6.5 Grendel or .243? Cancer survivor shoulder wrecked from turning wrenches and motocross. Prefer a Bolt gun or single shot AR is possible just yalls Expert thoughts. He's 51 can shoot just looking for a typical deer rifle for out to 400 yards. Budget?. We're in the Mossberg/Ruger/Cva range to afford a better scope so the Rigby Highlander@9K not doable Go

Ruger American Predator in 243 or 6MM Creed with the AICS mags with a multi chamber brake.
The brake will make it loud(wear ear plugs) but it will zap the recoil

This is what comes to mind for me.

I bought a pair of CVA singles from a friend of mine a couple of years ago. They will outshoot most quality bolt guns. One of those in a light cartridge would likely be just the ticket. 243 or Grendel... flip a coin.

Like my grendel but ammo can be pricey and difficult to find at times.

Ruger American Predator in .....6.5 creedmore. Accurate as they come and I like the 6.5 a little better than a 243, same coil.

I've got one if ya want to bring him by(north Bibb Co) and shoot it.

Tikka t3x Lite stainless in 223 and a SWFA scope.

Excellent choice but his last sentence puts this choice out of the picture.

The Creedmoor is perfect for this. Grendel maybe. The various 6mm stuff doesn’t really give you anything unless you’re punching paper past 500. Recoil is splitting hairs. There’s nothing at all ‘wrong’ with a 243, 6CM, or ARC, if you want a 6mm. They’ll work just fine. If you’re talking medium game at normal hunting ranges, the 6.5s just give you more. The ARC IS set up to be very efficient for performance vs recoil. It just needs more barrel to get into it’s ‘zone’ than a larger bore.

You could also just pick what you want and go kill stuff.

Yeah, I guess it depends on the actual overall budget. My suggestion would be around the $1000 mark. A blued version would be alittle cheaper.

Get those slings and 575 Duzen Arras ready we talked and handled the youth model CVa .243 and the TD 6.5 Creed....think the 6.5 is going to be his choice. I did show him this thread and he looked at me kinda crazy and said "A total stranger would let me shoot on his property in Bibb County just to get the feel of a rifle?" I said that's just Fred he ain't strange at all he's just a Dog loving Aldeer goober. No I'm not changing my handle to Dave 6.5 Shaws already made me Skinnys Ex.

Don’t over look the 7mm-08 with reduced recoil loads. They are bad news on deer.

To 400yds im saying the 6.5cm as well. Better get a good scope.

At 400yds?

A fixed 6x would fit the bill nicely well past 400 yards.

Why not? A reduced 120gr load at around 2600fps is more the adequate out to 400yds. I don’t shoot that far but for a recoil sensitive person, it would be a great choice. In my opinion of course.

243