Kevin,<br><br>The M7 Youth in 260 Rem (6.5mm - 308) we have is 1) lightweight 2) short bbl. 3) requires a fairly high loading density 4) tends to require slower powders with the heavier bullets. It is more annoying to other shooters on the line than any other long gun we own. Concussive skin sting for shooters at benches on either side and a heft slap up to 3 benches away. Worse than a hotshot magnum rifle with a muzzle brake, 'cause everyone is closer to the side lobes of the muzzle blast.<br><br>By comparison, the Garand is heavy, has a longer bbl, is loaded modestly with medium-fast powders, and is gas operated (which reduces felt recoil). All of our kids have been shooting our Garands since they were big enuff to safely crawl behind the rifles propped up on the sand bags.<br><br>The same son for whom I was hustling to get the rifle and ammo squared away shot one or the other of his brother's Scout Rifles every chance he got, with much heavier loads than what was in his rifle. I simply did not have time to build another Scout Rifle for him.<br><br>If I loaded one of my hunting loads for my bolt gun into one of the Garands... bad things would happen. They use compressed loads of slow burning powder - very very hard on a gas gun. It would, however, have a "satisfying" report <grin><br><br>Recoil has many components. I am not knowledgable enuff to generalize what one load vs another may feel like until I shoot it. Ya never know till ya bust a cap on one... The worst recoiling load (in terms of genuine tear-jerking pain) I recall so far was a 30-06 load using a 125 gr bullet (very fast and very very accurate). It hurt like the dickens in 5 / 5 rifles with 5 shooters - all adult males. Very sharp impulse - not move you around on the bench, but like an ice pick driven thru your shoulder. After the first 200 rds were gone, I never reloaded that recipe again...<br><br>Hope that helps you understand where I was coming from.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom<br><br>