Largest / Most Powerful gun you've fired

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.

Pistols/Revolvers... .44 S&W Magnum in a S&W M-29.

Rifles... .458 Winchester in a Winchester M-70.

Shotgun... 12 Ga. 1 1/4 oz. high brass ... mostly for dove, but also
some slugs and 00 buckshot for deer.
 
I'm as boring as can be.

Shotgun: 12ga 3" magnum buckshot. A few slugs, but they're no big deal.

Rifle: 30/06 I had for a few years. Finally wondered "why" and sold it.

Handgun: 44 Superblackhawk. Mostly shot 44 special level loads, but did fire off a few Magnums. With the standard Ruger grips it would kick the fire out of me. A switch to Pachmyers tamed it a lot.
 
I used to work at Barret Firearms, so lots and lots of .50BMG off the shoulder. I've shot as many as 15 rifles in an afternoon for score before they were packed up and delivered to the Army, 10 rounds apiece. This may not sound like much, but all the shooting was done laying on a concrete floor, with the barrel protruding through two sets of doors. The muzzle blast, even with the door set-up, was ridiculous.

I did my best shooting with their worst rifle, an M95. A bullpup design, 5rd mag-fed, obnoxious piece of dung.... I put eight rounds in one ragged hole before my nerves gave out and I started throwing "flinchies" everywhere. The cocking handle lay approx. 1" from my larynx, as I shoot left-handed, and bumped my throat during recoil every shot.
 
The most powerful handgun I've shot was a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Magnum. That's the one with the frame extension over the barrel, right? I think it was a 6" barrel. I was taking a firearms course and part of the curriculum was to shoot a variety of handguns, the .44 being the last one. I rapid-fired 6 rounds through that gun. I'm not sure what kind of ammo it was, but I'm pretty sure it was factory ammo and I remember being told it was full-power loads. The palm of my hand was bright red afterwards.

The most powerful long gun I've fired was a 12 gauge Remington 870 police shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot as part of another firearms course I took. It was just a brief 2-hour familiarization session. That was several years ago. I hope to own one in the not-too-distant future.
 
Thanks again to John Eilertson, the master resurrector of dead threads for allowing us to take another step back in time to 2009! Well, to the subject at hand:

Largest Gun - 155mm Howitzer (no, I was not FA, but most officers were cross-trained in disciplines outside their primary MOS). Largest MG - M2. 50 BIG. Largest rifle -was 460 Weatherby Mag in a Weatherby Mk V. Largest shotgun - 10 Gauge side by side double, especially since it would fire both barrels simultaneously when we first got it -the 3 1/2" magnum loads! Largest handgun - my. 500 S&W, 8 3/8" barrel, heaviest kick and muzzle blast king - 4" S&W 500. Largest BB gun - Daisy Model 94, smallest BB gun - Daisy Peacemaker (copy of a Colt SAS, between the two, I was the best-armed 10 year old in the neighborhood, but that was a long time before 2009!


Don't worry John Eilertson, we're still working on that time machine to rescue you from the time warp - just haven't heard back from H.G. Wells yet.
 
Last edited:
.460 Weatherby Magnum

.460 Weatherby Mag. with the Pendleton muzzle break--The punch and push are both awful. It feels like a 54 Buick is sideswiping you at around 70mph in the shoulder pocket.
 
Biggest one I own, 300 Weatherby Magnum.

Biggest one my Uncle Sam let me shoot, 50 BMG MA 2.

Unless you can count calling NGFS (Naval Gun Fire Support) 5" x 54"

3013624854_3f28d89352.jpg

3013625832_a4bfa33c5a.jpg

3013626044_09d5eb6af3.jpg


ONE SHOT 12 KILLS NAVAL GUNFIRE SUPPORT
 
Does military training count? I fired a 3.5 bazooka when I was in the service. You are loaded by your partner, patted on your helment and then you sight it in, and pull the most anemic trigger I have ever pulled (electrically fired, actually), and then the most unbelieveable noise and devastation you can imagine happens right in front of your eyes.
 
Last edited:
Biggest shoulder weapon for me is either the .470 Nitro (one round from a Bud Searcy double rifle), or the .50 BMG in a couple of single shots and one .50 MG. The .50 single shots were more comfortable to shoot than the .470. The Big 50 was more fun.

Largest handgun a Desert Eagle in .50 AE (I think). It is owned by the same guy with the .470. A .45-70 revolver he owns was fun to shoot too.

Another buddy has a black powder cannon I have gotten to shoot occasionally. It's about a 2.5 inch bore. Makes a lot of smoke and the lead ball penetrates like crazy in a dirt berm. Old lead bullets picked up at the range make interesting cannister shot too. He uses old plastic jars or tinfoil to hold the shot for loading. Makes a mess of a refrigerator carton if aimed right too.
 
Back
Top