Suppressor, reduced loads or smaller calibre

Hey guys,
I am hoping you could help me decide what to do. I want to shoot more c/f, I live in northland so all shootings done on farms etc and I don't like upsetting people with large booms, I also seam to be a bit sensitive to recoil. I started with a 243 shot that well then got a 7mm08 tikka for goats and targets. Lots of lying prone shooting paper gave me a flinch and I lost interest at the time shooting groups, sold it and bought a marlin 3030 with the intention of a fun reliable hunting gun which it is, but I still notice I flinch unless I'm really concentrating on not doing it, so I want to shoot more and move past this. I've only got limited funds so can't do every thing, what do you guys think would be the best route to go. I've always wanted to get into reloading so have thought about getting the gear and trying reduced loads, would also reduce cost per shot. Have thought about getting a 223 to practice with. Or putting a can on it should hush it down and reduce perceived recoil. I do like the idea of practicing with the same rifle i intend to hunt with. also could use 223 for varminting. Im also not sure about spending to much on the 3030 because i always had ideas of upgrading to a bolt gun again, just never have because its so nice to carry and shoulders nicely. I have a 17hmr i use for my varminting but would actually like to use either the suppressed or down loaded 3030 or 223 so all my shooting will be a bit up from the 17. I have no flinch at all when shooting my rim fires and don't notice any when shot gunning, just with the 3030. 45% of my shooting is targets 45% varminting 10% walking around looking for deer should make that 0% really because haven't got a shot off while deer stalking yet :). So what do you guys think ? Sorry for the novel.
Cheers.
Rusl

Get a 223' it will do you good in northland. When u go for a deer take the 3030 great caliber in the bush out to hundred or so meters. 223 recoil is zip, and 3030 is mild. I have had both, and I used to live in northland so I kinda understand your problem.

Wait for a suppressed 6.5 to come up on trademe, I think gunwokrs do new howas with suppressors.

That way you get a cartridge that doesnt boot much, its suppressed which helps with the noise side things and again lowers the recoil a bit more and its good for deer hunting, oh and good for shooting paper (lack of recoil and its normally a rather accuate cartridge so I read) so its a win/win/win

Also more guns the better :D

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Originally Posted by Toby

Wait for a suppressed 6.5 to come up on trademe, I think gunwokrs do new howas with suppressors.

That way you get a cartridge that doesnt boot much, its suppressed which helps with the noise side things and again lowers the recoil a bit more and its good for deer hunting, oh and good for shooting paper (lack of recoil and its normally a rather accuate cartridge so I read) so its a win/win/win

Also more guns the better :D

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+1

Not so sure on the 6.5 bit though :P

I'd go suppressed, in whatever calibre you want from whatever rifle fits you and yells 'buy me' to you. Both the reduction in noise and recoil from the suppressor will help with the flinch.

I flinched too. Had a 3030 with hand load that fixed that. Was sad to sell it.

I suppressed my 308 and it made a massive improvement.

Part of flinch is in your head. It'd be worth working on, aside from calibre and rifle choice.

I found shouting lots of bunnies w 22 helped me focus properly

Shooting. Ok? I'm still sleepy

Yep what ever cal you go for get it suppressed and that should reduce recoil by about 40%.
I would be looking at going back to .243 if you didn't flinch on that. Its such a great round from long range hare shooting through to reds, it can do it all. I found as long as I was shooting live targets the adrenaline would take over and I would not notice the flinch

Put a limbsaver recoil pad on your rifle. If that still does not help your flinch, get a suppressor.

Also get someone to make up a couple of dummy rounds for you, and get a friend to load them randomly into the mag when you are practising at the range.

What @ebf said. It works!!!

I was amazed how much I'd move 'anticipating' the bang. Was a good lesson

Or the cheap arse way like me. I shot my 22lr with subs with Trevor seemingly at random sending 338 Lapua down the next lane at the range. Man those things with a muzzle brake are unfriendly to shoot next to. Made me really concentrate hard on what I was doing.

Do you wear earpro?

If you are prone to flinching, you might find that you flinch with any and every rifle. I had a stage where I picked up a flinch randomly and would even begin to flinch with a slug gun!

