[Captangreg]

Hi all I just recently had my shoulder replaced and I'm looking for a good rifle to hunt deer in Hawaii their access dear so they're smaller than the ones that are in the mainland does anyone have any ideas of a gun that I can use that's has pretty much no recoil if you do thank you Greg

 

[neophyte]

Captangreg: Sir; stop by Introduction

share a few words about yourself;

Thanks,
Craig

 

[Oakleaf]

Dad has a Ruger .22 that if it has recoil, I haven't noticed when I've shot it. It can take care of coyotes in one bang so it may work on the smaller deer. I can shoot it with no soreness afterwards. I get a little sore from my Rossi .410 shotgun even if I am very careful to press the butt against my shoulder. I don't have shoulder problems but am a smaller woman, so I couldn't shoot some guns with heavy recoil. Hope this helps some.

 

[blaster]

Hawaii has some crappy gun laws so that my limit your choices but here in Fla. we also have smaller deer and big hogs. many are killed with the low recoiling .223 and 300 Black Out. there is lots of different style rifles in those calibers.

 

[cjleete]

CZ makes a dandy bolt action chambered in 7.62x39 .
Or a lever action in .357 mag. My Marlin is mild recoiling even with hotter .357 mag loads

 

[jedwil]

.223 or .243 are fairly low on the recoil. Might also add a limb saver recoil pad.

 

[runfiverun]

semi auto's generally have the least amount of recoil.
something like a win or browning semi in 243 [or an older remington] would be the best balance between punch for the deer, range, and recoil.
the 6.5 grendel or 6 mm version would work too but then your looking at an AR style rifle [which is about verboten there]
also moving the rifle in more on your chest rather than out to the joint area will help, this usually means shortening the stock about an inch.

 

[Dutch]

You can mitigate recoil in a few ways. A suppressor is one of the best options to do so. Combine that with a good modern buttpad and you may be surprised how little felt recoil is left. As mentioned, a semi-auto takes a percentage of the recoil as well but you'll get some gas blow-back when combined with a suppressor; gas in the face takes a little while to get used to and isn't much fun.

A .25-06 has about 70% of the felt recoil a .30-06, as do most of the sub .30 cartridges. Good luck!

I hunt with a 9" suppressor on an 18" .308 barrel attached to a Ruger American Predator. The extra length has never caused me much concern. For what it's worth...

 

[jwrauch]

When I was recovering from 2 brain surgeries a while ago I was very recoil sensitive. I built up an Ar-15 for hunting. I handload and loaded up some 62 grain Barnes TSX solid copper hollow points. Took a real nice doe with that combo.

 

[blaster]

some of my .223 kills.

 

[Mindy up North]

Isn't there a minimum energy requirement to consider? If I recall it's ~1200-1300 ft lbs? Anyway, good advice so far, just make sure whatever lighter selection you choose meets the requirements. As Blaster says, Hawaii has some crappy gun laws, I'd hate to see you get sideways with the bureaucrats.

 

[BigEd63]

Yes I looked unless a person hunts with dogs it's 1,200foot pounds. If dogs are used even a .22magnum is allowed.🙄 No clue except I can see one possibly getting away.

My advice get a medium weight rifle with a quality recoil pad and a quality muzzle brake. In .223/5.56 the cartridge easily meets the minimum requirements. That fits you with regards to cheek weld and length of pull.
The good thing these days are threaded barrels being common place. *
My personal choice would be a Smith Enterprises Good Iron Muzzle Brake. I've not used one on .223 but I have one on my .300Win Mag and it does work great. I also had a variant on a Garand a couple of decades ago.
Recoil pad brands I don't keep up with but Kick EEZ has a good reputation.
*- While not surprising Hawaii doesn't allow silencer ownership. So a threaded barrel rifle may not be common in gun stores inventory in the islands. But I hope I'm completely wrong on that.

 

[robert e morgan]

Im 86 and right shoulder is full reversed replacement. have almost full range of motion and strength except for pushing . no push ups possible.i shoot a 243 cal rifle and i notice some recoil off the bench but i never feel it when shooting at game. you should not be concerned about recoil damaging your shoulder.

 

[Cyrano]

I've noticed my SKS (a Yugo Model 59/66) with its hard rubber buttpad has hardly any felt recoil, certainly no more than an M-1 Carbine. If you were to add a shooting jacket with a padded shoulder, I think a rifle, either an SKS or a bolt action in 7.62x39 would have enough power to take a deer without hurting your shoulder. It's not as if Hawaii has long sight distances compared to places like the Midwest. If you can get to within 100 yards of the deer, I am sure a 7.62x39 hollowpoint or softpoint will do the job for you.

 

[reverendg]

I've noticed my SKS (a Yugo Model 59/66) with its hard rubber buttpad has hardly any felt recoil, certainly no more than an M-1 Carbine. If you were to add a shooting jacket with a padded shoulder, I think a rifle, either an SKS or a bolt action in 7.62x39 would have enough power to take a deer without hurting your shoulder. It's not as if Hawaii has long sight distances compared to places like the Midwest. If you can get to within 100 yards of the deer, I am sure a 7.62x39 hollowpoint or softpoint will do the job for you.

Quite a few deer taken in Michigan with the SKS, even the AK47 has been used. Yep, they make a 5 round mag for them. Years back I picked up a used WASR AK47 with the 5 rd. mag and 3 tally marks scratched into the buttstock, small marks, for 3 deer taken with it.

 

[Cyrano]

Quite a few deer taken in Michigan with the SKS, even the AK47 has been used. Yep, they make a 5 round mag for them. Years back I picked up a used WASR AK47 with the 5 rd. mag and 3 tally marks scratched into the buttstock, small marks, for 3 deer taken with it.

Not owning an AK, reverendg, how potent is the felt recoil of that WASR? How does it compare to an M-1 Carbine, or a .243, one of the Marlin Camp Carbines (I still kick myself for passing up one in 9mm because it had a melted O-ring - probably from overenthusiastic application of Hoppe's No. 9 - and I was told you can't find the replacement part for it, when all it would have taken is a call to Numrich and about five bucks), or a Hi-Point Model 995 or 4595 carbine, or a bolt action in .270 Win?

 

[reverendg]

Not owning an AK, reverendg, how potent is the felt recoil of that WASR? How does it compare to an M-1 Carbine, or a .243, one of the Marlin Camp Carbines (I still kick myself for passing up one in 9mm because it had a melted O-ring - probably from overenthusiastic application of Hoppe's No. 9 - and I was told you can't find the replacement part for it, when all it would have taken is a call to Numrich and about five bucks), or a Hi-Point Model 995 or 4595 carbine, or a bolt action in .270 Win?

You know, I have an M1 carbine, a camp 9, and a hipoint 995. The ak is a little harsher than any of those. Still, nothing scary. I would choose an SKS over an AK, a little more weight to it and most of them are 20” barrels. I have an SKS with a 16” barrel and it still would be preferable to the AK, just more solid I guess.
On those camp 9’s the only piece I was worried about was the plastic mag well/trigger group housing. Some solvents can dissolve them. So numrich had them for 20$, I have a spare.