Reality check on new rifle

I’d agree if it were just the 30-06. But I grew up shooting a 25-06 that was around 6lbs. Never had any pain. Many of the hunters in the area switched to the 25 for that reason. Much less felt recoil than the 30-06.

IMO with something like a 25-06, you shouldn’t be experiencing miserable conditions on your shoulder after 10 rounds if you are setting up on the gun properly.
What are the chances that is the cause of your flinch?
 
If you still have the gun, my load with the 75 bthp is 23.6 gr of 8208 and that nets me around 2900 fps. I had shot some in the lower node which was 22.4gr and around 2650 fps. Both at 2.255" oal

The gun also shoots the 75 eld at around 3000 fps with 24.6 gr of 8208 0.005" off the lands(2.445" OAL). I had hits out to 670 during a match last weekend.
Wish I still had the gun, but I sold it awhile back to get a CTR in 6.5 CM, which I really love. Thanks for the info though!
 
It just seems strange that you can easily handle the recoil and muzzle blast of a featherweight 25-06, but struggle with a pistol. Not trying to be an ass, just a reasonable observation is all.

This is extremely common when you spend most of your time with rifles and very little time with handguns(and vice versa).

Also, a pistol and a rifle are two very different beasts. One is recoiling into your shoulder, the other is all grip, arms, shoulders (but in a different way).

I see people all the time have issues with one or the other, but not both.

I've never had an issue with rifle flinch, but that was because I grew shooting rifles most everyday, and rarely handguns until I was an adult.
 
I see no reason to not go with a .223. Get a fast twist, ammo is cheap, lots of good options, will shoot more, learn more about drop and wind. That's just my opinion, I don't like spending 30-40$ for 20 rounds of good ammo. I'm sure if you hunt or buy in bulk. I honestly have the most fun shooting .17 hmr, .22 lr and .223