What's The Largest, Most Powerful Gun You've Ever Fired - Smallarm-wise?
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Hand-carried: 3.5" rocket launcher, about 200 rounds. Ears rang for a week or so. (Ammo Lt. erred in ammo order, and had all the crates unsealed. "You guys shoot that all up, so I don't have to sign in each round individually."
Truck-towed: 105 mm. howitzer, about 18 months. Ears still ringing after 50 years.
As the old 1Sgt usta say, "You gotta love it!! Nobody does this s*** just for the money."
Truck-towed: 105 mm. howitzer, about 18 months. Ears still ringing after 50 years.
As the old 1Sgt usta say, "You gotta love it!! Nobody does this s*** just for the money."
Ducky2002
Member
Double barrel 12 gauge unexpectedly doubled on me with two loads of 00 Buck Shot. My hat turned 90 degrees on my head and my shooting glasses were on the ground behind me.
Evil Dog
US Veteran
Fired a .458 once... absolutely no desire for a second shot.
I owned a 50 BMG bolt gun for a couple of years. It was fun and entertaining, but I don't believe I care to take on anything any bigger than that. I have a .458 Win. Mag. now and that's plenty.
Mine would be a 458 win mag. I was a lot younger.
I own a Ruger Model 77 Safari in 416 Rigby, I would suggest that most folks could shoot it with proper instruction.
I shot a 458 Winchester Magnum many years ago and if I recall correctly it was pretty rowdy but it has been too many years for me to make an accurate comparison. Perhaps someone here will know what the recoil values of the 2 cartridges are.
Left to right, a .416 Rigby cartridge with a 410 grain solid, next a .38 Special with a 158 grain bullet and lastly a .22 stinger with a 32 grain bullet.
As for reloading, the 416 Rigby is a real powder hog, with loads typically using anywhere between 95 to 105 grains that equals to 72 or 66 rounds per pound.
terry
Oldiron
US Veteran
Have shot Barretts in 50 bmg and 338 lapua mag. Have shot #1s in 375 H&H, 45-70 and 500 Nitro. Contenders from ,223 to 375 H&H, 69 cal musket with a 730 gr mini ball. The worst was the #1 in 45-70. Why I have no idea but it was just unpleasant to shoot.
Pistols, I have shot most. .22 to 50 S&W including 45-70 in a Contender (14" barrel) and in a BFR. Worst was a .454 in a Freedom Arms.
I have said it before, but to shoot a 45-70 in a pistol , shoot it one handed. If you try to hold a death grip with both hands it will try its best to twist your wrists 180 degrees and come out of your hands. Single handed it will roll the wrist, elbow, shoulder and waist but comes right back to home. Larry
Pistols, I have shot most. .22 to 50 S&W including 45-70 in a Contender (14" barrel) and in a BFR. Worst was a .454 in a Freedom Arms.
I have said it before, but to shoot a 45-70 in a pistol , shoot it one handed. If you try to hold a death grip with both hands it will try its best to twist your wrists 180 degrees and come out of your hands. Single handed it will roll the wrist, elbow, shoulder and waist but comes right back to home. Larry
Old TexMex
Member
Old model 70 in 458, 338 lapua, a Barrett. The double barrei 10 guage was the most painful (A bottle of Dry Sack in a cold wet duck blind, long ago and not very far away.) both barrels. No mas.
The hardest kicking I've encountered was a friend's 55 caliber Boys AT rifle. You could get ammo for it back then. I made the mistake of shooting it prone from the bed of a Toyota pick up. I'm pretty long, and my feet were against the front of the bed. When the gun went off, I would have recoiled with it, but my feet were against the bed and I could go back no further. So my back bent instead. I can feel it yet on a cold, wet day.
model70hunter
Member
45-70's trapdoor and a Marlin 1895, little babies.
Worked up loads in a friends 458 Win, Does get ones attention.
I've owned several 375 H&H, no problems bench or other wise.
I built a custom Mauser in 416 Rem. That thing was nasty, I shot it at 25 to check my bore sight and the bench to fine tune was brutal.
I've owned many MAgs at the same time, 264 Win and 270 WY. The larger bore 270 seemed to recoil less.
Recoil seemed less for the following;
338 less than a 300 Win mag.
340 less than a 300 WBY.
Maybe it was just me but I felt bore size impacted recoil more than bullet weight.
I once had a 3 screw Ruger 7.5" in 45 colt. I had about 200 plus Genuine Elmer Keith 255 grain tank stoppers loaded. I sold the pistol and told the guy I was going to shoot my ammo up before I handed it over. He had never shot any nor tried it. Ok with him since I said it was pat of the deal. Around the end of the 2nd box I felt stinging on my rt palm, a dime size blister had formed and twisted off from the back and twist up to the rt recoil.
I put on gloves and finished, My hand felt like some one had been whacking it with a pool que. It was ok soon, but hurt that night.
A friend had a 30 Herret and a 35 Rem BBL for his TC, he won his class in the state championship on the hog chicken steel plate thing. HE hunted with the 35 REM, I fired it a few times, you can feel the wrist bones compressing. He wore a padded glove in shoots with the Herret. He reloaded, they may have been lowered too.
I've shot a few african rifles, again what I perceive is the bigger the bore the bigger push one gets, a similar size round with a smaller bore gives a harder kick.
Worked up loads in a friends 458 Win, Does get ones attention.
