Too big

[Ridge_Runner]

cut the stock off to fit , and 1" shorter, then have a smith install a pachmeyer decellerator pad. if ya wanna spring for a brake also he could easily handle a 338 win mag. a brake and pad will tame a 338 wm recoil down to less than a 243 win.
RR

 

[jtoews80]

Lots of good advice on this board, as always. I like the 270, it's a fun gun to hunt deer with and will deliver a lethal blow to 300 yds very easily.

The 308 is also a fine round. It's often sneered at as being less than adequate as opposed to the 06 and 300's. However, a 180 grain Accubon @ 2650 will defintely bring down moose.
If you're zero'd for 300yds you'll be hitting 5" high @ 100yds and 5.5" high @ 200yds. Over course, you're only 13" low @ 400yds and out of range with 34" below zero @ 500yds.
The shooter will have to be used to a little bit more of an arced trajectory with loads like this.
I'd say 308.

I had a friend ask me to help him sight in a 300 win last month. The guy hasn't been shooting long and claimed that recoil doesn't bother him. Seemed to be true, he shot my 375 and it didn't bother him.
When he sat down at the bench and started shooting his 300, he could barely hit the paper, everything way to the right.
So, I had him shoot off a couple with the 22-250. The first shot was also way right and then two almost on top of each other right above the bullseye.
Back to the 300, first shot was a 1/4" right of the bullseye and the next was 4 inches right.....
Finally, he stuffed an old towel between his shoulder and the rifle and started printing MOA groups and got the rifle sighted in properly.

Recoil isn't something that you can just put on a game face and accept. It take practise and good technique to get used to heavy recoil since flinching from it is a subconsious defince mechinism to protect oneself. As was mentioned with starting a shooter on a 30 carbine.


JT.

 

[roysclockgun]

I always get flak by saying this, but it is a big mistake to give a little person a "little cartridge", so that they can "handle the recoil"!
The little person needs to be able to handle the recoil of at least the smallest cartridge that is proven to be able to get the job done, even if the impact of the bullet is off just a hair.
Time and again, I have helped people track deer, because they were using .243Win. and did not make a killing hit on the deer. I have seen that when they move up from a 100 grain, .243Win. bullet, to a 130gr. .270Win. they instantly begin to get quick killing shots. This, of course, after some range time with the .270Win.
My wife is 5'2" tall and weighs 120 lbs. Since I starter her rifle shooting, she wants to go deer hunting. She has been printing very good groups at 200 yards, using my .270Win. and my 6.5x55mm military conversion rifle. Either of these cartridges will cleanly kill deer and are forgiving, when the shot placement is not perfect.
The .308Win. is also a fine cartridge and probably a little more versative that are the other two.
If someone asked me in what chamber to buy a rifle to use on all game in N. America, I would recommend two: The 30-06 or the 7mmRemMag. I personally like the 7mmRemMag, because of the ability to load cartridges that shoot flatter than does the 30-06, up to 175 grain bullets. Given the modern bonded bullets, the 175gr bullets will do a better job on heavy game, than did the older designed 220gr. bullets.
Others that just miss being my favorites are: 280Rem., 7x57mmMauser, 7mm-08 and the .243Win. taking into account the previously mentioned drawbacks. In the 1960s, I killed a lot of deer using the .243Win. but bullet placement was always very important and moreso then with the heavier bullets.
Heck, we can regress back to the Eskimo woman who killed a Polar Bear with a .22 Short, but I would not recommend that round for Polar Bear. My elk guide in western Montana killed all his elk with a rifle chambered in 22-250, but I don't recommend that cartrige for elk.
"Use enough gun!"

 

[DrMike]

Recoil isn't something that you can just put on a game face and accept. It take practise and good technique to get used to heavy recoil since flinching from it is a subconsious defince mechinism to protect oneself.

+1, Jason

"Use enough gun!"

+1

Anyone can be trained to handle recoil, beginning with a mild load and working up to full loads. Stock fit and proper hearing protection are probably two of the more important aspects of handling recoil and avoiding a flinch.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Time and again, I have helped people track deer, because they were using .243Win. and did not make a killing hit on the deer. I have seen that when they move up from a 100 grain, .243Win. bullet, to a 130gr. .270Win. they instantly begin to get quick killing shots.

+1
+10 as this applies to elk.

 

[DrMike]

You are absolutely correct, AS. And when tracking a wounded bear through thick bush, I have often groused that the shooter didn't use enough gun. Here, the consolation on deer is that the season is usually during a time when snow covers the ground and it is somewhat easier to track the game. However, elk, moose and black bear all open before the first snows, and tracking wounded animals is no fun. It is all the worse when you know that the individual was using a gun that is marginal for the game.