RECOIL!

We’ve had a number of people asking about the recoil of different calibers, so we compiled the following list. Please bear in mind that there are several factors affecting the "felt recoil" of any rifle that you shoot. These include the weight and shape of the stock and how they fit you. Also, I have found that on some days I feel the recoil of the rifles that I shoot more than others.

All the following were worked through LOAD FROM A DISK program, other programs might give you different results. We tried to be as accurate as we possibly can. We used weights of rifles that we have on record, and we used powder charges and bullets pulled from factory ammo for our data entry.

For some of the popular calibers we have included data on more than one bullet weight. The data in the last column was included at the urging of one of our geniuses here. He thought it would make it easier to understand. It is really nothing more than multiplying the recoil velocity by the recoil force. We’ve had quite a discussion on this subject, and we also decided, by a unanimous decision, to add the following advice to help you to interpret the following table.

Any rifle that has a Recoil Factor of less than 100 can be shot by anyone that can handle a rifle.

Between 100 and 200 is moderate.

Between 200 and 300 is moderately heavy .

Between 300 and 400 is heavy.

Between 400 and 700 is very heavy.

Between 700 and 1000 is extremely heavy.

Between 1000 and 3000 very painful

Anything over 4000, if you are seriously considering hunting with this rifle, then you are living a couple of million years out of date, as the dinosaurs do not exist today! And despite everything that has been written on the subject of "charge stopping" calibers, bullet placement and bullet performance is much more important than the actual caliber. I am not suggesting that you take your favourite deer hunting rifle and go chasing cape buffaloes or elephants with, just use some common since.

CALIBER

RIFLE WEIGHT

BULLET WEIGHT

RECOIL VELOCITY

RECOIL ENERGY

RECOIL FACTOR

           

17 REM

7

25

4.1

1.8

7.4

22 HORNET

6.5

45

3.5

1.3

4.6

222 REM

7

50

4.8

2.5

12.0

223 REM

7

55

5.9

3.8

22.4

22 PPC

7.5

52

5.8

3.7

21.5

22-250 REM

7.5

55

7.0

5.4

37.8

220 SWIFT

7.5

55

7.6

6.2

47.1

6MM BR REM

8

100

6.8

5.8

39.4

6MM PPC

8

70

5.8

4.2

24.4

6MM BR NORMA

8

107

7.8

7.6

59.3

243 WIN

8

100

8.5

8.9

75.7

6MM REM

8

100

8.9

9.9

88.1

257 ROBERTS

8

117

9.1

10.3

93.7

25-06 REM

8

120

10.6

13.8

146.3

257 WBY

8.5

100

10.6

14.8

156.9

257 SCRAMJET

9

100

10.4

15.1

157.0

6.5 X 55

8.5

140

9.9

13.0

128.7

260 REM

8

140

10.0

12.5

125

264 W MAG

8.5

140

12.0

18.9

226.8

6.71 BLACKBIRD

9

140

13.2

24.3

320.7

270 WIN

8.5

130

10.7

15.2

162.6

   

150

11.2

16.6

185.9

270 WBY

8.5

130

11.9

18.8

223.7

   

150

12.7

21.4

271.8

7 X 57

8.5

154

10.1

13.5

136.4

7MM-08 REM

8

120

9.9

12.2

120.8

   

154

11.0

14.9

163.9

280 REM

8.5

140

11.2

16.6

185.9

   

165

12.0

19.0

228.0

7MM R MAG

8.5

140

12.3

19.8

243.5

   

160

12.8

21.5

275.2

   

175

13.3

23.2

308.6

7MM WBY

9

140

12.1

20.3

245.6

   

160

13.0

23.7

308.1

   

175

13.0

23.5

305.5

7MM STW

9

140

12.7

22.6

287.0

   

160

13.7

26.3

360.3

7.21 FIREHAWK

9

140

13.9

27.0

375.3

308 WIN

8.5

55

6.4

5.5

35.2

   

150

10.1

13.4

135.3

   

168

10.7

15.0

160.5

   

180

11.0

16.0

176.0

30-06

8.5

55

7.7

7.8

60.1

   

165

11.9

18.8

223.7

   

178

12.3

20.0

246.0

   

220

13.1

22.6

296.1

7.82 PATRIOT

8.5

150

13.4

23.8

318.9

300 DAKOTA

9

200

14.7

30.3

445.4

300 WIN MAGNUM

9

150

13.2

24.2

319.4

   

180

13.9

27.1

376.7

300 WBY

9

150

14.3

28.7

410.4

   

220

15.7

34.3

538.5

300 WARBIRD

9

180

15.8

34.9

551.4

300 PEGASUS

9

180

17.2

41.5

713.8

8 X 57 MAUSER

9

170

9.3

12.1

112.5

8 REM MAG

9

220

15.0

31.3

469.5

330 DAKOTA

9

250

17.2

41.4

712.1

338 LAPUA

9.5

250

16.9

41.9

708.1

338 W MAG

9.5

225

14.7

31.9

468.9

340 WBY

9.5

250

17.0

42.6

724.2

338 A-SQUARE

9.5

250

18.3

49.6

907.7

338 TITAN

9.5

225

17.5

45.4

794.5

338 EXCALIBER

9.5

250

19.4

55.7

1080.6

358 STA

9.5

275

17.2

43.6

749.9

9.3 X 62

9.5

286

14.1

29.2

411.7

9.3 X 64

9.5

286

16.1

38.3

616.6

375 DAKOTA

9.5

300

17.4

44.9

781.3

375 H & H

9.5

300

16.2

38.8

628.6

378 WBY

10

300

20.0

59.0

1180

375 A-SQUARE

10

300

19.9

58.4

1162.2

416 DAKOTA

10

400

20.0

62.1

1242.0

416 REM

10

400

19.3

57.9

1117.5

416 RIGBY

10

400

19.7

60.3

1187.9

416 WBY

10

400

22.3

77.1

1719.3

10.57 METEOR

10

400

22.6

79.1

1787.7

458 W MAG

10

500

18.6

53.6

997.0

450 DAKOTA

10

500

22.5

78.7

1770.8

450 ACKLEY

10

500

21.7

72.8

1579.8

458 LOTT

10

500

21.4

71.1

1521.5

460 A-SQUARE

10

500

23.6

86.3

2036.7

460 WBY

10

500

25.7

102.2

2626.6

470 RIGBY

10

500

21.6

72.7

1570.3

470 NIIRO

12

500

18.0

60.6

1090.8

475 # 2

12

500

18.3

62.6

1138.3

505 GIBBS

12

525

20.6

78.8

1623.3

500 NITRO

12

600

20.5

78.3

1605.2

495 A-SQUARE

13

600

20.2

82.2

1660.4

500 A-SQUARE

13

700

22.8

105.0

2394.0

577 NITRO

13.5

750

22.2

99.2

2202.2

577 TYRANO

13.5

750

28.3

168.5

4768.6

600 NITRO

14.5

900

23.7

117.8

2791.9

700 NITRO

15

1200

21.7

109.8

2382.7

700 NITRO 18.25 1000 28 235 6580
           

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Last updated April 29th, 2000