Recoil Limit

The model of gun matters more than the cartridge to me. The largest caliber I’ve fired is 480 Ruger out of an Alaskan and it wasn’t too bad. 44 magnum out of an old Vaquero on the other hand I hated shooting.

The hardest kicking rifle that I have shot is a Ruger #1 in .416 Rigby. That is manageable.
I have stayed away from the 3" and 3.5" 12 gauges and larger gauges. I have no use for them.
Handguns....my limit was reached with a T/C Encore pistol in 500 S&W while developing loads for a friend. It was loaded with Ranger Rick's 600 grain WFNGC bullets. It hurt from the first shot.
The only gun that ever caught me out, however, (broke my shooting glasses) was a subsonic round (also from a T/C Encore) developed by J.D. Jones of SSK Industries.
He calls it the 50-70-750. Simply put, it is a 50 Gov't case loaded with H322 and topped with a BMG bullet at about 900 fps, fast twist barrel. The recoil pulse in that gun is extremely fast.

My 45-70 with “Marlin” loads kicks harder than my 50 BMG. One shot will visibly damage blood vessels in my shoulder, 3 will form a nice bruise. Any more power than that, I want a heavier rifle and/or a brake.

I had a 460 weatherby I sold when I came to my senses. Im never going to Africa. It kicked like a P O mule.

Now my encore in 300 WM is all the kick I care for.

I really don't enjoy recoil anymore. my m70 06 with a steel but plate is pretty much my max.

My 29-2 44 is about it in handguns.

Hi...
Most powerful rifle I shoot us a 7mmMag , recoil isn't a problem.
Never had any issues shooting 12ga shotgun although I shoot few slugs in mine.
Heavy loads for turkey and buckshot never bothers me.
Handguns...I shoot those a lot. The most powerful I own are .44Mag and .375SuperMag. I shoot them regularly...very few weeks go by where I don't shoot at least 40-50 rounds through my .44Magnum revolvers.
The most powerful handgun I have shot is a .475Linebaugh. Recoil wasn't a problem at all. I would like to eventually have one of my own.
I am 65 years old and health issues make anything with recoil levels above the aforementioned calibers problematic, so I am content at the 7Mag/12ga level.

+P in 45 acp is not something I enjoy or want to practice with.... I have a small box of expensive +Ps that I have no interest in shooting, nor do I carry it, as I don't want to practice with it.

Worst I have experienced is 3.5 12 ga out of a light shotgun. Semi auto barrett .50 was pretty soft felt like a 2 3/4 12 ga.
460 s&w is not bad.
158gr .357 mag out of airlite ti j frame just hurts
but I can manage 5, 15rds my hand is gonna hurt for a week or two.

Kevin Rohrer said:

This is about my limit.

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Ever shot one ?

I regularly load my ammo warm and enjoy such cartridges as 357 Magnum, 10mm, 38 Super, 454 Casull, and S&W 460 Magnum.

I experimented one day in protection from large angry animals, and I surprised myself. I popped off 5 rounds of 325 gr hard casts out of my 460 magnum and managed to keep them on target at 20 yards. No idea on my splits but they were faster that I expected. The not so funny part was that afterwards my hand felt like I had open hand slapped a table top as hard as I could. The funny part was that the range went dead quite. when I realized that I looked on both sides of me at other shooters who were just standing there staring at me. I just yelled out "Sorry!" Afterwards another shooter came over to see what I was shooting and I let him try it out. He had a big grin on his face.

That was my limit. I'd say 5 rounds of rapid fire aimed shots from an X frame is all I care to try, and I don't really care to try anything larger, or more powerful.

Consequently I shoot that gun one handed also, and after firing it it's at a 45 degree upward angle to the target.

BearBrimstone said:

The model of gun matters more than the cartridge to me.

