Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Largest cartridge you can handle?

I am curious as to where other guys top out as to which cartridge is getting to be too rude for them to handle. I personally can handle a .270 with 130's pushed to the max and a .308 with 165's truckin pretty good. But those are the largest guns I have and don't really desire to go much bigger. Just curious where you guys start gettin uncomfortable and groups start to open up.

I had a 300 Win Mag knock me back into the minor league. A 270 is about as much as I care to play with at a bench without taking extra precautions (recoil shield).

For me, my 338 Win mags give me all I want for recoil.

Richard

22 LR........

It only took one shot for me to realize very fast that a non-braked 378 wby mag is not my friend. I think I'd rather have been clipped by a Geo Metro or similiar...

Hey, at least you are man enough to admit it!

i 'll shoot 50-60 rounds a session out of my unbraked 300 rum praticing

depends on what rifle im shooting it out of and how it fits me.....my Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70 with top end loads is above what i can handle for more than one or two shots but thats due to how the rifle fits me......i can soak up alot of recoil if the impulse is slow......dont care for quick jabs.....i could shoot the light 375WSM well enough when i had it for a shot or two but the stocks wrist was to skinny for my hands and kinda slick so my knuckles took a hell of a beating on the bolt handle and trigger guard due to my hand slipping on every shot....that was causing me to flinch much more than the hit my shoulder was taking.....

I suppose that body size, frame size, build and strength may have something to do with one`s recoil tolerance either from the bench or in the field.

From the bench, I can do and have done 40 to 60 rounds with my 375 Ruger Alaskan with just my Hawaiian shirt or tank top on. Ooooops! I do wear pants too! Just thought I`d clarify that!!

That is not at the top of my particular tolerance level though. What is, was 40 rounds of 460 Wby (with no brake), full power 500 gr. re-loads that I did from the bench,,, on a bet.....I won the bet!!!! Shoulder very sore, but my pocket was full of crispy 100`s!!!!.........

Have no idea really, but my 30-378 gets my attention if I don't have the brake on. Runs about 120 gr of H870.

If I hit you in that shoulder afterward, would ya be prone to hit me back? LOL

416 WBY. is over my limit
Probably 375 H&H, though above that I have limited experience.

it can get a little sore

I can shoot my 9lb 338WM for quite a few rounds, even off the bench. My new 8 3/4lb 375HH is a bit much off the bench but off shooting sticks it is much better. It is all the rifle I want to shoot from a bench and is as large as I see myself going.

RH

My 3006 and 338 are pretty comfortable.

My 416 Rigby took some getting used to. When it's loaded right up I think it's as hard kicking as I want to go.

My 8 lb 375 Chatfield Taylor is my worst kicker. 260 accubond going 2775 is the most I care to experience. To quote Clint...a man has got to know his limitations.

Several years ago, I built a .375 Rem Ultra Mag for a Cape Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe. I only shot 8 shells through it before I put a mechanical recoil reducer in the buttstock and had a KDF muzzle brake installed. Now it's not too bad to shoot, even from prone.

It's just way more gun than I need for anything in Montana.

Seven rounds out out a 460 Roy is all that I wanted to shoot --don't care to do it again. Yesterday, I shot my 375 H&H Whitworth for the first time. Not bad but I did feel it after 3 shots and would not hesitate to hunt with it nor am I afraid of it.

I had a friend that swore his .264 Win Mag was the rudest rifle to shoot. It seemed pretty tame to me, but I wasn't sightin her in either.

Another buddy recently bought a Browning A-Bolt slug gun. He must of shot 20 boxes of slugs through her and kept tellin me how it wasn't bad at all. One good poke in the arm while we were headed down range to pick up his targets and he was cursin pretty good!

I've never shot anything big. I've shot a 45-70 with some pretty hot handloads, but I doubt that the recoil was much over 40 lbs of energy.