Just wondering what was the largest / most powerful or even most fun gun everyone has ever fired.

Me... nothing exciting. .44 Mag but I'd love to hear from everyone else.

Largest caliber-50-140-700

Most powerful- my .458 Lott

Most recoil- I grew up hunting with an H&R Topper 12 ga. with 3" chamber. It weighed 5.5 lbs. With a 3" magnum shell it was pretty harsh, faster and heavier than my Lott.

Most powerful handgun- That's a toss-up between a .375JDJ, and my .475 Linebaugh, but the .475 has it beat hands down in the recoil department, and I would prefer it for killing power over the .375 JDJ. On paper the .375 might have more FP of energy, but that isn't what kills.

Isn't there someone on here that was one of the gunners on a battleship?!?!

As a kid, I had a poster of the USS North Carolina firing it's guns...

Ah, memories of a simpler time.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

The most powerful handgun was a .44 Mag
The most powerful rifle was a single shot chambered for the .50 BMG
The rifle that kicked the worst was a .460 Weatherby Mag. The .50 single shot weighed around 40 or 50 pounds and did not kick near as bad as the .460 Weatherby Mag.
I have also fired a B.A.R.,a 1919 Browning Machine Gun in 30-06, an M-60, and a 50 caliber M-2 Machine Gun. They were all lots of fun.

.458 Winchester Magnum and 12ga slugs, both felt the same to me (the .458 was a lot heavier).

I used to sit on an old railroad tie and load my 6 cases with a little Lee .45LC loader. Even then factory would cost a buck and a half a round. I was plinking with a .458 for pennies.

Anyone for handloading???

Ma Deuce M2 .50 Machine Gun but the M60 was way more fun to shoot.

For guns I own a 300 Weatherby. It’s a bit stiffer than a 30-06. Used to be the most powerful 30 cal. Is it still?
As for handguns, I got to shoot a 460 at a S&W demo. Surprisingly recoil was similar to a heavy 44 Mag.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

The "Ma Deuce" Browning M2 .50 Heavy Machine Gun.

Worked on dozens of them while a 2111 in the USMC and USMCR.

Noah

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Nicht mehr als 30 Zeichen

I guess military counts, so I'd have to say it would be a 20mm MK-12 aircraft cannon. We had a bore-sighting range for A-4 Skyhawks, and like any other weapon system, they had to be zeroed on the range.

Biggest hand-held, would be the M-79 grenade launcher. Biggest rifle, M-1 Garand and the biggest handgun I've fired is the Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 mag, with 7" barrel.

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Retired Police, Life NRA

Does a call-for-fire mission from the USS New Jersey count?

Friend of mine has a .600 Nitro double rifle...it hurts to fire it! Me, most powerful is a Barrett M82A1 .50 cal for a rifle; an Ithaca 10 gauge mag autoloader for a shotgun; and either an S&W .500 or BFR .45-70 revolver.

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ken
SWCA #1959

105MM main gun on an M60 tank
M2 Browning .50 cal
3.5" Bazooka
M79 40MM grenade launcher

All of this at taxpayer expense when I was serving proudly in the Big Green Machine.

105mm M60A3
155mm M109
MK-19 40mm grenade launcher
M-2 & Armalite AR 50 50BMG (most fun)
500 S&W

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SC Army National Guard

Winchester .458

Many years ago, while attending the Artillery School at Ft. Sill, a group of us were hauled out to one of the ranges, where sat the biggest piece of ordnance the US Army ever had. A 240 mm "Big Annie" atomic cannon, which was demonstrated to us, using conventional ammo, of course, and we allowed to "pull the lanyard" which I vaguely recall was a lever, but that was over 50 yrs ago. It was on a flatbed type railroad car, and I think it's still there at the Artillery Museum at Ft.Sill. The barrel was very flexible, for an artillery piece, and was probably 30 ft. long made in what looked like sections. I forget the range but it was well over 100 miles.

At night time........a 4" 44mag or a 500 S&W 8 3/8 mag aint no slouch when it comes to throwing a fireball......especially when fired off the porch

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Rimfires Makes me "Insane"

Winchester .458 mag and a 45-70 T/C Contender 10" Now that was fun!

In handguns a 45/70 TC by JD Jones loaded it up it really twisted your wrist.

