John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
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over 4000, if you are seriously considering hunting with this rifle, then you are living a couple of million years out of date, as the dinosaurs do not exist today!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 |