I've owned several 375 H&H, no problems bench or other wise.
I built a custom Mauser in 416 Rem. That thing was nasty, I shot it at 25 to check my bore sight and the bench to fine tune was brutal.
I've owned many MAgs at the same time, 264 Win and 270 WY. The larger bore 270 seemed to recoil less.
Recoil seemed less for the following;
338 less than a 300 Win mag.
340 less than a 300 WBY.
Maybe it was just me but I felt bore size impacted recoil more than bullet weight.
I once had a 3 screw Ruger 7.5" in 45 colt. I had about 200 plus Genuine Elmer Keith 255 grain tank stoppers loaded. I sold the pistol and told the guy I was going to shoot my ammo up before I handed it over. He had never shot any nor tried it. Ok with him since I said it was pat of the deal. Around the end of the 2nd box I felt stinging on my rt palm, a dime size blister had formed and twisted off from the back and twist up to the rt recoil.
I put on gloves and finished, My hand felt like some one had been whacking it with a pool que. It was ok soon, but hurt that night.
A friend had a 30 Herret and a 35 Rem BBL for his TC, he won his class in the state championship on the hog chicken steel plate thing. HE hunted with the 35 REM, I fired it a few times, you can feel the wrist bones compressing. He wore a padded glove in shoots with the Herret. He reloaded, they may have been lowered too.
I've shot a few african rifles, again what I perceive is the bigger the bore the bigger push one gets, a similar size round with a smaller bore gives a harder kick.
BUFF
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
"A friend had a 30 Herret and a 35 Rem BBL for his TC.... HE hunted with the 35 REM, I He wore a padded glove in shoots with the Herret."
My first Contender was a 10" .30 Herrett. I had a 2X Leupold EER on it, well secured with Loctite on the screws and bow string rosin under the rings. Kicked so sharply it broke the scope, shaking the recticle loose. I returned it to Leupold who promptly repaired it. It broke again. They fixed it again. It broke again, and when Leupold fixed it and returned it, they said if it broke a fourth time, please send them the whole barrel with the scope attached, implying my mounting was faulty. It broke again, and I sent them the whole thing. They fixed it and the note said my mounting job was fine.
By then, the hole in the frame for the pivot pin was worn oblong. My dealer traded it, with the scope, straight across for a new Contender with no scope. I got a .30-30 barrel and for some reason it seemed to recoil less sharply, but is still a flamethrower.
My first Contender was a 10" .30 Herrett. I had a 2X Leupold EER on it, well secured with Loctite on the screws and bow string rosin under the rings. Kicked so sharply it broke the scope, shaking the recticle loose. I returned it to Leupold who promptly repaired it. It broke again. They fixed it again. It broke again, and when Leupold fixed it and returned it, they said if it broke a fourth time, please send them the whole barrel with the scope attached, implying my mounting was faulty. It broke again, and I sent them the whole thing. They fixed it and the note said my mounting job was fine.
By then, the hole in the frame for the pivot pin was worn oblong. My dealer traded it, with the scope, straight across for a new Contender with no scope. I got a .30-30 barrel and for some reason it seemed to recoil less sharply, but is still a flamethrower.
The one that intrigues me is the Bonds 45.70 derringer.
I s'pose as a last ditch desperation move, with a grizzly gnawing on me, maybe -- just maybe! -- I'd pull the trigger. (If I was really, really hammered, that is.)
But other than that, I don't think so.
I s'pose as a last ditch desperation move, with a grizzly gnawing on me, maybe -- just maybe! -- I'd pull the trigger. (If I was really, really hammered, that is.)
But other than that, I don't think so.
deadin
US Veteran
Now as to the most I have been "damaged" by a rifle would be a M94 Winchester carbine.
A friend and I were out at the gravel pit plinking away, my 30/06 M1917 Enfield and his 30/30 '94. He wanted to shoot my '06 so I figured I would try his carbine. I picked it up and the first thing that went through my mind was "Daisy Red Ryder BB gun". (I was much younger at the time ..)
Anyway, I threw it up to my shoulder, didn't take a good grip on it, and that little sucker jumped right up and bit me between the eyes.
(That's what I get for not showing any respect...)
A friend and I were out at the gravel pit plinking away, my 30/06 M1917 Enfield and his 30/30 '94. He wanted to shoot my '06 so I figured I would try his carbine. I picked it up and the first thing that went through my mind was "Daisy Red Ryder BB gun". (I was much younger at the time ..)
Anyway, I threw it up to my shoulder, didn't take a good grip on it, and that little sucker jumped right up and bit me between the eyes.
(That's what I get for not showing any respect...
)
Bill Bates
Member
For me it was a friends Remington 700 chambered in .416 Rem. Mag.
I fired it once and that was enough.
I fired it once and that was enough.
Bozz10mm
US Veteran
I shot a friends Model 29 a couple of times. It didn't seem so bad. Not as bad as the hot Georgia Arms ammo I shot in my 45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk. Now that was painful.
Thompson Contender in 45/70 for a handgun, and a Ruger #1 in 458 Win Mag for a rifle. I feel it is impossible to hold the 45/70 on target when breaking the shot, the recoil pushes the gun up and back. Just a couple shots were enough. The 458 wasn't that bad, and I did hit my target, a steel 24" hanging plate at 285 yards. It did leave a pretty good bruise on my shoulder, you should have more than a T-Shirt on when you shoot it.
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