Shooter's Point of View Firing .505 Gibbs, .470 Nitro, .450 Rigby, and .375 H&H (Video)

[Velo Dog]

im late on this thread, but I love the video! I actually found your video on youtube before seeing this post.

velo dog, I never did understand how bruising on the shoulder from big guns works. I can fire an unlimited number of shots from a 375 H&H without so much as a red spot on my shoulder but after just 6 shots my dads shoulder was black and blue for a week. I proceeded to fire 25 shots in a row from my 416 with full house loads with no side effects at all... strangely my dad refused to shoot the 416. I bought my 505 Gibbs to find my limit for recoil.

-matt

Hi Matt85,

Yeah, I do not fully understand the recoil/tender shoulder thing either.
But I will say this, it seems to be a possibility that some of us have either fragile blood vessels or we have them arranged too close to the surface.

A possible example is when I was in my 20s through my 30s, and keeping my body fat way down by means of serious exercise / eating primarily vegetables and lean meat, I had bruised a shoulder blue, more than once with a .30-06 among other not so large calibers.
Also, one time in high school, a friend jokingly punched me with a simple "jab" (not a very serious impact) about where the rifle butt sets during firing.
This resulted in an obvious black and blue contusion forming soon thereafter.

Now that I am old and not so lean anymore, I do not bruise as easily as I used to but, I still bruise easier than some other men do in my opinion.
At any rate, I do enjoy rifles, large and small but, it seems to be my lot in life that I not enjoy them loaded to the red line, so to speak.
Keeping the recoil pad slightly onto my chest muscle, instead of buried into the normal "firing pocket" also seems to help me not turn so thoroughly purple from it all.

Cheers,
Sissy Dog.

 

[matt85]

fat could be a factor, im 5'10" and weigh in at 240 pounds (im fat). i dont seem to be effected by recoil in the same way others do.

but from the other point of view ive seen people much smaller then me shoot massive guns and come out unscathed. so fat cant be the only factor in recoil resistance.

-matt

 

[Velo Dog]

fat could be a factor, im 5'10" and weigh in at 240 pounds (im fat). i dont seem to be effected by recoil in the same way others do.

but from the other point of view ive seen people much smaller then me shoot massive guns and come out unscathed. so fat cant be the only factor in recoil resistance.

-matt

Hi again Matt,

I totally agree.
And to bear this out, the guy I know who can take the worst recoil beating of any of my friends is named Cal Pappas and he is a very lean body builder of about 6' and 1 or 2 inches and 230 to 240 pounds - all meat and no potatoes.

He and his double collecting associates own a pile of Nitro and black powder double rifles, up to and including his John Wilkes .600 Nitro side by side, a 7 bore Greener double and a 4 bore punt gun.
Cal seems oblivious to the affects of recoil, as do some of his collector friends who are no particular stature - tall thin, short fat and all.
Recoil tolerance doesn't seem to fit any one particular shaped body.

All I can say is that my shoulders hemorrhage a bit under the skin, after a session of training with any decent kicker, to the point of turning black and blue if I fire a few too many.
Cal once owned a Pre-war Farquarson actioned single shot, in .600 Nitro that was waaay too light for this cartridge imo.
I do not recall the exact weight but it felt like perhaps 11 or 12 pound?
After watching him fire the brute, I declined my turn with it.

Cheerio,
Velo Dog.

 

[Ardent]

matt85, thanks for the kind words, it was fun doing it.

Indeed, can echo the thoughts on recoil. I've heard the little guys suffer logic, the big guys suffer logic, the medium guys do it best logic, and in the end it totally appears to be up to the individual human. I've watched a 180lb lean guy, and a 290lb thick young guy built like a linebacker (no exaggeration, one of the biggest fellows I've met) shoot this .505 and the effect was identical, even the amount they were moved by recoil was extremely similar. All differences seem to lie in the head of the shooter.

 

[colorado]

After the first hundred rounds or so, the jarring effects your brain so you don't mind the recoil much anymore ...

 

[Brian]

Ardent, That is really interesting! Thanks for sharing. (I handle a rifle a lot better than I do!)
I am located in Kamloops BC. In the 70's we lived in Ft Simspon and Nahanni Butte, NWT. Can I ask where you are located?
Thanks for the cool video. Brian

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Very good video. Good luck on the hunt.

 

[Ardent]

Thanks Brian, and Witold. Brian I spend about 60% of my time just outside Fort Nelson, British Columbia (long form for those not familiar!), but we own properties in northern rockies Alberta and southern rockies Alberta as well. Was in High Level for some years as well, chasing helicopters and hunting all over the northwest.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Such hunts are available in Benin as well, relatively inexpensive, so they are out there.

 

[Ardent]

Good stuff Jaco, thanks for letting me know, I was unaware there was anywhere else for self guided Elephant.

 

[CTDolan]

If it's of assistance to anyone, I'd be happy to make a paper template of the mag rails of this .505, it feeds like greased lighting and was clearly set up right.

I’d be quite interested in this if you wouldn’t mind. I’ve got a Ruger RSM which I’ve slated for a conversion to 505 Gibbs.

I’d also be interested in an image the bolt face, if that’d be alright.

 

[BenKK]

Cool video! I was surprised by how quick and gentle that .470 was, and same for the .505.

 

[colorado]

Nice video, good luck on your hunt. The video of the 505 Gibbs seems very similar to what I see and feel when I shoot my 500 Jeffery. It will wake you up!

Thanks