308

[red angus 2010]

I do not know much about rifles, growing up I used a 22 for squirrels. We have a coyote problem at the farm and am thinking about purchasing a Remington model 700 sps varmit in 308 win. Here is my question, can someone give me a idea of the recoil with this rifle in this caliber. If you could relate it to a H&R ultraslugger 20 or 12 gauge it would help me. I like to shoot for relaxation but I don't want to be flinching after a few rounds. I have a 5.56 that is a breeze to shoot with no recoil to speak of. In case this generates questions let me try to answer. Lets just say the 5.56 has a eotech scope, I don't think much of the magnifier for it and don't want to put a traditional scope on it. I am thinking about 308 because of the energy still available at 500 yds. I would like to learn how to shoot longer ranges (out to 500). Any help would be appreciated. It would be nice if I knew someone who has this rifle I could try but I stay to myself and don't ask people about their guns.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Red Angus I have a thompson center venture in .308 caliber. I absolutely love it. It's a tack driver. My 9 year old and my wife have shot it. Nothing like what I grew up shooting. Recoil is barely noticeable. I would say it has about the same or slightly more recoil than a 12 gauge. Rifles have come a long way. Best advice I can give you is no matter what rifle you choose, spend as much or more on a good scope. You wont regret it.

 

[ram]

The H&R shotgun will kick harder than the 308.

 

[dun]

The H&R shotgun will kick harder than the 308.

I'll second that!

 

[JW IN VA]

:2cents: Having owned and shot both a 223 and 308,I can tell you the 308 will not kick as hard as a single shot 20 ga.308 is an excellent caliber and has been used a lot for target shooting.The military used it for a sniper round so research has been done on ballistics.
If you are going to do a lot of shooting and the primary hunting use would be for coyote, another 223 or 243 win might be better for not tiring your shoulder.You might also want to look at the 7mm/08 which started out as a target round then became a hunting round.
There are charts available at Chuck Hawks website for rifle recoil.Seems like 223 is around 3-4 ft lbs,243 is 7-11 ftlbs.7mm/08 is 12-12.6 and 308 is 16 to 18. The 243 is still pushing 774 ft lbs of E at 500 yards in an 80 grain load and 34" of drop. Enough to do any coyote.

 

[dieselbeef]

that ar will do everything you need to take out yotes...save yer money and practice the long shots

 

[jltrent]

If you have a problem with recoil get a Limbsaver and throw on the stock. My son at 9 years old was 3 feet 9 and weighed 67 pounds and he was a tack driver with his own Bolt Remington 30-06 with the pad.

 

[jedstivers]

Look at a 22-250 also.
All the above are food as well as a 308.

 

[Kingfisher]

that ar will do everything you need to take out yotes...save yer money and practice the long shots

That's what I'm thinking. I don't care what round your shooting 500 yard shot are going to take some practice!

 

[dun]

For years I used a 308 for everything, bear, elk, deer, coyotes and jackrabbits. 150 gr for deer and 165 or 180 for elk and bear. Hornady used to make a 30 cal 110 gr spire point bullet that worked great on coyotes and jack rabbits. I used it exclusively for probably 20 years at least.

 

[red angus 2010]

I would just like to say thanks for all of the input, gives me a lot to think about. I do appreciate all of you taking the time to reply. For a long time I have always wanted to own a model 700. Just like fords and chevy's I grew up in a remington family. Still have the model 1100 with a full choke 32" barrel Dad got me for goose hunting in the 70's.

 

[jedstivers]

If you buy a Remington buy a used one. The new ones aren't the ones you grew up with.
I don't know how many years you have to go back but it isn't many. It's a recent thing that they started making junk.
I have a 700 in .234 that's new enough it has synthetic stock and parkerized metal and it's a great gun.

Ruger and Moosburg are still making good guns too.

 

[lavacarancher]

Jed is right IMO. I have three Remington 700 BDL's, two .270 and one .243 and love them. Had them for 30+ years. The new ones are junk, again IMO. Don't know anything about the .308 except several folks I know shoot them. Biggest gun I ever shot was a H&H .300 and that was a funny story. It was my buddies gun which we took to the range to sight in getting ready for a Colorado hunt. Buddy shot one round and hit about two inches right and about an inch low. We made the scope adjustment and he fired again but didn't cut paper. Several rounds later he tells me to try my hand at it so I did. I hit nearly dead center on the target but the SOB gun nearly tore my shoulder off. He was flenching in anticipation of the recoil and I don't blame him. I don't know how he fired that gun more than once.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

The 700 varmint is a pretty heavy rifle to start with. Combine that with the .308 and recoil should not be bad at all. Your 20ga will kick considerably more. I have shot my FIL's .308 model 7 that is much lighter than the 700 that you are looking at and the recoil was comparable to a marlin .30-30.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I will also say if your 5.56 is an AR, a longer (20-24") barreled upper with a good scope and heavier (69-77gr) bullets would be a great combo for coyote work to 500 yards. My personal rifle is an 18" barreled one and with 55 gr bullets it is good out to 300 yards. If you are going to try to hit a coyote at an honest 500 yards you are going to have your work cutout for you at the range. Any dummy with a SOLID rest, decent scope and rifle can hit one at 300 yards. 4-500 is an entirely different matter. That is why 300 yards is my personal limit. An honest 300 yards is a dang long ways.

 

[red angus 2010]

I will also say if your 5.56 is an AR, a longer (20-24") barreled upper with a good scope and heavier (69-77gr) bullets would be a great combo for coyote work to 500 yards. My personal rifle is an 18" barreled one and with 55 gr bullets it is good out to 300 yards. If you are going to try to hit a coyote at an honest 500 yards you are going to have your work cutout for you at the range. Any dummy with a SOLID rest, decent scope and rifle can hit one at 300 yards. 4-500 is an entirely different matter. That is why 300 yards is my personal limit. An honest 300 yards is a dang long ways.

I would be happy with coyotes out to 200 - 250 yds. I just want to bench shoot targets at 500.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Got just about all of them except the 22-250.

Now long range me is 300 yards my favorite has become a Ruger American in 708
virtually the same gun except with a .284 bullet versus 308

 

[JW IN VA]

a Ruger American in 708
virtually the same gun except with a .284 bullet versus 308

Good choice. In the Rems,take a look at the new 783.Nothing to look at but it is a shooter.At least my son's is.Might be the new 788.Savage Axis has a good rep around here for accuracy.

 

[HOSS]

I have a pretty long list of Remington 700's. I like the ones built up until the late 1990's and I snatch up the late 1960's models when I can find them. The ones with the steel butt plate. I do have a new Remington 700 Heavy Barrel ACC/SD in .308 which I mounted a 4 x 14 Burris on. I hate the new X-Mark and X-Mark Pro triggers. I prefer the old Walker design of the older models for a factory trigger but alas lawsuit happy lawyers got involved and screwed everything up. I usually jerk the triggers out and replace them with a Timney anyway.

The .308 is a great round even out to 800 to 1000 yards in skilled hands. Practice, practice, practice and even at 500 yards some scopes run out of elevation adjustment when using turrets so pick your scope wisely. Kentucky windage and elevation adjustments won't cut it especially on small targets. You might want to consider reloading if you want the consistency needed at 500+ yards.

 

[HOSS]

Got just about all of them except the 22-250.

Now long range me is 300 yards my favorite has become a Ruger American in 708
virtually the same gun except with a .284 bullet versus 308

Hey CB,

I am hoping you feel better about the killing power of the 7-08 these days. It sounds like the round is growing on you. I have one in a Rem Model 7 and it is one of my all-time favorite woods guns.