On my three African hunts, my most used dangerous game rifle was my P-14 Enfield .505 SRE, a wildcat based on a shortened .460 Weatherby case, 570 grain bullet at 2150. The rifle weighs in at 8.75 pounds. You can see a picture of it (and me) as we looked about 35 years ago at http://www.frappr.com/?a=myphotos&id=3823381.

At the time, it was about the limit of what I could bear shooting at paper. Shooting at game, I never noticed it. The other rifle pictured was my Krieghoff Teck O/U double rifle with interchangeable barrels in .458 Winchester Magnum and .375 H&H. It accounted for the rest of my DG experience.

Since then, I have built a .577 VSRE based on a .577NE case, shortened and modified to rimless, with a .416 Rigby size rebated rim. It shoots a 750 grain bullet at 2050, and in a 13 pound rifle (post 64 Model 70) causes me to execute a little two step dance each time I fire it. However, the felt recoil is less than that of the .505. I don't think I would notice it shooting at game.

The most unpleasant gun I remember shooting was a Remington 760 Gamemaster pump in .30-'06, which I friend asked me to sight in for him. The stock design was atrocious.