Anyone else like BIG guns?

[mwtdvm]

Well, I am getting old enough that I don't want to trail Bambi or Bambina through the honeysuckle and saw briars we have in the south,
I started out with a .338 win mag and that dropped them dead with a Barnes 180 gr XTB but I had to explore this further and recently used a 9.3X62 that was awesome.. DRT.
My 460 S&W also resulted in a DRT but a lot of entry wound damage. So now I will take a 350 Rem Mag to see what it will do. I try to work smarter not harder...

 

[Shorty4T]

That's because the cheapest you can get is $2,000+ and that is for a used one (think,haven't looked for awhile) I know a few years back new ones were $5,000+ for a new one....and when I was a kid I vaguely remember some I looked at in old gun books were $50,000~$60,000 yes,that's right fifty to sixty thousand!!!!

Never mind that the last I checked the shells were going for $200+ for a box of twenty of the Nitro Express calibers.
There are those of who'd rather put such sums into vehicles,property and the like.

Krull, I've never seen a double DGR for anything less than around $8,000...this for a used one. Butch Searcy will sell you a new one for around $12,000 and up depending on embellishments you would like, B. Searcy & Company. Searcy rifles are some of the best values out there IMO.

The $200.00 a box is for 10 rounds in the ol' nitros and many other DG rounds. Boxes of 20 are generally for commericial cartridges. According to A Square you can purchase 10 600 NE cartridges for roughly $200, A-Square Ammunition Price List

My only Big Gun at the moment is a Marlin Guide Gun in .45/70, but I gotta tell ya that I always had a thing for those old double rifles! Wonder if you can still get a H&H in .500 Nitro Express?

You can indeed purchase a new H&H in cartridges up to 700 Nitro Express, this includes all of the ol' British classic DG cartridges but hang on to your pocketbook!! Holland & Holland.

Cheers,
Sam

 

[Krull]

Krull, I've never seen a double DGR for anything less than around $8,000...this for a used one. Butch Searcy will sell you a new one for around $12,000 and up depending on embellishments you would like, B. Searcy & Company. Searcy rifles are some of the best values out there IMO.

The $200.00 a box is for 10 rounds in the ol' nitros and many other DG rounds. Boxes of 20 are generally for commericial cartridges. According to A Square you can purchase 10 600 NE cartridges for roughly $200, A-Square Ammunition Price List




You can indeed purchase a new H&H in cartridges up to 700 Nitro Express, this includes all of the ol' British classic DG cartridges but hang on to your pocketbook!! Holland & Holland.


Cheers,
Sam

Like I said....been awhile since I looked into it~kinda wanted one until I saw the prices,holy majoly!

 

[Beaver]

Traded for Smiths.

I've owned a bunch during my "Rifle" stage. I had three 375H&H, a 416 Rigby, a 416 Rem, a 458Win, two 45-70's, a 350 Rem Classic, a Clowers 35 Whelen Improved, three 338's, two 300 Wby's. Traded all for S&W revolvers. For elk and bear hunting in Oregon though, I'd really like to get another Ruger 77 in 338. Just like the gun. My last 338 SS Ruger is up in Alaska somewhere, left by my best friend at his son's house. It has shot several moose already in two years. Probably won't see it again. The kid did give me a Glock 35 though. I traded it for a Smith.

 

[451 Detonics]

I use to shoot in an annual competition called the Ernest Hemingway Memorial Shoot. This was a high class affair requiring hat and tie, entry fee was $3.00 and a bottle of wine. Minimum calibers allowed were .375 or 9.3X74R. It consisted of 9 stages most of which were scenarios that various folk had actually experienced in Africa, target were mostly dangerous game animal target with some steel thrown in. The "Charge of the Rogue Elephant" was done using a mover set up for Action Pistol and put you in the path of a charging elephant for example. Moving at 10 feet per sec you had about 3 seconds to mount your gun and hit the brain twice. This was always followed by "The Bloodbath", a one gallon jug of red dye suspended from the same overhead mover cable. As you can imagine it did a lot of bobbing and weaving when the motor jerked it into motion. It would come straight at you at 10 fps and if you missed it while it was moving you have to shoot it at point blank range...hence the name of the stage.

