Have You Ever Wanted One?

Like MWM, I have a few guns chambered for 45-70. Shooting rifle loads in the 14" Contender is NOT pleasant. For real blasting pleasure though, nothing beats touching off a 50BMG. This is where the weight of the firearm and efficiency of the muzzle brake are paramount. The huge muzzle blast from the brake is a lot of fun (unless you're at the adjoining bench). Admit it guys, it's a lot of fun to make a really BIG bang.
 
I passed on a 7x57 last week and am almost kicking myself on it but I know where it is when I get more money.


I did want to shoot a 444 Marlin to know what it felt like. I was lucky my dad has one that he let me rattle a few shots out of. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
 
I've really got the itch for a Ruger #1 Tropical in .458 Win. Just love the action & "feel" of the tropical. I've really enjoyed my Ruger 1 .45-70 & if I use cast bullets there should not be a lot of difference in the .458. But I know I'd be tempted to shoot some full-throttle loads for grins...LOL

...bug :)
 
I always wanted a .45-70 so a couple of years ago I bought a used NEF and I take it bear hunting. Now the .458 Lott Ruger No 1 seems like the next step. I just can't justify it since its overkill for even a bear. I'm considering a .270 magnum instead. Althought I don't have a use for it either.
 
I love guns.........

We have a pretty substantial inventory of figured stock material........I can say after 40+ years of dealing with gorgeous wood......It still makes my jaw hit the dang floor when seeing a pce of..."get the heck outta here" material.

I machined some particularly "twisted" Walnut into a 5" crown mould as a cornice on a storage unit in our machine shop.Ya'll don't need all the details,couldn't use it for a gunstock......but,when folks come over,we use it as a source of inspiration.Heck,I see it everyday....and if ever needing a pick-me-up,will go over and look at it.
 
Many many long years ago I shot what was then called the most powerful rifle in the world, the .600 Nitro Express. Not much fun hopping on one foot trying to keep from landing on my butt. Shot both barrels, one at a time thank God or I would have been on the deck for sure. I only weighed about 125/130 pounds soaking wet back then. Run about 183, down from a max of 230 pounds. Been shooting some of big bore rifle every since more for the fun of it than anything else.

ColColt, shooting the .375 H&H is about like shooting magnum 12 ga. goose loads in the average 12 bore shotgun. You get to my neck of the desert and you can shoot mine. I'd start you out with a couple of rounds with cast bullets first the let you go with the full power loads. My .375 H&H is a Ruger #1H and has that skimpy piece of rubber Ruger called a recoil pad. From there you could graduate to the .404 Jeffery and finally the .416 Rigby. I'd even let you shoot the .375 Taylor, a .338 Win. Mag. case necked up to .375" and duplicates the H&H in power. Lots of fun from that 7.5 pound rifle.
Seriously though, I really do not shoot those very often anymore. Arthritis in my right shoulder raises unholy hell after I do a session with one of the biggies.
The .404 is a pussycat as whoever had it before me put a muzzle brake on the gun and shooting it is like shooting the average 30-06.
Not so much a macho thing, I just find the challenge of shooting one well fun. Maybe I'm a bit of a masochist. :rolleyes:
As someone brought up the 7x57, currently I'm in the process of working up a load with the 150 gr. Nosler Partition for possible use in an upcoming elk hunt. I'll still take my beloved .35 Whelen as back up. Could slip in a .280 Rem. as well as both rifles need to be blooded. Take one on one day and the other on the next. It's a three day hunt so if not elk by day two, the whelen gets the nod for the last day. It's been a very lucky elk rifle batting a thousand so far.
Paul B.
 
1886 in 45-70. My family used to have one, but then it got sold due to some hard times :( That gun has been on my "some-day" list ever since it left.
 
My romance with African game centers around the 6.5 X 54

All the romance without the bruised shoulder and loose fillings.
 
I'm a pretty big guy and I can handle 12 gauge slugs without feeling pain (maybe a little the next day). I had a chance recently to shoot a 30-06 and I thought that was worse. Maybe it was just the fit of the gun.
 
The last rifle I bought in a romantic stupor was a custom Mauser in 8x68S. If there was ever a rifle that was unpleasant to shoot, it was that one. A 224gr bullet hovering about 3000fps. The recoil wasn't just heavy, it was sharp. That's the only way I can describe it. I made one range trip with it and decided it wasn't for me. Up until then the most unpleasant rifle I had fired was a Puma 92 in .454 Casull. With full loads it was a brute, being so light. The 8x68S made that look like a ***** cat.
 
Have I ever wanted one?,,,

Have I ever wanted one?

