cartridges that make you go "ouch!"

[MachIVshooter]

.45-70 405 grain pill @ 2015 FPS fired from my Marlin 1895.

Just about any load fired from my 7.5 pound Remington 700 BDL/SS .375 Ultra. The 300 grain handloads at 2970 FPS are particularly brutal; Ballistics calculator says 82 ft/lbs at 23.4 MPH.

Some of the mil-surp carbines belt pretty good, too. M44 Mosin with heavy ball, MAS 36, Enfiled No. 5, etc. More rifle design than anything, but still become unpleasant after awhile. But they don't compare to that .375; it actually blurs my vision for a second after firing, and my head starts to hurt after 15 or 20 rounds.

 

[ShunZu]

The .45-70 will always have a rainbow trajectory regardless of MV -- so I don't see a reason to load so hot -- at least for what I shoot.

Isn't having .45-70's loaded hot and not using them like having a Corvette in the garage and never driving it?

 

[kragluver]

Ha-ha! I never likened my Marlin levergun to a Corvette. To me, shooting a .45-70 is more about shooting "history". I have no reason to needlessly beat myself up with heavy recoil and develop a bad flinching habit.

One thing I like about the .45-70 is that you can load it from very mild to very hot (in a modern rifle anyway). There's a good article about this very topic over at leverguns.com called "Mice to Elephants".

<Editted> Sorry, the title is "Elves to Elephants". I mis-remembered. Here's the link to the article: http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/4570_leverguns.htm.

 

[kragluver]

You may laugh, but another rifle that made me go "ouch" was an AK-47. The stock is entirely too small for me and every time I squeezed the trigger it slapped me in the cheek. The recoil wasn't bad, but the right side of my face looked like I'd been in a fist-fight after shooting it. Stock design and of course firearm weight have a lot to do with felt recoil.

 

[steven04]

My .50bmg is a pussycat to shoot. Don't get me wrong, when you touch off a round, you know something amazing just happened, but it doesnt hurt.






My Remmy 11-87 with slug is far nastier....I find that the stock whacks the hell out of my cheekbone. A few shots with that gets very old fast !

 

[oilburner350]

I agree with the hot loaded .45-70 as a hard kicker. My 10 gauge BPS with slugs seems to kick less.

 

[Snowbandit]

How about a 35X300 WM. That's a 300 Win. Magnum bored to .35 caliber. About 10 percent more powder than a .358 Norma. Shoots 275 grain bullets at 2800 fps and 275 grains at 3000 fps. Either way, 5000 foot pounds of muzzle energy.

If you think you're up to it, it's for sale (trade?). Been in my safe since my shoulder surgery (not related). I'm not shooting it anymore and my kids don't reload. Most accurate rifle I ever owned but kicks like a mule. Much worse than a 460 Weatherby.

 

[squirrel sniper]

the worst thing i ever shot was 3" magnum rifled slugs after lifting 80lb. pre split logs for 3 hours. I could only get off 3 of those and 2 3" magnum buckshot before i had to quit. To illustrate how sore i was pre-shooting, I was hurting after shooting .35 remington

 

[HM2PAC]

I like my .444Marlin with stiff handloads.

I like my friends .45-70's loaded with premium/hot loads.

I like .30-06 with really screaming stuff.

I don't think the PTR has much kick at all.

I hunt ducks with a 10GA.

Long story short I don't mind recoil.


But I don't like 7mm Rem Mag at all. The recoil is like driving a spike through my shoulder.

 

[GearHead_1]

I've shot bigger firearms but the gun that I have no desire to shoot a second time is a .338 Ultra Mag. It just isn't fun getting beat up when shooting.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

.350 rem. magnum in a 6 lb. rifle with a 18.5" bbl.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I haven't shot anything bigger than .375 H&H Mag in a rifle, but it wasn't pleasant at all. My .45-70 Contender pistol, shooting Remington 300gr factory loads, hurts my hands enough to permanently put it away. Haven't shot it in years, even after Magnaporting.

 

[gruntmedik]

When I bought my Marlin 1895 45-70, I also bought a box each from Buffalo Bore--405gr JFN and Garrett--420gr Hammerhead +P. The factory 300gr stuff was pleasant. Factory 405gr was even pleasant. But when I touched off the BB and Garretts, I swear my shoulder blades touched.

 

[astocks2622]

remington 870, 20" barrel, 3" 12 ga 1 1/4 oz. slug.

 

[KD5NRH]

I dunno...I think 3.5" mag 00 buck from my 835 is fun, but maybe that's just me.

