[shoalbass]

My best friend and hunting buddyJust found out yesterday that  he has a herniated disk in his back right between the shoulder blades. He shoots a 300win mag and a 30-06 .His doctor also a hunter said not to shoot these as it would do even more damage to his spine,my question is what calibre and recoil level shouldd he shoot now,that won't damage his back.Where we hunt a long shot would be 75 yards.any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Contender]

Shoalbass, What are you going to hunt? Deer?

This will get to be a pretty long list!

My 2 cents: For a 75 yd cartridge, a 357 mag levergun.

Regular rifle cartridges:  243 Win, 6.5 Swede, 7/30 Waters, 7mm Mauser, 7mm08, and my favorite, the 280 Remington. Thinking more in terms of recoil here as these guns have greater range than 75 yds of course. There are many more.


In the '06 you could even try using lighter bullets like a 125-130 gr non-varmint type design that will hold together. Like for instance a Hot-Cor Speer. Also, you could load down to say, 30/30 or 300 Savage type velocity and power.

Just some thoughts,







(Edited by Contender at 9:45 pm on July 28, 2001)

 

[IDShooter]

Shoalbass,
      Don't know what you are hunting but will guess deer. A fellow I know has a similar injury and his doctor said keep recoil down to 10 ft lbs. This pretty much limits your selection to .243, 6mm Rem, .250 Savage and .257 Roberts  in bolt guns, .357 Mag or light .44 Mag in a lever gun. Any will work ok on whitetails if you choose bullets carefully.               ID

 

[MikeG]

I have a .257 Roberts in a full-sized Ruger 77.  Recoil is virtually non-existant.  It is a very pleasant gun to shoot.  I'd second the recomendation.

With it and some plain off-the-shelf 100 grain Remington Cor-Lokt bullets, I have taken whitetails and small pigs without any problems.  Haven't recovered any bullets, even on the pigs when the spine was hit.  My theory is that .25 cal. component bullets have to be tough enough for .25-06, so the .257's slower speeds don't stress them too much and they perform very well.  My loads are running about 2900 fps at the muzzel (22" barrel).

Also shot at some milk jugs one day - at 500 yards.  Hit 3 of them with 19 rounds, of course we had to figure out the hold-over first.  Not as spectacular as my buddy's .50 BMG but hurts a lot less!  Have shot prairie dogs with the gun also (75 gr. Sierra HPs/~3100fps).  It is quite versatile.  By the way the 100 grain bullets are good for 'dogs, if they won't come clear out of the mound.  If only the head is sticking up, shoot through the mound just below the head.  Works like a charm.....

 

[hawk]

I have a similar problem, when it first flaired up I was shooting a 45-70. I have sinse gone to a bolt action 30-30. I use 125 grain and 150 grain loads for deer, and 110 grain loads for varmints. The recoil is not bad, but I still use a Past recoil shield when shooting from a bench.

 

[Big Bore]

First and foremost, do not take any advice here without running it first past his doctor.  We are only guessing and even if there is a doctor amongst us, we do not know the complete medical details.  With that disclaimer stated (can you tell I've been in the medical field?) if your partner does not want to buy a new rifle (what? Sacrilege you say) he could have the '06 braked.  When I developed a shoulder problem a few years back I had KDF put a brake on the 416 Rigby (No flames now, brakes do have their place).  The brake took the recoil level that was way past that of a 458 Win down to level of a 300 Weatherby.  If it can do that for heavy loaded 416s it MIGHT do the trick for the '06.  Just remember the hearing protection EVEN WHILE HUNTING!

(Edited by Big Bore at 10:32 pm on Aug. 1, 2001)

 

[Bill Lester]

Shoalbass,

I think Contender's suggestion of reduced loads is the best. Your friend is already used to the feel of his '06. A new rifle may feel "funny" unless it's the exact same make and model.

If a new weapon is in the making, I'd opt for the 6.5x55mm Swede or .260 myself. I really like the caliber and it can do amazing things with long bullets on surprisingly big game. Even with full power 160's recoil is modest.

 

[shoalbass]

I just want to thank all   of you for your suggestions,maybe we can just fix it up where he can hunt.We are hunting deer,coyote and feral dogs that run in packs on our hunting property,the land is 220 acres of 8year old cutover,with about 90 acres of hard wood ridges and draws. the property is pretty thick where the pine is regrowing so we have several food plots and shooting lanes cut and some logging roads.
The 30-06 my friend has is a older rem 760 pump his grandfather gave him,I offered to let him shoot my .308 or .243 but he wants to be hard headed and use his own gun.HE also wants to thank you for the help.Sorry so long winded. any more of you that have any options I will be glad to hear them.

 

[MikeG]

For a light-recoil load in the '06, try Nosler 125 grain Ballistic Tips with starting loads.

I have gotten pretty unbelievable performance with this bullet.  You'd expect it to just blow up on a blade of grass, but I once put one through two javelinas, at a range of only 50 or 75 yards.  Muzzle velocity of the load is over 3,000fps.

The javelinas were about 30 lbs or so.  Bullet went through both shoulders on each animal.