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460 Weatherby! Thought it detached my retina!!

460 Weatherby. A friend had it and a box of ammo with 19 rounds left. That should have been a clue. He asked me if I wanted to buy it but he let me shoot it first. If he still has it I'll wager that there are 18 rounds left in the box.

"Contenders suck period." Yup, shot one of the originals in 44 mag with an Octagon lt weight barrel that was threaded for the choke tube,without the tube using hot 240 gr JHP WW factory loads. 3 shots I quit on it. Memory doesn't work everytime, another buddy got a contender with TC scope in 45-70 1 shot was all that took. Had a hard right shot with a pre 64 308 FWT and the checkered aluminum buttplate gave me a checkered collar bone ,it went away.The 835 Ultimag was the worst with turkey loads, I knew better but had it to do,least wise I was smart enuf to be standing when I did it. My BPS 10 doesn't bother me that bad. I've learned to roll with the recoil with my 50 3 1/4" Sharps. Lower recoiling rounds are definitely getting my attn these days. magnum Man

Remington 870 with federal hi shok 3" slugs. I was 14 and shooting in summer with light clothes from a low bench. Only made it through 3 of the five in the box. My father laughed at me and said "give me that". He shot the last two and one more box to sight in, then told me years later it hurt him just as much, but he couldnt show it.

450 marlin , only took one time.....

Several years ago I was at a rifle range with a couple of
friends and another guy about 3 benches down fired his
rifle with a muzzle brake on it, I think it was a 7 mag or
a 300 mag. The firing line has a metal roof and talk about
startled and losing your concentration for a little while.

Worst I ever owned was a Ithica 12 ga Deerslayer (the original one's) shooting mag slugs. Very light weight and a [bleep] recoil pad didn't help.

ruger boatpaddle .270. have still not shot anything but maybe a slug gun that just plain HURT.

maybe it was the shape of the stock or something. who knows. i shoot a remington 700 .270 and it has never bothered me a bit.

I am showing my age a tad with this one, but a friend had a Ruger #3 in 45-70 that was not factory drilled or tapped. He was shooting a handload behind 405 gr. SP's (lightest bullet then available) that was so heavy (can't remember the powder type), but it was necessary to throw half the charge, tamp it a bit with a wooden dowel, then throw the other half, in order to get the bullet's to properly seat, and as you can imagine, you could not shake the cartridge and hear the powder moving! we went out behind the load house, and I took the first shot. It was like getting hit with 2-2x4's, one on the cheek, the other in the shoulder! My bud was standing behind and to my left (I am right handed). I cracked the action open and handed it to him while looking at the ground. he dropped one in, and did not have his face on the stock properly when he touched it off, and bit off a tad of the side of his tongue!

2 shots and the day was thru - he was off to the doc, a towel pressed to his ought for the blood, and I nursed my shoulder as it turned pruple, whilst cleaning blood and tongue bits off the gun!

I've had a 375 H&H sitting in the safe for 3 years now, before I put any money into it I'm going to get some 235 grainers and see if I can handle it, biggest I've ever shot is a 300. Slugs out of an 1100 are not to bad. Kinda surprised at how many guys feel they need a 3.5 in for turkey in this thread.

Been down the Ruger #3 45-70 route and for the life of me I can't remember what rifle/caliber gave me scope eye. The Long Tom was insufferable. At about 8 years of age my Grandfather let me shoot a 38 revolver at a chicken snake. Never having shot a pistol I of course fired it with bent elbows, which recoiled and beaned me right between the eyes and forehead.

Once I was sighting in a 12ga slug gun. I broke the scope mounts twice in that day and fired 60 slug rounds that day. For a week, I scratched my head by rubbing it on a tree.

Three memorable ones for me and it wasn't the two different .458 Winchesters with handloads. The first was a Remington 700 ADL 30-06 with the checkered aluminum butt plate. I was sighting it in for a friend of the family during the summer. He had some old military loads that I think were 172 grain and from a bench with just a tee shirt those hurt. Second was a Ruger 300 Win Mag with Sierra 200 grain handloads. I was sitting at the edge of a road and shooting downhill into a drainage so I was unable to "roll" with the recoil. Last and worst was a straight stock Marlin 45-70 with 400 grain Speer flatpoints and a max load of 3031. Again, shooting from the bench sighting in. It had the .125 inch thick rubber pad which I think just gave it more traction! That one brough tears to my eyes. I love my .280.

H&R 3.5 in. 12 ga. with 2.25 oz. turkey loads. I find most people that try that combo decide it doesn't take so much to kill a turkey.

I've only been "bumped" but not cut. I sent all the scopes with too short eye relief down the road.

Not on me but with one of my rifles. Had a reall comando, ninja 5th degree black belt type ask me if he could shoot my old 300 Wby built on a FN by Wby in 1954 for an uncle of mine.

I said sure but when you start bleeding please don't drop my rifle. He smirked and proced to open his head enough that it took over 20 stitches to close. Saw him a week later and one eye was still swollen shut and everything above his cheeks to his hairline was black and blue. He didn't drop the gun but had blood dripping off of his nose before I could grab it out of his hands.

That old gun has pretty substantial recoil, but it really jumps when you crank it up with 180's.

I tried to warn him but I think he believed the 5th degree black belt made him bullet proof?

Another vote for 45/70, 405 grain remingtons with a very stiff load of something I can't remember, I will be selling that rifle in the very near future.

.378 Weatherby in a wood stocked mark v. The guy had the rifle and 17 rds of ammo ,he's still got the rifle and 16 rds.

Fired about 24 shots from a .470 nitro at an akward position one after noon. Shoulder was so swollen, and bruised the next day I couldnt go to work! Looked like a damn horse kicked me. It was really bad.

One was a Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun loaded with cartridges approaching .458 Mag. velocity. I wasn't told and wasn't ready for the recoil.

The other was a cheap 5 1/2 Lb. Spanish 12 Ga. double trigger O/U loaded with 3" OO buckshot. It would cut your finger with the front trigger if you didn't wear gloves. Made me flinch too.