Not to own,,,
But I'll shoot anything once,,,
And if necessary I'm happy to pay for the privilege.

There are some rifles that I just don't need to shoot again,,,
That H&H .375 Magnum is one of them,,,
I wince at the thought of it.

I read somewhere that a gun-shop in south Texas,,,
Has one of those T-Rex rifles for rent,,,
I would like to shoot that rifle.

Once!

A few years back I fired a .458 Winchester Magnum,,,
Two rounds and I had my bragging rights,,,
And I don't ever need to do that again.

I'll stick with my 8mm Mauser and Handi-Rifle in .357 Mag,,,
They provide all the recoil therapy I could ever need.

Until someone else at my Rifle & Pistol club shows up with a dinosaur gun,,,
Then I'll be standing there all innocent looking and smiling,,,
Begging for a chance to try one round from it. :o

Aarond

.
 
aarondhgraham wrote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have I ever wanted one?

Not to own,,,
But I'll shoot anything once,,,
And if necessary I'm happy to pay for the privilege.

.....

A few years back I fired a .458 Winchester Magnum,,,
Two rounds and I had my bragging rights,,,
And I don't ever need to do that again.

.....
Aarond
Click to expand...


Aarond,

Yep no one has asked to shoot that 458 of mine (pictured on pg1) a second time and most that watch someone else shoot it will not even try once. It's a great carry rifle at 7.75 Lbs, but the recoil is a beast. I bought one of those PAST recoil shields that straps on your shoulder for $30. It really helps. Me, my son and a friend shot 50 rounds thru it one afternoon just fooling around swapping out that PAST shoulder shield. We were like a bunch of kids with a new toy - No one was hurt and latter not sore either. Believe if you had been there with us, you would have enjoyed it, too. I keep that shield in the case with the rifle and use it every time now. It will even fit under a tee-shirt such that you'd be hard pressed to notice it.
 
My un-love affair with recoil was cemented forever the day someone let me shoot their 3.5" 10 gauge magnum pump shotgun. Whatever the momentum of the payload from that thing, it generated a level of recoil I do not wish to experience again. I reckon it would have to be somewhere around what a .600 Nitro pushes out in pure mass x velocity terms.

It made my 12Ga seem almost recoilless by comparison.
 
Mine was always the 45-70 lever gun,loved the historical aspect. Well, I got one and I love it! Do I need it? I can dream of a hunt where max loads might be necessary, but probably not. in the mean time I keep one box of handloads for me and another for my friends who just have to see what all the hoopla is about. Thank God for reloads!:D

(I'm more of a .223 recoil guy;))
 
Hello RaySendero,,,

Hey, thanks for the heads-up about that PAST recoil shield.

I Googled it and sent the link to a lady friend of mine,,,
She E-mailed right back saying hers was on order.

Thanks again my friend,,,

Aarond

.
 
My friend's father owns a Holland and Holland bolt action in .375 H&H.

I fired it a couple times. The recoil wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I wouldn't want to fire it more than ten times in a day though.
 
Make sure the gun fits you ! DON"T shoot it off the bench ! shoot offhand or use a tripod. Lean into it slightly. Use a good recoil pad and a PAST shield if you want . If you hand load , load down just a bit - that will be the same as a muzzle brake. If you're nervous about the scope use iron sights - good ghost ring peep sights or patridge sights work well.
The 375H&H is very accurate ,reasonable recoil and especially with some of the newer bullets, very capable for anything !! ;)
 
I grew up with a Remington autoloader 12 gauge shotgun. So, I was used to recoil.
At one time I had a Marlin lever action .44 magnum, and that thing kicked like a 10 gauge...:eek:
 
recoil sucks

By the time you hit age 30 , you should know better than shooting those "African" calibres.
After age 50 a .308 is the most recoil I want to take. Love my .223,
22-250, .243 These calibres do everything I want them to do.

Loved watching 3 small guys with a case of 3" Magnum slugs and a 870 pump just beating the hell out of themselves, by shooting paper at 7Yds
 
I'd still like to have a Model 70 375 H&H. I may only shoot it a few times but still would like to have one. I don't do pain. If it causes bruises it gets sold, Like the Shiloh sharps 45-90 I once had. Beautiful rifle and wood to die for but the stock wasn't right for the caliber...at least for me. A shotgun type butt would have been great with a recoil pad. I'd probably still have it had I had that setup.

I'll never try a 458 Winchester. It looked ferocious to me even in my 30's. With a case nearly full of Swiss 1.5 powder and a 530 gr bullet in that 45-90 that was as close to a 458 as I'll likely get.

Did I ever show what that 45-90 did to me? That was just ten rounds.

 
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