Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only What Is A Big Bore??

And the definition gets weirder when spoken of by people who don't shoot. We frequently hear on the news of someone being shot with a large caliber handgun and then we find out it was a 9mm or a .38 Special.

Is John "Podoro: Taylor's tome "African Rifles and Cartridges" enough of a valid reference sourse. How about the definitions from the various British Proof Houses and gunmakers who developed and tested all these cartridges back at the dawn of the 20th Century? works for me. jorge

Let someone shoot either a German or Jap 378 Wby (super light barrel and no brake) and then try and convince them that 375 is not a big bore

Agree with jorg and tonk. I'll leave it to the Brits and African standards to determine what a big bore or medium is.When it comes to big bore rifles and truly large game,Americans are rookies at both.

As unequivocally valid and meaningless as every other reference to 'big'. Define a big deer, a big truck, et al.

I thought traditionaly it was .40 and larger. But in the US my impression is that it starts with the .375. And I'm ok with that too.

Probably the same people that see this:


And say "nice Water Buffalo." or depending of what the meaning of "is" is.

jorge you must be kidding it doesn't have big enough horns to be a water buffalo. HeHeHe. Cheers NC

Jorge, yeah, mine gets called a water buffalo by the non hunter types all of the time, sometimes by a deer hunter as well. I gently explain the difference.....

IIRC this is correct, the original term "Big Bore" was used to describe the large caliber "bore" rifles used on early African game. These rifles were so terribly painful to shoot that calibers like the .458 and other modern day "big bore" rifles were developed as a suitable replacement.

Who says it doesn't pay to read all the brochures at the SCI conference. Personally I like the designation of .40 and higher for modern rifles. Not handgun rounds that are used in rifles.

isn't it just easier to talk about the cartridge you're shooting, rather than worrying about what classification of bore size it's in?

again, "big bore" is an outdated, useless designation that is utterly meaningless unless it's clearly defined - which it's not ... at least not these days.

I find it amusing that less than 1/100th inch of difference in bullet diameter separates the medium-bore 9.3's from the big-bore .375s.

Less than 1/32nd of an inch separates .375 from .40. That's a little thicker than the average finger-nail.

Some people I know define big-bore as any cartridge that will knock the shooting glasses off your nose. Others say it's any round that results in a headache after three rounds. One smart-ass even suggested that anybody who thinks he can define "big bore" with a number is one.

40 or above in my opinion

Agreed 100% it made sense when talking about 4 bore and 6 bore not so much anymore.

this post.

safariman

I picked up one of those plastic Rem 700 in .375H&H NIB online for about $520. I feel that I can be critical about them. I've not shot it yet, but the first thing that I noticed is that I can not get down on the open sights with that stock. Duh!

Maybe I'll sell it to someone due too it being NIB and get a CZ or the old Whitworth that I have always wanted.

Despite the nitpicking, we have to start somewhere...

This thread is located in the Forum list under: "Big Bores Only" Think I'll go get some sleep now, and go hunting tomorrow... much more profitable!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

If it makes no sense then why do we have a big bore forum? Seems that there should be a definition don't you think

Sorry but that was Al Millers very own classification and it just does not hold water, not one drop. The Big Bores start at the .40 classification and go upward from their.

The beloved .375H&H caliber is a "medium bore" and always well be regardless if somebody else trys to publish their material can call it something different.

Yawwwwnnnnnnnn......this is worse than an Energizer Bunny commercial......