Most painful rifle kick you've personally experienced

Many years ago I shot a turkey with an 870 12 ga. using a 3" load while seated on the ground with my back against a large tree. It was very unpleasant and I never used 3" shells for turkey hunting after that experience. My Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker .300 Win Mag has more recoil than I want to endure while developing a hunting handload despite have a 26" barrel. For perspective, I'm 70 years old, 5'5", 150 lbs. - small, old guy!:)

Edited to add: The A-Bolt .300 Win Mag is very accurate with my handloads: two 5 X 5 elk and a black bear (at 400+ yards.)
 
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Ruger #3 45-70 that a local smith re-chambered in 460 Weatherby
Magnum for a customer as the "Ultimate Elk Carbine"

500 gr factory, 2600 fps and 7500 lbs of energy--it got my attention.
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Holy berjazbees--you must of been up near the 100 or more lbs recoil territory!!:eek:

From the Hornady guide:

"Developing nearly 8000 ftlbs of muzzle energy with 500 gr bullets at 2600 fps, This ominous round....":)
 
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Ruger #1 45-70 - 350 grain HP max load, can't remember off the top of my head, but 2400 fps comes to mind. A sharp rap on the shoulder, particularly when shooting from the bench. Don't even "crawl up on it" while shooting it, because it hammers.

460 Weatherby magnum, I know it has more energy than the Ruger #1, but the rifle is heavier and larger, so the recoil is easier to manage. White knuckle grip and weld is recommended.
 
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I have found that single shot .50 bmg and .338 Lapua to be very unpleasant to shoot off the bench. The most uncontrolled recoil I had was shooting a .470 NitroExpress double barrel Merkel. The gun leapt of my weak hand and up in the air, but I still had it shouldered. It was a standing shot and not terrible, but I don't know that I would have enjoyed more than 2 or 3 shots before it got uncomfortable.
 
The gun leapt of my weak hand and up in the air, but I still had it shouldered. It was a standing shot and not terrible, but I don't know that I would have enjoyed more than 2 or 3 shots before it got uncomfortable.
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I've often wondered why nobody has invented safety airbags for scopes. ;)
 
It wound have to be my Mossburg Turkey Canon 12-guage 3 1/2" Magnum load pump. I shot only 2 rounds, and gave the remaining box to a bystander at the range! OUCH, indeed! Luckily, I can shoot shorter rounds as needed. My Remington Rolling Block 45-70 is buffered by an added shoulder pad at the range.
 
Stagpanther noted:
I've often wondered why nobody has invented safety airbags for scopes.
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Because you only have to do it once or see it happen to a buddy once to avoid the problem in the future.
 
Ive got 50's on down. Rifles not bad. I can live with that. Worst was was my 45ACP single shot WSP Down Sizer derringer. Only shot it once..never again.
 
Marlin 1895 in 45-70. 405gr Lead Flat Nose reloads at 1500. Shot it twice and sold it. Have shot 7mm Remington, Weatherby, 338-06, and 30-06 reloads for 40 years and never made my shoulder numb like that mule.
 
Remington Model 600 or 660, don't remember which, in .350 Rem Mag. Kicks like hell! Too light, too short a barrel. Horrible shooter.
 
Worst I've personally experienced was my 300 WSM with the original hard plastic buttplate. I was bruised more with that than anything else I've ever shot. Of course, after shooting one box of factory loads I figured it was a fluke, so I shot another box thru it during another range session. Same result. Put one of those Limbsaver recoil pads on it and now it's a pussycat.
 
Peggysue related a painful event:
Worst was was my 45ACP single shot WSP Down Sizer derringer. Only shot it once..never again.
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They are cool looking and that's interesting and I expected as much but a vendor at the SHOT show was saying it "wasn't bad".

My money is on Peggysue.
 
August 1995.... I was a wet-behind-the-ears 2LT at Fairchild AFB and was invited to go elk hunting. In the days pre-internet, "everyone" knew my .308 was too small for elk.

A Capt in the squadron had a Weatherby Alaskan in .300 Weatherby Mag and he offered to let me borrow it for the hunt. It was my first exposure to a Weatherby.

After my 5th shot off the bench, I quickly changed my mind about taking that rifle. My shoulder hurt for days.

Since then I've shot some kickers.... 12 ga slugs, 3 1/2" goose load from a pump, etc... but that Weatherby still takes the cake!
 
I made a range day out of my 7mm Rem Mag and ran 45 rounds through the gun in about 3 hours. That was a mistake. I had just inherited the gun and was determined to learn it's quirks.

The thing is a tack driver, and a shoulder hammer. The only quirk it has is make sure you've got it welded to you.

My shoulder was sore and purplish red for three days after that...

Mike in STL
 
A Marlin 1895 in 45-70 gave me a pretty good wallop back in the day.
I have a couple little Steyr 1895 carbines in 8X56R that provide quite a sharp smack on ones shoulder.
My NEF Handi Rifle in 500 S&W might be a good contender for the most punishing.
 
I had, yes had a 870 remington pump slug gun that I intended to use for deer here in NH, shooting Hornady sst's was just to much for me so, off it went, now if I need to hunt in NH shotgun territory I use my muzzleloader..
 
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