In Rifles I used to hunt with a 500 A square caliber 700 grain 50 caliber bullet in an improved 460 Weatherby case. I also had a 577 Westley Richards double and a light 577 Farquensen but the 500 was not only a heavy recoil but it came back a lot faster. Of course non of this recoil was noticed when you were shooting at a large animal.

Len

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Len

In the late 60s I was Senior Gunner on a 20mm Towed Vulcan. Probably fired around 10,000 rds through that roarin' ripsnorter! Most belts were 100% HEIT-SD. High Explosive Incendiary-Tracer, Self-Destruct. You could tear buildings down; bore tunnels in the jungle. Wowser !

In olden times (JFK era) the National Guard was actively soliciting my high school buddies.

We went out to the desert driving the tanks over the obstacle course, fired mortars, and I got a 100 round turn with Ma Deuce Herself on a tripod. It was good.

Thrown some heavy lead from 58 cal front stuffers; competed IHMSA with FL308 XP-100; developed some rather edgy 44 mag revolver rounds with Elmer Keith's recipe; high cap modern 12 gauge stuff; perhaps the heaviest handgun load I've handled was that double charged 38/45acp pistol my buddy had screwed up loading....

Did turn down an offer to shoot a guy's TC in 444 factory load. Shot & enjoyed the '41 mag super' or whatever they called it...325g "41 mag" long case at 1400+fps....think it was in a Dan Wesson revolver built to IMHSA specs. Downright accurate & pleasant besides.

One of the nastiest recoils I've ever encountered was a nice looking SxS 20 gauge Ithaca cut to 20"....lovely patina, great weathered stock, cowboy gun, appeared as if it had been laying in your great great uncle's buckboard since about 1930 or so...wretched recoil with standard loads.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Handgun: S&W 500...Not really that bad

Rifle: .458 Winchester Magnum Ruger No.1...Wow!

Shotgun: Browning BPS 10 gauge magnum...Hard kicker

Present during the launch of an ASROC missle from the launcher on the USS Thomas C. Hart...I don't know if that counts. I should have stayed off the weather decks as instructed. Wound up with singed eyebrows and couldn't hear much for a few days after...I didn't fire it though.

Eat your heart out!



This little sucker will take out a school bus at 11 miles.

It delivers a 200 lb. high explosive projectile.

Damn, it was fun!

It is an 8 inch, towed howitzer. It went into service during WWII and was used into the 60's. You pull it with a 10 ton prime mover truck, has a crew of eight (which you don't need. It can be shot with about four people.) It will deliver one round per minute.

You need to swab out the "chamber" with a wet mop after each round is fired in order to extinguish any burning powder fragments. If not...you are in for a surprise when you load the charge.

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G.P. Charlie

I was wondering who would pull that one out first.

My best friend, a Vietnam artilleryman, pulled the trigger on an 8” continuously for about 12 hours, laying down blocking fire for a patrol that got dumped in a hot LZ.

Now all we need is a Navy gunner who’s pulled the trigger on a 16”.

An M-60 from the door of a helicopter... was fun at the time but that was in the mid-60's when I was still young and thought I was bullet proof.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

...made my third annual trek to the plains southwest of Fort Morgan Colorado (boyhood home of Glenn Miller) for the annual Machine Gun Shoot...

...this year I shot a couple of examples of the classic Browning Automatic Rifle



...an equally classic 1928 Thompson submachine gun...



...a Browning M-37 .30 caliber Machine Gun in the T-152 Tank Version...



...and an example of the wicked and infamous German MG-42 of WWII...





.

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A Country Boy Can Survive

Hey Charlie, one of these sits out front of the Somersworth, NH National Guard building. I grew up climbing all over it and checking it all out. Imagined putting it through it's paces. You got to do the real thing.

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All Rights Reserved

The Marines let me play with some of their guns, 155 which was a real "blast", few rounds of 175, 50 cal, m-79 old style, they always made sure I was pointed in the right direction when pulling the trigger!!!!!
Navy 3" 54 which really isn't shooting since most are fired controlled. Few different machine guns. I liked the 155 best....

Largest civilian gun: .375 H&H Magnum.
Largest military gun: Once, as a civilian photographer, the grunts let me pull the lanyard on a 155mm artillery piece. Yowsah!
I had to wear a flak vest, Kevlar helmet, safety glasses, ear plugs and muff-type hearing protectors over those! Whew!

