Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Your worst recoil experience?

I have my first gun I purchased at 16, a double Stevens 12 gauge. For some reason both barrels go off when you pull the right barrel trigger. I paid 60.00 for it in 1969. I bought it at a Globe store. It give a good jolt when both barrels go off when you aren’t expecting it.

I bought my first double while in my late teens…. a exposed hammer gun. I made the immature decision to cock both hammers, place two fingers into the trigger guard, thinking that this was a faster way to get off two shots with the double…….boy was I right! 😁 memtb

My worst recoil experience was a cumulative effect. In a moment of enthusiastic stupidity, I decided to sight in & shoot four rifles in one sitting:

Ruger #1 - 303 British
Ruger #1 - 9.3x74r
Winchester 1885 Octagon Safari - 375 H&H Magnum
Winchester 1885 Traditional Hunter (metal butt plate) - 405 Winchester (with handloaded 400gr Woodleigh Weldcores)

I was having fun during the middle of the pandemic / ammunition shortage so every time I pulled the trigger it sounded like a cash register ringing $$$. I'm not sure how much money I burned through that afternoon but it was cathartic. My shoulder was a nice color of purple the next morning. It actually felt pretty good in a weird sort of way.

Maybe it was just the day or what, but a Benelli Nova 12 gauge 3-1/2" gun shooting a 3-1/2" turkey shell with a 2-1/4oz payload just about loosened teeth in my head! Lol! One of those shells, in that gun, was more than enough...

TC Cherokee in 45. Something about the stock design and my facial structure. Stock hits me square on the boney part of my cheek/face directly under my right eye. I've had it since I was a kid and it hasn't gotten better with age.....

The only magnum I've ever shot is a 7mm. However, to go along with the theme of boat paddles, I used a Ruger M77 .30-06 boat paddle. That thing kicked worse than a rented mule. I'm in the same boat (pun not intended) that it took many smaller rounds to re-learn not to flinch.

Easily my 300 wby Mark V

Teammate and I trying all afternoon to get a Barret M107 dialed in. Hurt to shoot my M4 the next day!

12 gauge 3" magnum with rifle slugs, 2nd was an1886 Winchester 45-70 shooting 500gr cast bullets

Remington 870 Express with 20" slug barrel and open sights, firing rifled slugs. 3 shots from a bag was a guaranteed headache.

Worst recoil experience with a handgun would be shooting 5 of M_Stevenson's handloads through his shortened (4"-ish) SuperRedhawk in .480 Ruger. Damn...

A 458 Win in a lightweight synthetic stock, it had a peep sight and no scope it weighted about 6-1/2 lbs.
I shot it off of a bench and on the first shot it jumped clear of the sandbags and I barely managed to keep the fore-end from hitting the bench. It was like being kicked by a mule - of course I figured that all I had to do was hold it slightly differently and it wouldn't be so bad. Wrong - the second shot hurt worse than the first. So I can say that I have had a grand total of two shots through a 458 Win, I don't want to kill anything bad enough to ever do a third one.

drover

.470 NE. Guy at the range maybe 20 years ago. Light gun. Way too light. Too short for me to boot.

Shot a few (owner didn’t want to), laughed it up, but it was more than a handful. Did not inspire confidence in terms of saving my life. It was just too hard to handle.

I've shot a bolt 50 BMG without a muzzle break on a Mauser magnum action. It wasn't the worst. Maybe because I was holding her tight, and the rifle was heavy.
I think shooting a double 3" Magnum in a light double barrel might have been the worst. Maybe because I wasn't expecting both barrels to go off simultaneously
My 416 Rigby Ruger 77's stock did not fit me well. It caused headaches rather quickly; I was shooting close to 416 Weatherby power loads in it though (no muzzle break).
The friend who had the 50 BMG also had a 460 Weatherby, especially ordered without a muzzle break, shooting heavy loads in that wasn't something I'd like to do all day.

10 gauge slug out of an old H&R single shot... one shot... never again. Glad that thing wasn't mine is all I can say. Fugger about knocked me crosseyed.

1st gen mossberg 835 with federal 3 1/2in 2 1/4oz #6 turkey loads. I've read in the past those loads were about equivalent to a 458 winchester....and all to kill a bird.

I talked to a guy who turkey hunts with a 10ga single, said he belly crawled up onto a railroad track once to snipe a bird on the other side. Said he woke up 30 minutes later after pulling trigger.

I can only imagine.

3 1/2” 10 ga Rem SP-10 was bad enough and it’s a lot heavier than the SS version.

DF

Have a 405 win on a TC Encore that is not so much fun. It is however more accurate than my friends thought it would be. They declined the opportunity to shoot it however. Big holes going in and out of Ca deer.

This.

Never shot a 10 gauge that was even close to the recoil of these or a Benelli 3.5" auto.

Those things flat out kick.

I can literally see that playing out in Elmer Fudd cartoon fornat in my head 🤣