Less recoil in a hunting rifle

Yesterday I went to the range to sight-in three rifles with newly installed scopes at a local range. I ended up doing only two of them. After dialing in the .22 Savage and AR-15, I loaded my Remington 700 ADL 30-06, got comfortable at the bench with sandbags, put the cross hairs on the target, and squeezed the trigger.

I was not comfortable after that shot.

The last time I fired the Remington, my right shoulder gave me some degree of pain for over a week. Not the surface bruising I have experienced in the past, but deep inside the joint where age- and arthritic-related problems lay lurking. Shooting the .22 and 5.56/.223 calibers yesterday was pure joy and fun. Firing that one 30-06 round was enough to make me unload the remaining rounds and put the rifle back in its case.

I have read that if it ain't fun, you probably shouldn't be doing it. I love shooting. And I have loved the 30-06 caliber since I was a kid, raised by my father's and grandfather's generations that venerated that most American of rifle rounds. And I love my classic Remington 700 that was produced in the 1970s with its lovely walnut stock and forearm. But now I pretty much know that whenever I shoot it from this point forward, it's going to hurt. And that's not fun.

Long story short, I'm beginning a search for a smaller caliber with less recoil that still can "reach out and touch" whatever the target is. Now, I just spent about 30 minutes Googling "25-06 vs 7mm-08 vs 6.5 Creedmoor vs 7x57 vs .243" etc., ad nauseum. My goodness, the possibilities available today for hunting calibers under .30 are mind-boggling! Hence, this discussion.

The parameters, loosely defined:

I live in the desert southwest (can you say, "Horizons so far, you can see clear to tomorrow"?), so flat-shooting is good. Besides, I like trying to make those long-distance gongs at the range make some noise.

Purpose: Range shooting and some hunting. The game animals around here range from cottontail rabbits to elk, although my knees are nowhere in good enough condition to hunt elk. Hunting deer and desert antelope are more realistic, with black bear and mountain lion defense thrown in when camping in the mountains with my family.

Availability of ammo is important. One of the things I like most about the 30-06 round is that you're gonna find some in even remote locations. Every store in America that carries rifle rounds will have 30-06 ammo. 6.5 Creedmoor is the craze these days, and there's even 6 Creedmoor coming over the horizon, but 25-06 and .243, et al., have been around a lot longer and are far more apt to be found at Harry's Hardware in Dust Devil, NM.

So, there it is. What <.30 caliber rifles do you own and shoot, and what are their pros & cons?