lower recoil rounds help, please . . .

[llamatrnr]

Hi, to all,

I'd really appreciate any advice as to what factory cartridges would produce the least felt recoil in the following: (I'm an older beginner and don't want take any more beating than necessary for practice/target shooting)

.38 spl 2" snub revolver

.357 mag, same gun

.45 acp Glock 30sf

.308 Win Remington 760 slide rifle w/Burris 3-9 x 40 BPL scope

Twelve ga Mossberg 500

I don't want to get off on the wrong foot, so any suggestions/comments will be very welcomed and appreciated

Thanks much,

Happy Trails

[swifty]

For the .38spl and .357mag, use 148gr Wadcutters. The ammo is safe in both revolvers.

The .45ACP, use economy ammo with the lightest bullet weight. But the Glock may not cycle with this ammo.

No advice for your .308Win.

Use 2 1/2 Dram, 1oz loads for the Mossberg.

[llamatrnr]

lower recoil rounds help, please . . .

Hi, to all,

I'd really appreciate any advice as to what factory cartridges would produce the least felt recoil in the following: (I'm an older beginner and don't want take any more beating than necessary for practice/target shooting)

.38 spl 2" snub revolver

.357 mag, same gun

.45 acp Glock 30sf

.308 Win Remington 760 slide rifle w/Burris 3-9 x 40 BPL scope

Twelve ga Mossberg 500

I don't want to get off on the wrong foot, so any suggestions/comments will be very welcomed appreciated

Thanks much,

Happy Trails

[Cowboy T]

For the .38spl and .357mag, use 148gr Wadcutters. The ammo is safe in both revolvers.

The .45ACP, use economy ammo with the lightest bullet weight. But the Glock may not cycle with this ammo.

+1 to the above advice. 148gr Wadcutters also will work pretty well as self-defense rounds at close (i. e. room) distances. And in all cases, keep your brass. More on this later.

No advice for your .308Win.

I would suggest learning how to handload. There really isn't any "downloaded" factory ammo for .308 Win. Remember that there are a lot of semi-auto .308 Winchesters out there that any factory ammo needs to be able to cycle. Handloaders can tune for lower recoil while still cycling the action.

Richard Lee's Modern Reloading has some great info on reduced loads for .308 Winchester and quite a few other popular rifle rounds. It's worth reading.

Use 2 1/2 Dram, 1oz loads for the Mossberg.

I would also add to invest in a recoil pad. Even with light loads, 12-gauges hurt my shoulder after about 15 rounds unless I've got some good padding. Another option is to use those "mini-shells" in 12-gauge. They're about half the length of a regular 12-gauge shell and have much less recoil.

In all cases, the OP should keep his expended shells (yup, shotgun ones, too). This is so that he can handload those shells later. With AB 962 about to take effect, ammo availability and cost will become a very big issue. I handload lots of .38 Special cases. This is what allows me to shoot a lot, and regularly. We can "down-load" our rounds to whatever level of power (and thus recoil) that we desire. This is particularly relevant for the OP's .308 Winchester and 12-gauge.

[SexualChocolate]

5.3 grains of Win 231 behind a 200 grain flat point plated bullet is a super low recoil combo. At least out of my 4" XD 45 it is.

[Sabot]

"There really isn't any "downloaded" factory ammo for .308 Win."

Not true

Remington manufactures ammo that they call "managed recoil" for recoil sensitive and beginning shooters.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&N=0&Ntk=AllProducts&Ntt=managed+recoil

The only problem is they are sold out at most web-sites.

[XDRoX]

For 38spl:
158gr lead bullet with 2.9gr of Trail Boss. It'll feel like a 22.
This is my favorite 38spl load.

For 308:
Between 10.0gr to 14.0gr of Trail Boss with a 150gr bullet. It too will feel like a 22.

*edit*
Just saw that you want factory loads, sorry can't help you there.
Learn to reload, it's worth it.

[Jonathan Doe]

For factory ammo in 38 SPL, try Speer Gold Dot 135 grain ammo.. They are designed for revolvers with 2" barrels in mind.

[Cowboy T]

@Sabot: Didn't know about those. Thanks for the heads-up on that. Too bad they don't have any 7.62x54R, 'cause that gun/ammo's got a kick!

@XDRoX: +100 to your statement. Reloading is definitely worth it.

[Milsurp Collector]

I would also add to invest in a recoil pad.

+1. I use a Past recoil pad and it makes a huge difference http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/Brow...*&brandId=1125

For handguns use shooting gloves http://www.gripswell.com/

[llamatrnr]

Thank you, every nice one of you. The info is very helpful. This was my first post & I was very pleasantly surprised by the willingness of all of you to offer help to a newbie/codger . . .

Thanks, and

Happy Trails