I own a Savage 111 rifle in .30-06 caliber. It has a strong recoil. Yet I've heard that Garands which are also .30-06 don't. How can this be? Why don't they have the same recoil?
If you can make a low recoil .30-06 rifle, why not make all that way?

Your Savage is lightweight, and is a bolt action.  A Garand is heavy, and is semi-automatic.  A lot of the recoil is absorbed by the weight of the rifle and the movement of the action.

Two different tools for different jobs.

Black, the garand has op-rod spring which absorbs alot of the recoil as well as many other moving parts, infact my Tanker in 30-06 is a real dream to shoot all day.

Your Savage 111 on the other hand has maybe a recoil pad? and your shoulder to absorb the recoil.

They make muzzle brakes for your barrel, like KDF and others.

Mike

Last week I shot my AR-15 Carbine and M1 Garand side by side during the same session, along with an AK-47 and Mini-14.  The Garand has the strongest recoil of the group.  But that's not really a surprise.

In general, the Garand weighs more than your 111 so its felt recoil will be less.  Also, felt recoil on a gas operated semi-auto rifle vs. a bolt gun (of same weight and caliber)will feel less.

Other factors such as stock design and composition can effect felt recoil as well.  

For the most part, the recoil from the .30-06, regardless of the rifle it's fired in is a solid shove, but nothing I would classify as punishing.

Just my 2 cents.

What a 30-06 has very little kick!  I am 16 years old and I got to shoot a bunch of guns that a friend of my father owns.  They were a .33WCF, a .22 Magnum, a .30-06 and a .45-70 and none of them kicked that much. This surprises me because my lightweight 12 gauge with target loads hurts like hell after 10 shots because of the un-ergonomic stock.  But this .30-06 had a STEEL but plate and a sidemount scope which meant that me being left handed had to hold the gun on the very edge of my shoulder.

Although I was surprised by the lack of kick in the .45-70.  I have shot a 30/30 and it seems to me that with over twice the powder the gun shoot kick at least 2x as much but it was only a little harder but not punishing at all.  I was wearing a heavy winter jacket though.

So how would the Garand's recoil feel compared to .30-30?  I can shoot my .30-30 all day, and it does give a good shove, but it's not punishing at all.  My old .303 wasn't too bad, I figure it would feel a little lighter than a .30-06, but close.  

M@