mlang

I asked if anyone knew anything about the Remington Managed-Recoil shellsa while ago and got no responses. I got some this year so my wife could use my 30-06. I took it out and used it some when she wasn't using it. I got 2 deer with it so I thought I would write my own review of them in case anyone has a wife or kid that would benifit from using them.
They are supposed to have 1/2 the recoil of standard loads, I would say it felt like even less than that.
While I wouldn't use them for wide open range or long mountain shots, but they seem pretty flat shooting for 150-200 yard shots.
I usually use 150gr.Power Shok Ammo in my gun and on a deer they leave a hole I can fit my hand into, these are much tamer and ruin much less meat but a bad shot won't be compensated for nearly as much.Theydo a good job of energy transfer, deer # 1 was knocked off his feet. Deer # 2 was shot at a severe quartering away shot (I aimed for & hit his hip) and it spun him around broadside, I wasn't sure of the shot sosecond shot knocked him over.Little did I know he was already standing there with a liquified chest cavity. I found all 3 of the bullets in the hide on the opposite side. ( Shot #1 on deer #2 was found in his neck up by his head so it went quite a ways.) All 3 of them had awsome weight retention and the mushrooms were larger than the pic. on the box.The only things I didn't like about them was it takes the factor of safety that the -06 gives you on marginal shots away and entrance wounds were very small with very little if any blood (In their defense the hart was not pumping any blood after the shots) but there was no exit wound so tracking an injured animal would be dificult. So, overall I think they came up with a round that does reduce the kick alot and still effectivly kills deer sized game. I still think I'll go back to standard loads next year if the wife isn't going to use the gun though.

BigTiny

I started using it this year after my doc told me to lay off the magnum loads. I shoot it out of my 760 Remington, which is very light, so you get the full effect of the recoil from the round. With my old loads the rifle shot right at MOA and it shoots a little outside that with the managed recoil ammo. I like it OK, but between seasons I'll get a 7mm-08. I just don't like the idea of shooting that round out of my 06. I'll pass the '06 down to my kids, if it's still legal to own one by then.

mybigredford

what makes it have less recoil, do they put less powder in the cartridge??

Duramax05

Less powder and a 125grbullet.

nwMOgsp

Thanks for the review. I have been thinking of using them in my 30-06 when the time comes for my son to hunt, sounds like they will do the job nicely. Now I just have to find a youth stock so the gun will fit him better.

Jason

xd9x19

mlang, I'm sorry I missed your earlier question. Back in 2004 when I bought my deer rifle, I bought a .30-06 because I could use it to hunt anything I might ever be able to hunt in the U.S. and because Remington had brought out the Managed Recoil ammo in that caliber, so I could use it when hunting with my son and daughter.

I don't try to recover bullets, but we've killed one deer with it. Since we hunt in some woods where shots are no longer than 50 yards, I will continue to use the stuff when I hunt by myself. I don't see any benefit to using full-power ammo and beat myself up.

Federal makes a low recoil ammo, which has recently been moved over to their Fusion line of ammo. It's called Fusion Lite and uses a 170 gr bullet, whereas Remington uses a 125 gr. Until yesterday, I hadn't been able to find it, but Bass Pro in Memphis had it in stock. I would have bought a box to try out, but I've got two boxes of Managed Recoil and will wait to burn through that unless I just get the "range bug" and have to go to the gun club and experiment.

I even tried the stuff in my 1903 Springfield (1931 receiver with a pristine 1944 High Standard barrel) and I was pleasantly surprised to be able to get 3 shots inside a 6 inch circle (probably a 3" group) using the flip-up leaf sight at 100 yards. Since the '03 is designed to use 150gr ammo, I didn't really expect it to handle the stuff every well. Sure makes my '03 shoot more pleasantly! The stock on my '03 is a bit short for me, which I'm sure increases the felt recoil, even with a slip-on recoil pad.

ipscshooter

Just curious, I'm assuming you already had your '06 sighted in for standard loads. How much scope adjustment was needed for the reduced recoil loads? If the performance is good, I wouldn't mind using them.

Also... Why would the entrance wounds be any smaller? Regardless of how much the bullet weighs, it's still a .308 diameter.

xd9x19

ipscshooter, if you're asking me, I didn't have the success that the marketing boys tout about switching back to full loads and having "virtually the same point of impact". I really don't have a need to use full-power loads, so I haven't taken the time at the range to shoot the managed recoil along with regular ammo and test out that bit of "propaganda". When I first dialed in my scope using the managed recoil, I had some 150gr corelokt ammo that I shot alongside, but the full power stuff hit - if I recall correctly - a couple of inches high and too the right of the managed recoil stuff. Not close enough for them to be interchangeable.

If you can find other reviews, you'll find that's normal. The recoil is definitely 1/2 or close to it, but I don't think I've found a review that's had success at having the managed recoil and regular loads shoot close to the same point of impact. Since all rifles are different, one might eventually run across some ammo that might "match" well with the managed recoil, but I don't care to spend the money and time to experiment. I'll just shoot the managed recoil ammo and go on.