The sporterized 1917 Enfield with 180gr bullets and fairly hot loads gets old after about 15 rounds. The Mosin is fun for about as long with heavy ball. Either feels tame with lighter bullets.

 

[glockgod]

3.5" 12 gauge-I thought a truck hit me

 

[AStone]

Reading this thread
and watching the youtube videos,
has reminded me of at least two things:

1) I don't regret selling the 12 ga pump.

2) I like my .357 Mag and .30-30 carbines.

 

[jkingrph]

Telecaster - don't get the wrong idea about .45-70. Its only a thumper when loaded hot. I came to the conclusion a couple of years ago that you will never make a 200+ yard hunting cartridge out of it, so all that extra velocity is only adding RECOIL. That rifle with open sights is meant for 100 yd (hunting) shots or less. I now load mine down to the original black powder type velocities (1300 fps) with cast bullets. Its a pleasure to shoot. Even my 9 yr old twin boys like shooting it. Deer and hogs don't know the difference between 1300 and 1800 fps. The .45-70 will always have a rainbow trajectory regardless of MV -- so I don't see a reason to load so hot -- at least for what I shoot.

That is the way I have been feeling about the 45-70, one of my rifles being a BPCR, intended for black powder. With a 535 gr Postell bullet and lightly compressed 3f it still kicks a bit. I have a mold for about a 350gr gc bullet I plan on trying, at the lower velocities figuring I might as well enjoy the lighter weight guns rather than let them hurt me.

 

[dundonrl]

I agree with MachIVShooter.. my 375 RUM hot loaded with 300 GR Nosler Partitions is a nasty round.. on both ends of the rifle.. I've installed a mercury tube and limbsaver on my Remington 700 to deal with some of the recoil..

My brother has the same rifle, but his is SS with a grey laminated stock. He put an old Leupold scope on his, laid down on the ground and using a bipod proceeded to touch it off (this was before he installed a mercury tube/limbsaver on it as well) it gave him a beautiful scope bite, but he continued to sight it in, just used a bench rest where he could recoil back with the rifle.

Since then, we've bought a Caldwell Lead Sled DFT and when you stack 100 lbs of lead on it, brings the recoil down to a very light kiss on the shoulder..

 

[Svg99]

hardest kicking rifle ive shot: argentine mauser 7.65x53, mostly because of curved metal buttplate, but still not bad

3.5 inch turkey loads in a 12 gauge pump kick alot harder but the recoil pad is much better

 

[Gewehr98]

I found my limit rather easily.

Beartooth .458" hard cast flatnose, on top of a .45-70 case full of Reloder 7, at max load data. Take said load and fire it from a 22" Ruger #1S. The chronograph reported 2150fps. My shoulder reported that it would like to go home, and soon. 10 rounds was all I could handle, and the flinch developed well before then.

As for the useful range of the .45-70, I'd heartily disagree with that oft-repeated "200 yard" bit. One of my other .45-70 rifles is an 1874 Sharps Business Rifle, and I have no problems whatsoever taking whitetail at 400+ yards. Just because a short-barreled Marlin levergun with buckhorn sights doesn't have the means to place a round in the vitals after a few yards doesn't mean the big .45-70 can't do it. That flies straight in the face of our shooting forefathers with Trapdoors, Rolling Blocks, Sharps, and Ballards. They knew their ranges and trajectories just fine. Unless, of course, we as shooters have somehow lost certain skills since then...

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

I sold my Remington 700 in 30-06 because it was not fun to shoot. Not at all.

However, I have shot more powerful cartridges that felt like nothing... but they had buttpads and compensators.

A day full of shooting my Mauser or shotgun will leave bruises on my shoulder, but they are tolerable for the first several shots. It's not until you get up to about 50 rounds or so that you start to notice something.

 

[johnmerry]

Hey Folks, I know that this is about rifle cartridges but i feel the need to tell tou about one of my revolver. The gun is a Ruger Bisley chambered in .45 Long Colt with a over sized five shot Cylinder that I ordered from Brownell's. With a 370 gr. brute at 1500fps from a 5 1/2 inch barrel, HOLY MACKEREL!! I can grab hold of six month old heifers and pull them off from their feet, but I can not keep this gun from going over the top of my head. I only mentiuon this because all I am shooting now a days is handguns.

 

[jgo296]

not a rifle but i have a 12 gauge coach gun 20 inch barrels i believe
double trigger i fired 2 3inch 000buck at same time and wished i hadnt

 

[Peter M. Eick]

3.5" magnum 12 gauge slugs are my limit. I don't really even like 3" slugs anymore.