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Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Big Bore Rifles
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hoppdoc
.400 member


Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA
BIG BORE SURVEY!!!
      #66214 - 02/12/06 04:36 PM

Alright forum members lets be brutally honest--

It is primarily the RECOIL of quality designed rifles that limits the purchase and more big bore usage.

Exactly what is the biggest bore you have ever comfortably shot/hunted with??

Most US hunters cringe at the thought of shooting anything over a 300 magnum recoil level rifle much less a 338 or 375 H&H recoil level gun.Thus the 375 H&H popularity in Africa

Please list ALL the closest recoil level rifles you hunt with. And yes, I know that the 416 is close to the 458WM but for some this may be a separating recoil level.Double Rifle guys know that the 450/470 class of Doubles is close to the 458WM/Lott catagory of recoil.

Thanks for any and all replies!!
WHAT CATAGORIES ARE YOUR BIG BORE HUNTING RIFLES??
You may choose many
300 mag recoil level
338 mag recoil level
375H&H recoil level
416 mag recoil level
458WM recoil level
500 NE recoil level and above


Votes accepted from (02/12/06 04:22 PM) to (No end specified)
You must vote before you can view the results of this poll



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An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Edited by hoppdoc (02/12/06 04:43 PM)

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Boomer
.300 member


Reged: 13/04/05
Posts: 144
Loc: The Hudson Bay Coast, Canada
Re: BIG BORE SURVEY!!! [Re: hoppdoc]
      #66233 - 03/12/06 01:56 AM

I believe that when you choose a rifle to carry when hunting big and potentially dangerous game, you must be able to shoot it accurately from any position. The largest rifle I have been able to do this with is a .416 Rigby (350 gr X 102 grs H-4350), which I could hold for 3 rounds prone. I also had a .458 Winchester (500 Hornady 70 grs 3031)in a light rifle which was no bother to shoot either. The largest rifle I've fired was a .500 NE (570 gr X 87 grs IMR-3031), but this particular rifle was some what unpleasant due to a hard recoil pad.

Checking the recoil of the .500 on my ballistic software shows 65 ft/lbs of recoil energy, which very similar to the recoil of the loads in my .375 Ultra (380 gr Rhino 84 grs H-4350). The interesting thing about all these loads, .375 Ultra, .416 Rigby, .458 Winchester, and the .500 Nitro is that they all generate about the same recoil energy, of 65 ft/lbs, yet the .500 I found punishing.

Common wisdom dictates that bottle necked cartridges give faster harsher recoil than the slow push of the straight wall big bores. While I have not found this to be universally true, I have found that stock design plays a much larger factor in the effects of apparent recoil to the shooter than any other factor. A rifle which I found particularly nasty to shoot was a M-38 Mosin-Nagant 7.62X54R carbine loaded with factory military ammo. This was before my leap to larger calibers, but I remember thinking that based on the recoil of the little commie carbine I might be unable to shoot anything more powerful than a .300 Winchester. Happily that was not the case.

Some day I may build a very large rifle on a Ruger #1 action just to see how far I can go, after all it is not difficult to find rifles which can generate over 100 ft/lbs of recoil energy. In the mean time, a well stocked hunting rifle, that produces 65 ft/lbs of recoil, I can take afield confident that I can shoot quickly and accurately from any position.

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hoppdoc
.400 member


Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA
Re: BIG BORE SURVEY!!! [Re: Boomer]
      #66238 - 03/12/06 02:31 AM

Years ago,I thought big bottleneck cartridges and the Venturi effect was in folks heads.

I am a believer now.

My rude introduction to the Venturi effect with increased recoil and bottleneck cartridges occurred with a 30-378 Wby.The muzzle brake was horrendously loud so I removed it and shot some 200gr handloads blindly at a hillside sans scope just to judge the recoil.

That was an eye opener!! I have all kinds of big boomers but the recoil velocity must have been up there burning ~115 grain of powder or I was unprepared. That sucker HURT!!

And no--I don't have that gun anymore.

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An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Edited by hoppdoc (03/12/06 02:34 AM)

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hoppdoc
.400 member


Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA
Re: BIG BORE SURVEY!!! [Re: hoppdoc]
      #66804 - 11/12/06 05:28 PM

I continue to belive that the members of this forum are unique.Why?

The poll taken is a very small sample of the group at large but with ~125 hits should reflects its general tendencies.

If you examine the rifle poll 45 of 80 times the rifles experienced (or over 50% of the time) were at least where a 375 H&H recoil level firearm was shot. Every voter averaged voting for ~2.5 catagories.

Compare this to the experience of most North American hunters and few if any will go past a 338 level gun.Why? Cause the recoil is at a level they feel they don't need or wish to tolerate.Granted that most have never hunted anything larger than whitetail and most have never been on an elk hunt so that is what you would expect. I would guess the max recoil level for most would be the 300 mag niche. For aussies the circunstances are different with different game to experience.

Necessity or desire is the motivation to get "bigger guns".Is hunting dangerous game the reason for shooting the heavier weaponry? Methinks so.

Cheers and good hunting to all!!

--------------------
An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Edited by hoppdoc (11/12/06 05:43 PM)

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AKA
.224 member


Reged: 21/02/04
Posts: 17
Loc: california
Re: BIG BORE SURVEY!!! [Re: hoppdoc]
      #66837 - 12/12/06 07:23 AM

hoppdoc ..I agree with what you say about muzzle brakes. Thats why I dont use brakes on my 460 or 378 Weatherby. Both of these rifles have been to Africa. Maybe i'm one of the exceptions on this board..steve

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