Low Recoil Rounds Sutiable for Elk

[waveslayer]

Depending on distance you plan to shoot. 6.5 Grendel is very soft shooting.

Or get a 6.5 Creedmoor use a good Muzzle Brake like a APA Vastard series, fat or little.

Get a suppressor to lessen the recoil impulse, it smooths it out rather than a sudden jolt.

Lastly I would use a tripod!!!! Then shoot whatever. Here's a pick of my old man with a .308. His right arm is almost useless after a major surgery on his elbow and forearm. He can't lift over 2 lbs. Took him out shooting and no recoil basically when a tripod is done right . I use one for hunting all the time, spotter, binos and then rifle using an Arca mount.

notice there's a leg facing forward and back for driving the rifle forward and one absorbing recoil

 

[Catahoula]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum, and I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered. My 65 year old father and I want to go on an Elk hunt, but my Dad has had a shoulder replacement 2 years ago; let me also state that I believe his shoulder is well healed and strong. With that said, we are concerned that some of the larger calibers will deliver too much felt recoil and could cause injury to his shoulder. With this in mind I've been researching alternate calibers for him, and I'm wondering if you would find a 6.5 Creedmoor or .260 Remington suitable, when combined with proper shot placement, for taking a elk cow within 300 yards?

To further reduce recoil, I am exploring building either a .260 Remington, or 6.5 Creedmoor on an AR-10 platform. My thoughts here is that the addition of a buffer assembly and spring would further reduce a low recoil round such as the .260 Remington or 6.5 Creedmoor.

Your thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
Tom

25-06 with 100 grain partitions. I have killed many elk with that load...

 

[blvette75]

Have two 6.5 Creedmoor rifles an AR10 and a Bergara HMR with the same muzzle brake on them ZRO Delta cowl induction muzzle brakes, these are both really light shooters and got these for my 13 year old daughter and I to hunt with. On a good day either will shoot through the same hole. Have also invested in an Indian Creek blast forward device on the HMR, diverts the sound forward, and pushes recoil straight back to your shoulder, I am putting this device on all of my rifles with brakes now, as this removes my major issue with muzzle brakes louder noise back to the shooter and to the shooters companions. AN fyi, the AR10 and Bergara recoil is not visibly different.

 

[longbarrelxp]

I agree with the 338 Federal and have two of them. Either the Pachmayr Decelerator or the soft Remington pad would be good.

 

[nic gibson]

short answer: the .260 will do it fine out to about 400-450 depending on some variables. Muzzle breaks are threaded now- so anyone in this situation can get one threaded for the range, and then not use it in the field. Or you could keep the brake in your pack in case you do have time to do a stalk and put it on.
However, three days ago I was in the woods and from bugle to shot opportunity was about 3 minutes, and seeing the bull to when I'd have killed it was 5 seconds. (I did not have a tag). Of the 7 opportunities I'd have had on an elk, 3 would have not allowed for me to put in ear protection, and these were some of the surest opportunities to get a good clean kill.
I would not go to the woods with a gun I needed to put in ear protection to shoot. A lot of animals are more and more glass shy, and I find more of my opportunities are from still hunting glass inaccessible places where things happen fast. With ranging, setting up, reading wind, searching for other animals that can foul it up- one more thing is not needed.
On my last deer hunt, I had three good opportunities, and all three gave me less than 5 seconds. One i got to rest my gun on something.
If you go with a brake, you need to be a spot and stalker. And in many places that means you need to be great at glassing.
Coming from the east, I thought glassing was galsssing. It is not. It's a huge skill that takes time to develop well. most are really bad at it, esp in places with any glassing pressure. plus it often involves long stalks and pack outs that older hunters can't do.

So: get a managable cartridge: 280/AI, 6.5 Cr/PRC/260/swede, 7mm08, 308/-06 and maybe a screw-on muzzlebreak so using it is optional. Most of these are plenty deadly well beyond most people's effective range.

As said above: you carry it a heck of a lot more than you shoot it.
ps- get really good mounts and scope and test them. Scopes take more beating in the mountains and need to maintain absolute zero.

 

[blvette75]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum, and I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered. My 65 year old father and I want to go on an Elk hunt, but my Dad has had a shoulder replacement 2 years ago; let me also state that I believe his shoulder is well healed and strong. With that said, we are concerned that some of the larger calibers will deliver too much felt recoil and could cause injury to his shoulder. With this in mind I've been researching alternate calibers for him, and I'm wondering if you would find a 6.5 Creedmoor or .260 Remington suitable, when combined with proper shot placement, for taking a elk cow within 300 yards?

To further reduce recoil, I am exploring building either a .260 Remington, or 6.5 Creedmoor on an AR-10 platform. My thoughts here is that the addition of a buffer assembly and spring would further reduce a low recoil round such as the .260 Remington or 6.5 Creedmoor.

Your thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
Tom

Hi Tom,

Have built an AR10 in 6.5 Creedmoor, and mine is about 16 lbs with scope, it is light on the recoil, it has a brake and other recoil mitigation items added and the adjustable gas block really helped the shoot-ability as my upper was a bit over gassed. I have taken it hunting once, when my daughter was 11 and using my HMR, and I wound up carrying them both most of the time, never again. I am now 66 and had torn a deltoid muscle in my right shoulder in the past. I shoot all of my magnums now with a brake on them, the radial brakes are not bad for sound but not great if you are shooting off of the ground. My daughter shoots my Bergara HMR with a brake on it. minimal recoil with scope that is about 11.5 lbs there are a lot of lighter options. Christensen Arms Mesa is about 6.5 lbs, Weatherby has a lot of caliber options even lighter weight, and many more light weight options. The Brakes were a game changer for me, to get back into shooting the magnums again after the deltoid muscle tear as once I could tolerate the recoil, the rest came back. I have the limbsaver recoil pads on some of my rifles and shotguns, when I first started shooting again had the wearable pad on my shoulder. I have a brockman brake that I can turn on and off on my BAR 300 win mag, over time as my shoulder has gotten better this type of brake has been helpful to test my shoulder turning the brake off and on as I thought the recoil was not that bad after had my daughter turn the brake of and on with me not knowing which way it was has helped me. But the full load 338 win mag and 375 ruger I always use a heavy brake on these. Other item is have a bad neck now so I find I need a bit of elevation at the comb on my rifles with the higher power scopes. Good luck, be safe I am sure you and your dad will have a great time, James

 

[7mm08Fan]

Tikka lite in 7mm08