Thread: Good caliber to start hunting with?

Originally Posted by Danny

The .243 is a great place to start. I'm always wary of going to a 308 or 7mm when starting out.
The secret with a 223 or 243 size is the shooter learns to shoot, I had poked through 2000 rounds through my Parker-hale by the age of 16years and I could shoot hares and goats at 300m+/- but put the old mans 308 up and I'd always flinch.

I'd always thought the 308 had relatively mild recoil from all the recoil tables I looked at when deciding what my first centerfire was going to be. I had a 22lr and had shot maybe 2-3 rounds of 223 before I got my 308. It's a lot more than a 223 of course...but my wife (all of 55kg's) can shoot it. She was shit scared at first just from watching it being shot, but after shooting it was like..."oh." Same went for my sister.

Everyone's different obviously. I guess the best thing is just to try a calibre before you buy it if you're worried you might flinch or develop one.

The flinch you talk of maybe developed from hearing or seeing "dads big 308" for years from a young age? You may have just built it up mentally to be more than it is. Logically you know all you will feel is a firm tap to the shoulder.