Big Bores for small things

All the Big Bores - or for inclusivity's sake, let's just say "375H&H and up" - with the right amount of AA 5744 can be loaded down to "deer load" velocities and still be accurate. I've done that with handloads for my .375H&H and 200grn bullets for a few deer camps, and still want to do a deer camp with my .404J.

I also definitely want to smash some feral hogs with my .404.
I've had great success with 5744 with .375, 450-400, .458 and 9x57 with lighter bullets. Sadly I can't get it to work in my .450. However the old nitro for black formula works great in the .450...just have to use a filler.
 
How many of you have used your big bores, I'm thinking .40 cal or bigger, to take smaller game than these guns are typically used for? Have you used them for plains game, or maybe North American and European game? If so, tell me about it. What animal did you hunt and what caliber and load combination did you use? I'd like to hear what led you to use the big bore rifle, for example maybe you got a chance at nice trophy impala while on a buffalo hunt, or maybe you were getting ready for a DG hunt so decided to use it for mule deer to practice. And of course, pictures make everything more fun.
I amd guilty of shooting a jackrabbit and a prarie dog with my .460 Magnum. I have a .500 Bushwhacker now, and i think its time i try it on a prarie dog as well. For science of course.
 
I amd guilty of shooting a jackrabbit and a prarie dog with my .460 Magnum. I have a .500 Bushwhacker now, and i think its time i try it on a prarie dog as well. For science of course.

received_1600859013796955.jpeg
 
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I used a .416 Rigby to take a baboon.

I shot it with a solid to minimize pelt damage, but the bullet hit the humerus and damage was done.
Now that is humorous

3" 12 Gauge are punishing on both ends of the bore!
Don’t worry about @Bob Nelson 35Whelen He’s a big boy.
In Australia we have an expression “He’s built like a Shithouse” well, something like that I may have misquoted that.
Feral cat,Greener 577 2 3/4 , 650 Woodleigh RNSP 8 feet running
View attachment 658231
Now that’s the best $8 for a shot that you could spend.
I wouldn’t pass it up if I could smack a cat in the scrub.
 
Now that is humorous


Don’t worry about @Bob Nelson 35Whelen He’s a big boy.
In Australia we have an expression “He’s built like a Shithouse” well, something like that I may have misquoted that.

Now that’s the best $8 for a shot that you could spend.
I wouldn’t pass it up if I could smack a cat in the scrub.
We say 'Brick Shit House' in the USA. As you point out, that analogy sums it up quickly!
 
3" 12 Gauge are punishing on both ends of the bore!
@ftrovato
Especially when it only weighs 7#. The good thing it's a bolt action so gives you a chance of practicing fast bolt manipulation for a follow up with bigger recoil.
Great fun.
Bob
 
The black bear in my avatar was taken with one shot from a .416 Ruger loaded with a 340 grain woodleigh weldcore PP at 2,600fps Not surprisingly, the round went through and through and dropped the bear where he stood. Took one the year before with a Winchester .375 H&H. That was a the old 300 grain hornady Interlock. That round went in the front shoulder and traversed diagonally through the body exiting after blowing the opposite hip to pudding.
IMAG0499.jpg
 
The 9.3x74R, 9.3x62, 375H&H, and 458 Lott have all accounted for a number of prairie dogs each, along with the 458 Socom and 45-70 (both a Sharps and a DR). Good practice for stretching out with cartridges not really designed for longer ranges. So far, I've only had to put down one charging prairie dog, but the 375 really did work as a stopping round despite everybody saying it isn't one.
 
A mobile brick….
Was the car a write off…… a car hit one here near me (other side of the river)and it ripped the passenger side wheel off and put the car into a culvert , no one hurt but the car was a trashed
Gumpy
The car was nowhere to be seen, just the animal dragging itself off the road by its front legs. It was a very sad sight, but I was equipped for the task so did the right thing.

On another occasion I did see somebody nearly clear one. Bent front and rear subframes and dinged the ladder chassis on the spot. No wheel pointed in the same direction as another and the trail of fluids was short and very wide.
 

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Gents here are my final itinerary for the USA Marketing trip 2025!

Itinerary 2025
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14-02 Pigott, Arkansas

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