155mm howitzer - largest gun fired

M2 .50 cal - largest non-artillery piece fired

.50-140 Sharps - largest shoulder fired round

.375 H&H - largest recoiling round fired

500 S&W - largest handgun fired

A 50-150-3/4 Sharps.

I have shot a 35 Rem in a TC.

.50 caliber Barrett.

m2, m60 and a 44mag

105MM howitzer in ROTC Advanced Camp.

Rifle? Ferret .50. (.50BMG bolt upper on an AR lower.)

Handgun? .44Mag.

Shotgun? 12ga with a 2oz 3.5" high-velocity turkey load. You're talking 60+ ft-lb of recoil energy from an eight-pound gun. Kicks like a mule.

handgun 475 linebaugh, rifle 500nitro express,but i thought the 460 weatherby was worse. bigger than that, 20mm vulcan. couldn't perceive recoil but what a hoot to fire.

spit ball in a straw.

Will

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Ah well, you know...people

My friend and I cracked off two rounds a piece out of his Ruger #1 in .458 Rigby. After which his new nickname became Igor and mine became "Lefty"

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

M2 3.5 inch rocket launcher, AKA the Super Bazooka.

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VIVERE MILITARE EST

Browning BPS 3.5" 10 ga- that or +p's out of my 337-or the Ithica 20 ga sxs by SKS with 3" mag 20 ga-maybe not the most powerful by a long shot, but each brought tears to my eyes
Now as far as a big boomer and fun-well that would be my Ruger super redhawk in 44 mag or my 686 2.5"(which throws a FLAME like you would not believe)

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Forum consigliere

.454 Casull in a Freedom Arms SA. Good fun.

Webley & Scott Mk. III* '15/'39. Cal. 1.0"

Attached Images

W&S III '15-'39.jpg (63.1 KB, 34 views)

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Field Researcher. IGC

Ruger comes out to an event every year at our huge county range. They bring dozens of wares for the public to try out, basically just for the cost of ammunition. To their credit, they bring full-house fodder if that's what you choose to use. Had to sample the baddest snubnose on the planet, the Alaskan in .454 Casull. My tolerance limit was 3rds of full-house Hornady .454, though I can't recall which flavor. Our targets are hanging clay pigeons from 15-50yds. I fired DA, and actually hit what I aimed at, at CLSOE range, LOL. I waited an hour for my hand to recover, then did it again. Wouldn't have wanted to touch off that 4th round in either session.

Their Guide Gun in .416 Ruger was also a treat. I just started with a nice, erect posture, and it darn near caused me to go over backwards like one of those bedouin-clothed shooters in the famous you-tube video. I think I took two quick steps back to steady myself, with their spotter ready to grab the rifle. I was better prepared for the 2nd, and last, shot. It was a hoot!

Touched off a couple with both the Ma Deuce and the Mk19 launcher whilst in the service. Those would be the most powerful, natch.

My all time favorite was my bow gun in Vietnam on my boat - My Favorite Twins:

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Fair winds and following sea

USMC M110 Self Propelled 8" Howitzer.

Fire Direction Officer and Forward Observer... but the Gunny would let me yank the lanyard every once in a while.

Charge five white bag would shake your poop loose.

.557 T-REX

120mm smoothbore from a M1A2 Abrams tank.

Biggest revolver - .44 Magnum

Most fun - my 686 .357

Biggest rifle .300 Winchester Mag.

Rifle that FELT the biggest - 30-06 Savage 110 (composite stock, LIGHT)

Biggest Shotgun - 3" Buck from an Akkar (VERY light) It REALLY did a number on me. Nasty.

Most fun shotgun - 1929 A5 Browning

Biggest semi - .45 ACP
Most fun semi - Shield
Honorable mention semi - Taurus because of the SA trigger.

Most fun carbine - Uzi, My Kel Tec Subgen 2000.

The only Black powder gun I've shot was a .50 cal and it was fun. Made you take your time because the loading was lengthy.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

.460 Weatherby Magnum. It was a custom made rifle of about 12 pounds and the recoil was tolerable. I once fired a 458 Winchester Magnum in a 9 pound rifle that nearly took my shoulder off.

Handgun - 460 S&W.
In a rifle - 505 Gibbs - my retirement gift to myself!!

.458 Lott. In a portable gun.

Edit. In case you're wondering. Didn't like it much.

a 458 winchester lots of power minimum fun