If you don't wear hearing protection you should, I think not wearing it is what caused my flinch and it definitely helps!
Get a 22 and get shooting prone, make sure that you can pull the trigger and not blink or shy away or anything, teach yourself it wont hurt you, and if you start to flinch just work through it. If you then move onto a 223 or a 243 you should be able to do the same thing.

I find that even if I have a hard kicking rifle and a sore shoulder, I will be apprehensive about pulling the trigger, but can get myself to concentrate more on shooting small groups that the kick that is about to happen. It's a mental thing to train yourself to know that you are about to get bitten, but are more interested in shooting a small group or get the perfect shot on a deer/goat/rabbit that the pain that will come from it.

Find someone with a large safari rifle (.375, .416 etc,) unfortunately I have just sold mine, fire 20 rounds prone with that.

Then go back to the 7mm08/30-30 and it will feel like a .22 :thumbsup:

After doing load development with my 375 (25 rds) my 7mm Rem Mag felt like a toy!

Thanks for the replies guys,
I'm thinking a couple of you have touched on something I missed in my frustration on sunday. I had thought I'd beaten the flinch with lots of practice but sunday when I decided to go for a quick walk and confirm my zero, I grabbed my rifle, threw a handful of rounds in pocket, grabbed a hunk of 4x2 to shoot at, walked down the back and set up. Forgetting ear pro, it honestly never even twigged in my mind. Shot first two rounds great, third I didn't even see hit, but went for a walk and found a hole in the hill 4 inch to the right. Realized I'd flinched went back and did another couple of shots alright but fighting the flinch, it wasn't comfortable shooting. It still nevery occurred to me that I had no muff's on. I'll go down one night this week and try again but I think that's the problem as I hadn't noticed it for a couple of years and the first couple of shoots were sweet, then I guess it got to me. Probably did a bit of damage to my shooting technique with this simple stupid mistake.
Thanks for your help guys hopefully I can get it sorted because I wasn't wanting to shell out for any thing new yet trying to save up for a semi custom bolt action.

Future tile will defiantly be a light recoil in rifle with a suppressor tho ☺ I just don't know how you guys shoot those big magnums, suppose being less than 60kg doesn't help.

Always always always wear earpro when shooting a centrefire rifle

Rifle

Yea I know, but I must need practice remembering, darn another reason to shoot more. Cheers guys.

In my younger days, I use to shoot a lot of bunnies, driving all over farms looking for them. Good ear plugs are more comfortable than ear muffs and yet still let you hear reasonably well while still providing protection.
I have hunted in the bush with electronic plugs and ear muffs. They amplify the sound (until you shoot) so its a bit weird. I sounded like I was making a hell of a noise walking along with them on but was actually not making stuff all noise.
Flinch wise, a noisy firearm is the biggest cause of it.
With my compensated 38 super race gun, I wear both plugs and grade 5 ear muffs. She is a noisy bitch.

The importance of earpro should be heavily emphasised in the licensing process

Hearing protection is the biggest factor I've found.

Pick your favourite .223 or .243, fit limbsaver recoil pad, fit suppressor & enjoy a very mild shooting stick that shouldn't leave you flinching. It's amazing how a quiet, mild shooting rifle quickly builds your shooting confidence as suddenly your not concerned about recoil or noise & can concentrate on the job at hand - placing the shot exactly where you want it to go :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by rusl

Future tile will defiantly be a light recoil in rifle with a suppressor tho ☺ I just don't know how you guys shoot those big magnums, suppose being less than 60kg doesn't help.

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today everyone wants a light weight rifle. and the companies make them that way. (people are getting soft, buggered if I know how they even carry an animal out)
so now everyone seems to need a suppressor because there light rifle has a fair bit of recoil. a heavy rifle tames recoil, that's why there are weight limits in target shooting.
its all relative to calibre size. a light .22 rim fire wont matter if its a light rifle. but try shooting a .50 cal in the same weight rifle (if you could get a .50 to weigh the same as a .22)

get a ackley hornet in .17 no recoil bugger all noise and cheap to reload

as others have stated above, what ever it is get it suppressed. U only get one set of ears. Look after them. You'll find 243, 6.5 Swede or 2506 all pussies with a suppressor fitted - evne with real light weight rifles. For your flinch I suggest you practice lots of dry firing, just get used to the trigger pull and click, without the bang. US snipers have to train something like 10,000 dry fires before they let them loose on live rounds. They do that for good reason. :)