Largest caliber you regularly shoot?

R

robertsig

New member
I was reading the Worst Kick Ever Felt!!!! thread and it got me thinking... What is the largest caliber you regularly shoot when you go out to practice? I imagine many of the .375H&H or higher shooters only zero their gun once in awhile or before a hunt since they are so punishing, so what is that caliber in the .30 through .375 range which has become part of your shooting routine? Do you regularly shoot a .338 Win Mag, or just save it for special occasions? Or, if you like to shoot a .416 Rigby every week, let us know that too!
 
With the right stock 375 H&H is no worse than 30-06. The 375 is my go to hunting rifle. Although I'm currently working up loads for 500 black powder express double rifle. I don't shoot the 75 caliber flintlock much except during reenactments, but the real big bore on getting a work out is the 12 gauge I put a couple hundred shells through each week for trap.
 
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I guess my biggest caliber is .45-70, but my loads are pipsqueaks compared to some of what I see bandied about. My light rifle (total weight) is my .45-70, so I don't want heavy recoil in a 6 lb rifle. I push a 405 grain lead bullet at about 1300 fps and that's plenty good medicine for whatever I want to shoot.

My .30-06 heavy loads will give me all I want after about 20 rounds.
 
While the largest caliber I shoot regularly would be the 6.8SPC, the higher recoiling rifle I shoot regularly is the .243 Winchester. I'm not a big recoil fan if you can't tell.
 
I try and shoot my .416 Rigby at least 20 rounds per month and a .375 H&H about the same and a hot loaded 45/70 Marlin Cowboy model.

During the summer I play with several BP rifles .58 Rifled Musket, 50/70 Remington Rolling Block and a 50/90 Remington Rolling Block, both rolling blocks are original and still in their Original caliber.

Recoil is not a problem with a properly fitted stock.
 
I shoot the biggest rifle I've got, my .30-06, at around 20-40 rounds a month. It's nice to see the price I can shoot reloads compared to factory ammo!
 
By 'largest caliber' you must mean bullet diameter, right? If that is the case it would be .45(-70) for me. That would be a larger caliber than, say, .416 Rigby. But a 45-70, in it's original loading, is way below the .416 power-wise.

Do you really mean 'most powerful rifle'? I may be nit-picking, but it really does make a difference.

George
 
I may not shoot .30-06 every month, but I have no problems shooting 100+ rounds at a sitting. Now I may be using three different rifles to do it with, and maybe shooting other stuff that day, too. It's nothing to go out and shoot 6.5X55, 7X57, .303 British, .30-40 Krag and .30-06 in a day to the tune of a couple hundred total shots.
 
I shoot my .270WSM fairly regularly. My son just got a new Ruger Hawkeye in .338 Federal that I will get to work up loads for. It isn't too bad with the factory 200 gr Fusions. I don't think I would want to shoot more than 20 rounds or so per trip, though. I enjoy shooting the 6.5x55, .243 Win. and .223 Rem more than the others. They are also cheaper to shoot.
 
This might be the wrong forum for it, but I talk to serious duck/geese hunters that go through many boxes of heavy 3.5" 12 and 10 ga loads a month during the hunting season. I don't get how they can deal with that kind of recoil for 20or more shots every weekend. I guess the heavy jackets and bibs help or something.

The thing about big game hunting is that you only get a few shots at each game out in the field. Waterfowlers get hundreds at moving targets. I shoot a lot of dove but a heavy geese load is 3x that recoil at least.

I think the worst punishment I've seen someone take at the range was from a light slug gun sans recoil pad or shooting vest. I can't imagine a well fitting 375 being nearly so bad.
 
While I own a .338 WinMag my shoulder and wallet can only take so much of a beating from it. I'll go through a box of shells every few months. Otherwise my .308s get the biggest workout for larger caliber guns. After 50-60 rounds I'm ready for a lighter recoil. Then it's my ARs, 6.8SPC, or .22LRs that get the range time.
 
My 338 is my hunting rifle for the deer season so I tend to shoot it as much as possible to ensure I'm as proficient with it as I can be from all positions.
 
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