James B

I love mine. I have not had it very long but its the 4th one I have owned over the years. I put my 2.8x10 Aetec scope on it for now but soon it will have a new Shepard on it. When I took it to the range the other day, my shoulder was already black and blue from sighting in the 35 Whelen but it still didn't have any noticable bite to it.

haugenna

Hey not a bad way of convincing the Mrs. for a new gun. I like where your going with this Higg. Hope you get the problem fixed.

HEAD0001

Here is a suggestion(not a critique): Buy a TC Encore with a thumbhole stock. Look up EABCO on the net. Order a 6.5 X 284 barrel for your Encore. Get the heavier and longer barrel.

The extra weight will help with recoil. I believe the "Thumbhole Style" stock absorbs some of the recoil. And the caliber has good downrange effectiveness, with less recoil.

I would also suggest a muzzle brake. I know I am gonna catch it for recomending the brake, but I would still recomend it. I believe you will use this rifle as a replacement for your varmint rifle as well.

You should also order a 22 LR barrel for yourEncore rifle as well. Buy a dozen bricks of ammo, and shoot, shoot, shoot. Concentrate on every shot, as if your life depended on it.

I am really gonna catch it for this one. Tom.

Crawfish7mm

I love my 25-06 and I don't notice the recoil at all. I have taken 60+ deer in Georgia withthe 25-06 caliber. My favorite Caliber for Varmits and deer sized game.

EKM

James,
You appear to need a lead sled in the worst way.

JagMagMan

Higg,
I have never believed that you can be "over gunned" but my next deer gun is going to be a .243. I hunted for several years with a 6MM Rem. I got rid of it, and regret it! After hunting with my .308 and 7MM RM, I have not seen any real advantage of these calibers for most deer hunting situations!
When I say "the .243/6MM makes a GREAT MINIMUM deer cartridge", I mean EXACTLY that! A GREAT minimum! Not just a "barely scrape by", but a fully capable cartridge for most any deer hunting needs!

James B

EKM. You are probably right. I have a Past recoil shield that really helps and the Shooters Friend recoil pad really helps. Between the two, a short session with something like the 35 Whelen is possible. I have never really looked at the lead sled though I have heard them discussed here.

Will_C

While choosing a new rifle might well help you, I would forget the Ruger compact, Remington Model 7 or any other light weight short barrelled rifle. The light weight will increase recoil, and the short barrel will increase muzzle blast (which leads me to flinch more than recoil.) Good luck.
Will

Hunter App

There is nothing wrong with a 243 or 6mm Remington as a deer-hunting rifle. Yet one can't over emphasize that the flinching is really the problem and one should be able to clear up this problem just as easy weather shooting the 270 or a 243. I have shot the 6mm for over 20 years and just decided to give the 270 a try this year.

The 270 was quit a wake up for me, and the recoil had me concerned. Once I put a Sims slip-on recoil pad the recoil was totally manageable. A couple of items mentioned earlier which bear repeating are hearing protection & hearing protection.

I also liked the idea of having a friend load your rifle for you while target shooting, leaving you with a dry chamber once in a while. I don’t know if the dry chamber thing would help. Still the thought of flinching on a dry chamber seems to humor me.

bwills1829

I have a 7-08 in a model 7. I bought the youth model and put a H-S Precision stock on it. There is hardly any recoil and it shoots great. I just killed a deer yesterday with it. I like it alot. It may just be the perfect whitetail rifle. At least for my neck of the woods.