First time out/sighting in new rifle

[tospol]

I got a decent deal on a Savage 110 7mm rem mag with a Simmons 3-9x32 scope a couple weeks ago. Finally had a chance to get out and sight it in. Which was also my first time shooting it. I was not shooting great by my standards (2-3 in groups at 100yds), but well enough to get it sighted in. It's the first 7mm mag I've shot. I've read plenty about them but when I pulled the trigger for the first time, for some reason I wasn't ready for the recoil. Too used to the 5.56 from the military I guess. I shot the XM109 (barrett .50 sniper) quite a lot as well. But that was much more of a push than a kick.
I'm pleased enough with it though. It will serve it's purpose. Probably only use it this year before going to Archery hunting next year.

[WRTN]

Yep. The 7mm Rem Mag has quite a recoil kick to it, especially from a light sporting type rifle. I have a Voere Model 2155 that is VERY accurate but is like taking a shot from Mike Tyson with respect to recoil. Not much you can do about the harsh recoil except add more weight to the gun via a bigger scope, bipod, etc. or a muzzle break. If that tripple muzzle break was not on that XM109, you think you were kicked by a mule.

Personally I got tired of the harsh recoil and stepped down to a Savage Model 12 Low Profile Varminter 22-250. I have an M-24 Quick Cuff sling, a 6.5-25x52mm scope, Leupold Super High 1 piece mounts, and a Harris 9-13 bipod on it. The rifle tips the scales at 17 lbs. So recoil is a very comfortable shove.

With the Winchester Super X 64 grain Power Points, the 22-250 will reliably take deer and I will move to Hornady 80 grain Amax bullets when I get enough brass to reload. This particular rifle has a 1 in 9 inch twist barrel so it will shoot up to an 80 grain bullet and stabilize it. 80 grain is pushing the envelope but will remain stabile within 100 yards. The 64 grain PP's make real nice 400 yard shots with a fairly decent flat trajectory.

When sighting in my 7mm mag, I used a rifle shooting rest similar to this:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/caldwell-lead-sled-shooting-rest.aspx?a=140226

with this bag filled with about 20 lbs. of rice as a count weight.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/guide-gear-shooting-bag.aspx?a=506862

This way, I can relax and concentrate on the shot and sight picture. The gun rest and weight bag absorb about 70% of the recoil.

You might try stepping down to the 139 grain 7mm rounds if you have not already. They kick significantly less than the heavier rounds, especially the 175 grain rounds.

Anyhow, congrats on the new rifle and enjoy!

[kawalekm]

Congratulations Tospol!
A Savage 110 in 7mm was my very first big game rifle back in the 1980. I'm left-handed and back then Savage was one of the very few companies that made left-handed rifles.

I'm not a big fan of recoil either. If you handload though, you can make light loads with light bullets that don't recoil anything like maximum loads. I liked 54 grains of IMR 4320 with Speer's 130 grain softpoint. That's about a 7mm Mauser level of performanace. I shot a 3/4 inch group at 100 yards with that load and took a desert mule deer with it. Got complete penetration and lost the bullet. That deer took two steps and fell over dead. Perfect except for a picture of the bullet!

Don't worry too much about the recoil though. You feel it's hard when sighting in or target shooting, but when that deer's in your sights, you'll never notice.
Michael

[hunter63]

Don't worry too much about the recoil though. You feel it's hard when sighting in or target shooting, but when that deer's in your sights, you'll never notice.
Michael

That's right, I don't even hear it, just watch the animal fall down.

I padded a shooting vest just for the range as 50 rds or so through my 7mm mag or 300 wsm, starts hurting after a while.
If the rifle is new you can expect the the grouping to improve, as you will "shoot the barrel in", and get used to shooting it.
Also different ammo will shoot different, so try several different kinds.

I reload for the 7mag and 300wsm, but so far have been kinda keeping with the same bullet weights as factory.

[tospol]

WRTN: Not to mention, the xm109 is not a bolt action and has a big buffer spring.

kawalekm: New rifle to me. And I hadn't eaten much in a while before hand. I tend to do most things that require aiming better with some food in me recently. Shooting, darts, pool, basketball, etc. But my groupings were getting better as I shot. I caught myself anticipating the recoil on a couple of the middle shots. I think I'll be looking into adjusting the trigger. A bit switch like rather than trigger like.

hunter63: I'll probably do something similar to your vest if I do keep for more than this year. I don't reload, but I am keeping the brass should I decide to eventually.

When it comes time of necessity, concentration on the concern at hand usually trumps most things. The reason why I don't have any concerns with hunting with it. I was surprised, though, that it kicks harder than my 12 ga (also a bolt action) with a 1oz slug.