I started shooting this with a Model 70 in 375H&H and did very well for several years with a couple second places and one first but the match was really set up for the speed a double rifle gives. Dad bought a Tikka 412 in 9.3X74R but I decided on a different direction and had a Browning 71 built up into a 450 Alaskan. This will launch a 500 grain at 2100fps and was designed for big browns in Alaska. Armed with Boomer I won the match the next year.

This worked great but Dad and I decided a semi-auto would not only be faster but unlike the double rifle would hold more than two rounds. After talking things over with our gunsmith he decided he would take on the challenge of making a Browning BAR Safari into a dangerous game rifle. The result was a 375/338 that easily duplicated the 375H&H ballistics in a rapid fire rifle.

Sadly the Hemingway is no more but I still enjoy shooting the big bores. Of late I have been loading the 450 Alaskan with a case full of Trail Boss and a 400 grain bullet...makes a very nice shoot all day plinking load that still hits very hard.

 

[Shorty4T]

Sadly the Hemingway is no more but I still enjoy shooting the big bores. Of late I have been loading the 450 Alaskan with a case full of Trail Boss and a 400 grain bullet...makes a very nice shoot all day plinking load that still hits very hard.

Excellent rifles Detonics, I like the idea of the 375/338. Autoloading rifles in large calibers are very interesting. Vigilance Rifles makes one in 505 Gibbs that has to be seen to be believed but at 17 lbs. it wouldn't be my ideal hunting rifle.

Many members of Accurate Reloading's Big Bore forum often get together and have what they call a Hoot n' Shoot at various places around the country, this is similar to your Hemingway Shoot. One of the mods lives near Houston and they have two a year. There is another member in AZ that has something very close to the Hemingway Shoot at a club in AZ. You can see some pictures here: Arizona Rifleshooting.com

I haven't made it to one of these yet but it's definately on my to do list.

Cheers,
Sam

 

[dtremaine]

Just love big guns

I also love big guns. My biggest handgun is a S&W 500 Mag
I shoot both the 300 and 440 grain bullets.
In long guns I have a 375 H&H, a 300 Weatherby, and a few 45-70 rifles. Don

 

[NYlakesider]

I also love big guns. My biggest handgun is a S&W 500 Mag
I shoot both the 300 and 440 grain bullets.
In long guns I have a 375 H&H, a 300 Weatherby, and a few 45-70 rifles. Don

Welcome new member! A nice section of heavy boomers for sure.

I see you resurrected an old but good thread .Business on the forum will be a little light today due to the holiday, but keep checking and I think you will get some more posting.

Afraid my biggest boomers is a couple of M 29s and a few conventional hunting rifles but I have enjoyed shooting a .460 Weatherbee at my club in the past!

 

[Drm50]

Big Bores

I've had them all at one time or the other, the largest bore I have
now is a old JM Marlin 45/70. Less than a year ago I started the
process of thinning out my rifle rack. It is really hard to part with
a gun you have had for 50 yrs. Anyway I started in selling off the
big bore & magnums.For some reason the 375 H&H was the one
that was hardest to get rid of. Every time I go in gun room and
see the row of 375 shell boxes, I could kick myself for offing it.
I will probably get another one even if I have no further use for
a 375.

 

[Art Doc]

Well, since this thread is back in business...

Seems strange for recoil sensitive guy like like me to have big caliber rifles but I do have a couple. Mostly I do not enjoy shooting them. I never said that I made sense.

Had a 460 Jeffrey built on a Remington Model 30 action 30 years ago. A couple years back the same smith built a companion rifle on another M30 in 300 H&H. The cool factor on matching rifles is off the chart.

Stylish...brutal recoil.

Not a Magnum but in this lightweight carbine it rattles the teeth. With 250 grain 45 Colt slugs loaded to 1200 FPS a fun plinker.

Much heavier than the Trapdoor so recoil is tamed a bit, but still delivers a stout kick. This is maybe the most accurate rifle I own. Cuts cloverleaf groups at 50 yards.

Are we including 375s? If so I have a BRNO 602.

And a 375 double.

 

[gregintenn]

Not me! I consider a 30-06 a "big gun".

 

[Smoke]

http://youtube/oLE86U8VSbU

This is a big gun

 

[Lt JL]

In rifle terms, a 45-70 is the biggest I have. But in my younger, pre-retirement days, Many times I hunted the most dangerous animal of all with a Remington 870.

