The hardest and most painful kicking gun I ever bought was a Savage Ultralight 30.06. I bought it for a mule deer hunt in Idaho that required a ton of hiking so I wanted lightweight gear. That gun sucked so bad to sight in that I put it in the safe and it has stayed there till this day. I think I’ll gift it to my son. Lol.

I have a tradition of giving my two sons firearms on significant birthdays. Both received Chipmunk .22 rimfire single shot bolt guns at six years old. At 12 years old, the oldest received a Model 70 Featherweight in 6.5 Swede. The younger received a Ruger #1 Light Sporter in .30-'06. The rifle weighs about six pounds, so I would imagine it's pretty close to that Savage.

I started him with the 100 grain Speer "plinkers" at about 2,000 fps. We worked up to shooting .30-30 level loads, a 150 grain Sierra at about 2,200 fps. He shot his first deer at 12 years old with that load.

As he grew older, we went to full power .30-'06 level loads. It really likes 200 grain Nosler Partitions over a stiff load of Reloder 22, for just under 2,700 fps. Fairly stout load for the old '06, but that #1 is about the strongest commercial action ever made. We get great case life, with over a dozen reloads at that power level, indicating pressures are very acceptable. He's been shooting those loads since he was about 15-16 years old.

While recoil might be a bit "stiff", neither one of us finds those loads in that little rifle objectionable in the least. Probably a matter of perspective and familiarity. If we only shoot these kinds of rifles and loads enough to sight them in once a year prior to hunting then, well, yes, I can see where it might be a little unnerving to do so. Shoot them year round, practice all the time, and pretty soon it takes a really stout .45-70, or .375 H&H, or .458 Win Mag to get our attention. Practice, practice, practice, and eventually it gets far less intimidating.

Exactly, this gun was only purchased for one purpose, this particular hunt and any hunts like it in the future. That Savage is a smidge over 6lbs if I remember right and the recoil, while not the hit by a truck feeling like my lever action 45-70, was a knife edge kick to the shoulder. Enough that I found myself thinking about the next shot. I don’t like that in a gun. I don’t want to think about it. My 7mag Ruger is that gun. It’s a joy to shoot.

Stupid, stupid question. What's a 450 Bushmaster? Is that a size of bullet or an actual gun?


Lee

Stay with recognized brands and mainstream calibers...where there is plenty of ammo available at a reasonable price.

Names like Colt, sw, Winchester, Remington, browning, walther, sig, ruger all have better resale potential on the back end. and that is real important. Pay a little more now get more on the back end.

The name of the cartridge. Straight wall, rimless, fits in an AR magazine and launches a 225-300 grain bullet at 2200fps (7000 grains per pound or 15.4 per gram)

Colt has never made a bolt action rifle, other than the Colt-Sauer one, and then even that was made by Howa/Husquavarna. Same with S&W.

Winchester and Reminton both lost quality a few decades ago, and Remington doesn't even exist - various parts of it were purchased last year in bankruptcy sales.

Browning - over priced for what it is. Would rather pay half the price for a Howa or Weatherby Vanguard, made in the same factory.

Walther and Sig make great pistols, not aware of any (currently importable) rifles, or especially bolt guns.

Ruger is Ruger, and I prefer not to buy Ruger stuff due to Bill Ruger's politics and policies. Even though he is long dead and gone. My three Ruger firearms were all made before 1990.

Thank you, id10t! ...


Lee