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Same here.
I found my recoil threshold with my Blackhawk in .45 Colt. It was a 300 grain XTP with a very stiff charge of H110 and it hurt. It is likely the old plow handle that hurt me so bad. If it had been a Bisley frame or shot in a double action Redhawk it may not have been so bad.

The worst handgun I've shot was a scandium framed .357 magnum. It wasn't fun.

Long gun wise, the hardest thing I've shot is 3.5" turkey loads out of a pretty light shotgun. Not fun.

Arkansas Paul said:

.45 Colt. It was a 300 grain XTP with a very stiff charge of H110 and it hurt.

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Ruger only loads are no joke, even if shot from an X frame.

3 1/2 10 gauge with hevi-shot.
Rifle is 35 Whelen in a 6 pound rifle.

Haven't found it yet.

My heaviest recoiling rifle is my .375 Ruger Abolt @ 51ft/lbs

The nastiest pistol I owned was a suped up Xd45tac, which was less pleasant than my .44sbh running hot 240s

shotguns, have all been generic loads and haven't found a "nope!" yet.

Trunk Monkey said:

Ever shot one ?

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Not anything quite that big. But I would donate my left nut to science to fire one.

3” mag slugs out of my 12 gauge 870 pump compared to that load my 30x06 feels like a pussy cat

For me it varies by the gun.

I don’t mind firing slugs from a 20” bbl 870, but hearty loads from the Marlin Guide Gun .45/70 can be abusive very quickly.

I do despise magnum revolver loads in lightweight J-frame sized guns. Those slap my hand like a crowbar across the palm.

Stay safe.

handgun ruger - .454
rifle marlin - 45/70 & savage - 300 win mag
shotgun rem 870 " 14 in barrel " - slugs / buckshot
these are the biggest I have fired that I remember and no issue with recoil ,
now that I am getting older I do not know but I my younger years I would shoot anything recoil did not bother me

Caplock said:

I had a 460 weatherby I sold when I came to my senses. Im never going to Africa. It kicked like a P O mule.

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I told this story back last year, but since I don't know how to link to a post coupled with the fact that it's fairly brief I'll quote it entirely here:

There once upon a time was a LGS into which, one day many years ago, walked someone with a fistful of cash who wanted to buy a .460 Weatherby. Of course, in S. Fla it's really only good for hunting something on the scale of Buicks so they didn't have one in stock. The smart guys took the deposit (somewhat over cost + shipping) and ordered it. Moneybags didn't come back for the pickup so after 6 months (the terms on the receipt) they'd take it to the gun club and give anyone who wanted to say they shot one an opportunity to do so, for $5. It was one beautiful, well made, silky operating firearm. And yeah, I shot it. Once.

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For handguns I have two general categories: guns that are a pleasure to shoot, and guns that I can mentally overpower. The first category ends at about the .38 Special with wadcutters. The second is in the neighborhood of the .500 S&W. I can hit perfectly with full power loads for one or two cylinders, but then I get a little punchy and afraid of the gun and things go downhill pretty quickly from there.

I suppose a third category is "handguns I simply can't manage and won't ever try again", which so far includes only the S&W 340PD with full power magnums. My first shot with the thing was right where I intended. Lord knows where the rest of them went. That's the only time handgun recoil has physically injured me.

For long guns I have very low tolerance for recoil. It may just be the combination of having it go off right next to my face and also pushing directly against my shoulder, but I really don't enjoy shooting any rifle larger than about .257 Bob.

94045 said:

Just a suggestion. No 3.5" 10 ga Buckshot Loads out of a relatively light single barrel.

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10ga are pretty rare here. I pulled both triggers on an old double 12ga, but that's the closest I've come.

Oh I lied 8 or lb9 338 Lapua built on a 700sps as a single shot....that was a nope after the first round.

Handgn 44Mag
Rifle 44 Mag lever
Shotgun 12 gauge pump

I have fired more powerful rounds from handguns and rifles, but I just don't enjoy them, not being masochistic enough, I guess.