 

[EQGuy]

My biggest bore was a .45 3 1/4" Sharps on a first year production 1885 Winchester. It had been rebarreled of course. I recently sold it and used the proceeds to buy a 28 gauge Remington 1100 shotgun. I recently also sold my .338 Win Magnum. I kept the 338/300 WSM in case I want to punish myself. If I really want to hurt myself I can always grab the 45-70 Remington #3 Hepburn with the curved steel butt plate. My shoulder is throbbing just thinking about it. Ain't no way I would ever pull the trigger on a .460 Weatherby.

 

[armadillo]

I love to handle and shoot my Winchester M-71 in .348.

Years ago I took a push-feed M-70 in .375 H&H which shoots really well.

A friend has a German-made double rifle in 9.3x74. He bought the dies and asked me to load him some ammo. We took it out to try and I went first - both barrels were dead on at 75 yards. After he saw me shoot he didn't take his turn. Can's say I blamed him since he had by-pass surgery that year.

 

[cussedemgun]

You sir, are a better, stronger man than me!

I have a brace of 500 S&Ws, love them both.

In the rifle realm, back when I was just out of the Army in the early '70s I bought a Winchester M70 in 375H&H and shot it extensively for a decade, it was my only hunting rifle and I used it on everything from plinking at rocks to gophers to elk. In fact, I shot the barrel out of that gun and sent it back to Winchester for rebarreling. .

Any man that can shoot out a 375 h&h IS ONE MACHO DUDE! Not say'en it can't be done, but he has to be into self-induced-pain more than anyone I wanna hang with.

I my own self have 3 375h&h rifles plus misc. larger guns, BUT I gots to tell it like it is;
they're all "lightly used"

 

[Frank46]

Well my forays into shooting large bore rifles was started and stopped with an old winchester model 70 in 375 H&H. One box later and I had all the fun I could stand. That one went down the road very shortly thereafter. I do have a Ruger #1 in 45/70 and mostly sees cast bullets. My 50 caliber carbine is a 1870's Peabody single shot in 56-50 rimfire which will when I get the money have converted to centerfire. Don't even shoot the Ruger Redhawk in 44 mag. Have three S&W's in 44 special so they satisfy my big bore urges. Frank

 

[drgbike]

Well lets see I have 3 H&R Handis 45-70, 1 Handi Classic 28 inch barrel 45-70, 1 Handi 28 inch 38-55, A 98 Mexican in 458x2 custom built, 2 Smle s 24 inch 45-70, 1Sharps 45-90 30 inch, 1 Rollin Block custom mannlicher stocked in 50-90, 1 Siamese custom in 45-70,1 handi in 444 Marlin,1 Siamese custom in 375 JDJ 24 inch, and workin on a 9.3x62 Mauser, 141 Rem in 35 rem. I will get some pics up this week. Not really a big bore but a Ruger semi auto 44mag and a 92 in 357. I really like big bores. I have an article in converting a smle to 444 and one on rebarrelig 91-30 to 45-70, maybe winter????

 

[Kinman]

I love my flintlock smoothbore, it was built by a friend of mine that builds truly museum quality rifles and pistols. I had to talk him out of it and worked on him for over a year. He always called it his "farmers" gun. Its in 68 caliber and fires a patched round ball of 460grns, or 13-32 caliber balls, or 2ounces of #4 shot. It is suprisingly accurate at 50yds considering there is no rifling in the barrel, capable of shooting a fairly tight group in a 6" bull. If it was the one rifle a guy shot he could get very handy with it, I am sure of that. I shoot too many blackpowder rifles and spend less time with the smoothbore, however the more time I do spend with it the more I like it and if I had to choose just one I would take the smoothbore, just for sheer flexibility. Most of the deer I have shot in my life were killed at close range, I have always been more inclined to sit and wait or set up in an advantageous spot, still hunting if nothing comes my way. If I ever decide to hunt again it will be with this smoothbore, maybe turkeys this coming fall.

 

[Cyrano]

When I was young and foolish (now I'm old and foolish), I bought a Winchester Model 70 in 458. Kept it for a while and shot it some, often with cast bullet loads. It broke the innards of the Weaver K4 I mouned on it. Finally sold it after I got back from a tour of duty in Alaska; I realized that as long as I had it, inevitably sometime I'd be maneuvered into a position where I had to shoot the thing, and that was no fun. Gotta say, though, that it didn't kick as hard as a friend's Ruger #3 in 45-70; a lot lighter and really painful to shoot.