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OK, here's a slightly unusual question for you, I've always fancied an old military rifle but have a bit of a dodgy collarbone following a rather stupid mountain bike crash and am nervous of anything with too much kick! 308 hasn't been a problem so far but i don't want to push my luck (it's not properly healed 2 years on) any suggestions?

Cheers,
Rob.

Try and pick up an old Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55 - with the 139gn bullet it's a pussycat to shoot - almost like a 223.

There is also te 6.5x52 Italian Carcano, though not as common as the Swedish stuff it is still an interesting design and apparently recoil in the long rifles is completely negligible

You won't be wanting a Mosin M44 carbine then

The Viking used to wear a Sorbathane pad when shooting some of the more spiteful rifles and tells me it completely reduced the recoil to an acceptable level.

snayperskaya wrote:You won't be wanting a Mosin M44 carbine then

Or a Steyr M95/30.

The Swede or the Carcano or any of the 6.5mm rifles would do for you, but if shooting a 308 is OK then maybe a MAS or a K31.

Generally I'd avoid any carbine but if you reload then you have a lot more options as you can fine tune the load to suit yourself.

ovenpaa wrote:The Viking used to wear a Sorbathane pad when shooting some of the more spiteful rifles and tells me it completely reduced the recoil to an acceptable level.

The first time I shot my straight pull SLR (less weight due to no gas parts, unabsorbing wooden butt and metal butt plate) wearing just a T shirt, I was whimpering like a baby after the first ten or so rounds

When I got home from the range the first thing I did was order a Fast magnum recoil pad .

pockets99 wrote:OK, here's a slightly unusual question for you, I've always fancied an old military rifle but have a bit of a dodgy collarbone following a rather stupid mountain bike crash and am nervous of anything with too much kick! 308 hasn't been a problem so far but i don't want to push my luck (it's not properly healed 2 years on) any suggestions?

Cheers,
Rob.

310 Cadet!

I shot a mas 36 with a rubber recoil pad and I thought it was a gentle giant. Lovely rifle.

Thanks for the advice, I've a bit of research to do.