Please note; new to the forums/rifles/hunting.
I’m getting my shopping list together for the first rifle I will take on my first hunt. North East whitetail. I’m new to shooting and firearms in general, although I have a buddy from work helping me out. He took me to the range today to test fire some of his rifles. One a .308, one a 30-06 and the other a 22-250 (I believe).
I had intended to purchase a .308 from Howa but now am second guessing the caliber. After 15 rounds through a Mossberg Patriot my shoulder was feeling it. 20 rounds and I was done. I’d also like to point out it’s winter and I had three layers on including a Carhartt. So I’m feeling a little emasculated. It wasn’t exactly pleasurable to shoot and 99% of my shooting will be from a bench. I was hoping it would be a good “all purpose” round because I’d like to pick up target shooting as a little side hobby (nothing too serious) or at least grow confidence in my ability to shoot.
I’m not exactly a small guy either 5’9” medium build. The ammunition itself was 150 gain and for some reason I just couldn’t get with it. To me it feels no different than a 30-06. The 22 was fine. Super light recoil could shoot it all day. My buddy was checking for form, everything was choked up nice and snug and was hitting plates at 300 yards. That rifle shouldn’t have been putting out more than 15lbs of recoil right?
My buddy tells me everyone reacts different and no one really likes felt recoil. That I shouldn’t feel bad. He basically suggested to go as light as I’m comfortable with and we’re playing with the idea of a 6.5 Creedmoor. 7mm-08 was on the list however the 6.5 ammo has flooded the shelves and the 7mm is hard to find.
Still set on the Howa 1500 platform. Should I give their .308 a shot? Step down to 6.5, or just settle with .243?
Anyways, sorry for the long post but thanks for reading.
I too was looking for a howa in .308 a few years back. I wanted a good hunting round, but nearly all my shooting would be done at the bench.
I'd had experience with the 7mm-08 and was very fond of it. I figured I'd step it up to the .308 because of its better ammo availability and match bullet selection for realoding.
I ended up going with a weatherby vanguard (weatherguard) with a grey cerakote finish and heavy 22 inch barrel. It weighed around 8.25 pounds with a composite stock out of the box. I eventually put a boyd's thumbhole laminate stock on it for bench shooting which added more weight to soak up recoil from heavier match bullets.
I remember shooting full house 180 grain hunting loads through it with the composite stock and thinking it was recoiling pretty good. Nowhere near my 7 STW, but enough to turn a new shooter off.
The mossberg has a straight stock and the synthetic models I see only weigh 6.5 pounds, so that rifle will abuse you a little in. 308.
Check out the Vanguards. The actions are made by howa and you can pick up one of their heavy barrel models if you need more weight to soak up the recoil. You also get a stock with a higher comb. The 7mm-08 is a great round, but someone who is recoil sensitive might not approve of it.
I'd reccomend the 6.5 creedmore. 120-130 grain bullets are plenty of medicine for white tail without all the extra recoil. You can always go to 140+ grain bullets for hunting larger game or long range shooting. Factory ammo and bullet selection seem to be getting better for the 6.5 in recent years. A .243 is a nice caliber for deer and bench rest shooting, but in the long run bullet selection in the 6.5 will alllow you to do more. It's considered marginal by many for bigger game (like black bear and elk) compared to the. 308, but for the most part it should get the job done.
Hope this helps! Good luck!