the bottom 1/3 of it. makes my 270 seem to kick like a 338. all my other guns drop down at the rear of the stock and have very little felt recoil.

Everyone that says make it heavier is correct, my 10FP SR weighs 11lbs with its B&C stock, scope, bipod, muzzle brake, and sling. Its like shooting a .223, but not much fun to lug over long distances if that is what you are doing. But if you're shooting for fun, put some weight on.

Switch out the barrels and go with a 260. You can sell the current one here then pick up a 260 barrel, learn some stuff along the way and start hand loading if you're not already. Go the cheap route with reloading and it WILL save you money. Plus will be more accurate.

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It is simple,get a muzzle brake put on and dont look back. The brake will make it louder but the recoil will be similar to a light load in a .243,meaning totally comfortable.Holland makes his version and many others do as well and it wont affect accuracy in a negetive way.Forget spending tons of money to stop the recoil and get the brake.

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Originally Posted by twsnow18

17 pounds? I hope you are able to drive that tank literally right up to the bench at the range you shoot at.

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No, but I'm not 90 years old either... People get silly about how much guns weigh. Kids carry 20 pounds in their backpack all day, how much do infantry pack around? Lets be real, work out more and the extra pounds won't be such an issue.

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Originally Posted by poorbuthappy

No, but I'm not 90 years old either... People get silly about how much guns weigh. Kids carry 20 pounds in their backpack all day, how much do infantry pack around? Lets be real, work out more and the extra pounds won't be such an issue.

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Haha I'm a pretty in shape college kid myself, just giving you chit. My gun with scope, bipod sling etc is like 9.5 pounds but I'd rather save the extra 10 pounds in my backpack to throw the spotter and tripod in etc. But like you said, I guess you don't hunt with it.

there are reduced recoil loads in every reloading manual
10gr unique or trailboss with a 180gr projectile comes to mind
there are aslo reduced loads with h4895

stuffing a smaller projectile -in a necked down case does not make it superior to the original case -cartidge
especially in the case of the 308win- but it sure does sell more product........
if 260rem is superior
then 243 is even more so
or maybe less.
depending on how you anylize the ballistic coeficent -energy-velocity-data
& what your trying to achieve with the given caliber
you can load the 308 for everything from the smallest varmit to moose-
you can even shoot .224 sabot projectiles in it
if you reload -no reason to change anything.
if you dont & your looking for less recoil
.243win is my choice of necked down 308's
much easier to find ammo for than 260rem if ya dont reload

I have a bad shoulder. I can't shoot a stock Savage 308 like what you have.. I have been able to shoot the Savage 308 that has the "tank" like muzzle break, not the twisted holes break. But the break needs to be threaded on and the machining and break would easily add $100-150. get a nice laminated stock for $175 from Boyds or Stockys.

If you like the rifle and the scope, do what I did, add a Stocks Varmit thumbhole laminated stock. My Creedmoor has a DBM, but they come both ways, blind center feed and DMB.

Check out my thread here
http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...ghlight=brasse

The extra two pounds of the laminate stock and the much better butt pad totally changes the recoil from almost too much to something I could shoot a hundred rounds a day out of. Of course I can't buy 5 boxes of ammo, and I know 308 is actually harder to find than the 6.5 Creedmoor.

My rifle weighed 7.4 pounds stock, and 9.7 with the heavier stock and heavier scope. Quite a bit lighter than those tanks that weigh 17 pounds.

Brase,

Did you have the standard sporter barrel? I like the look of that stock but it says it is for varmint barrels. Will it still fit right? How much recoil reduction do you think I get from just that? Do I need to get a heavier barrel and or break also or is the stock enough to make a difference?

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Originally Posted by brasse

I have a bad shoulder. I can't shoot a stock Savage 308 like what you have.. I have been able to shoot the Savage 308 that has the "tank" like muzzle break, not the twisted holes break. But the break needs to be threaded on and the machining and break would easily add $100-150. get a nice laminated stock for $175 from Boyds or Stockys.

If you like the rifle and the scope, do what I did, add a Stocks Varmit thumbhole laminated stock. My Creedmoor has a DBM, but they come both ways, blind center feed and DMB.

Check out my thread here
http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...ghlight=brasse

The extra two pounds of the laminate stock and the much better butt pad totally changes the recoil from almost too much to something I could shoot a hundred rounds a day out of. Of course I can't buy 5 boxes of ammo, and I know 308 is actually harder to find than the 6.5 Creedmoor.

My rifle weighed 7.4 pounds stock, and 9.7 with the heavier stock and heavier scope. Quite a bit lighter than those tanks that weigh 17 pounds.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by poorbuthappy

No, but I'm not 90 years old either... People get silly about how much guns weigh. Kids carry 20 pounds in their backpack all day, how much do infantry pack around? Lets be real, work out more and the extra pounds won't be such an issue.

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M4 with a magazine and all the sexy attachments they like to hang on them runs 8+ lbs. 200+ rounds of ammo, magazines, water, body armor with plates, camelbak, assorted other attachments, around 50 lbs. So yeah just a 17 lb rifle is not much at all if you're just going from your truck to a bench.

Do you have some sort of budget? Brakes can get pretty expensive relatively speaking. What kind of shooting will you be doing?

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