I've been listening to comments on Medium and Small Bore forums and I hear references to people getting on in years and wanting a softer shove from their rifles.

OK, I understand injury and repair, but is there an age where people should expect to step down from a 500 to a 458 or 416 or smaller?

Or eventually just go with reduced loads in the big boomers, that's what I plan to do in about 50 years from now...give or take a few.

Please bear in mind that I'm speaking only for myself, but my biggest hunting rifle currently is a 404 Jeffery and I'm looking to buy a 500 Jeffery.... I'm 66...

after about a gazillion shotgun rouds i stepped down in rifle diameter when i was about 17.
a few from the 375 is about all the shoulder can take anymore.

I read once where a well to do English women in her 90's had her pacemaker fitted on the opposite side of the chest to the normal placement so she could continue game bird hunting with her 12 gauge. Now that is dedication to the sport and who cares about recoil.

When I was younger, more recoil bring it on! Now I still shoot big bores regularly 577NE and 500NE but I will have to say that shooting my little 375H&H double the other day was a pleasure. I forgot how nice it was to be love tapped instead of sucker punched.

Well, I'll be 70 in a few months and had a great time last Sat with the 600OK. Only 4 rds but I had the 470&500 NEs out also.

quote:

I've been listening to comments on Medium and Small Bore forums...

That's why those guys are in the Medium and Small-bore forums in the first place. They think 375 H&H is big, when we know it's actually small. I hope to be shooting the biggest till I'm gone.

quote:

Originally posted by kevan:
Please bear in mind that I'm speaking only for myself, but my biggest hunting rifle currently is a 404 Jeffery and I'm looking to buy a 500 Jeffery.... I'm 66...

Moved up from a 375 to a 500 Jeffery at 60. Neither of my sons (23 and 20) like to shoot the Jeffery, but the good news is: it makes their 375 Weatherby and 416 Rem seem like they have no recoil at all.

My dad at age 71 regularly practiced with his 585AHR and took a Cape buffalo with it.

I'll step down when they pry my cold dead fingers off the triggerguard.-Rob

The age of reason !

I like to be able to shoot more than just a few rounds so I can get to the gun so I can shoot it well .When I shot IHMSC I could shoot twice per day [200 rds] with less than max loads without any problem of flinching ,etc !
Now I shoot that M29 very well and I'm totally comfortable with it !.Like it's part of me.

When I was 32 and on my first African trip, I fired full power loads in my .505 only at game, to test them and to sight in. All my practice was done with reduced loads. I saw no reason to punish myself then, and now, at age 73, I still don't. I never noticed recoil when shooting at game and still don't either.

As far as managing recoil is concerned, I once hit a running buffalo four times in the shoulder with my .505 as he ran past me. He stopped so suddenly that he plowed up dirt with his nose. The load was Kynoch 570 grain bullets at 2150 fps in an 8 3/4 pound rifle.

After 60 is too old for safari.You need the blood running through the veins to enjoy! 40 is the age to start.

Got too much money in the big bores to quit. May have to go to a shoulder pad but they're too much fun.

When the guy standing 6 feet above you starts shoveling dirt?

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
After 60 is too old for safari.You need the blood running through the veins to enjoy! 40 is the age to start.

made my first safari at 64, first time I could afford it....gone every year since.

At 64 you may think you are on safari but the joke is on you.

quote:

Originally posted by bobgrow:

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
After 60 is too old for safari.You need the blood running through the veins to enjoy! 40 is the age to start.

made my first safari at 64, first time I could afford it....gone every year since.

I wish the "Ignore" button also worked for posts with "Quoted" content.

At 65 leaving next month with my 458 Lott.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
At 64 you may think you are on safari but the joke is on you.

Shootway, were you born an asshole or did you just learn it as you went along?

Seriously,if you are in shape any age is alright.

quote:

Originally posted by Bitterroot:

quote:

I've been listening to comments on Medium and Small Bore forums...

That's why those guys are in the Medium and Small-bore forums in the first place. They think 375 H&H is big, when we know it's actually small. I hope to be shooting the biggest till I'm gone.

Right on, brother!

To paraphrase Yogi Berra, 90% of recoil is half mental anyway.

Age is irrelevant! You should stop shooting Big Bores when like "SHITAWAY" you possess the following attributes!
1. YOU BECOME INCONTINENT
2. You realize you really are a RETARD!
3. You can't remember your name.
4. You are faced with the reality you really can't shoot.
5. People use the word "asshole" to describe you specifically on multiple shooting related websites!
7. You make videos to prove to the world your an idiot erasing any shadow of a doubt forever!
8. Your actually stupid enough to wear a "shooting Helmet" to minimize the brain damage!
3 out of 8 qualifies as time to quit! You paying attention Shitaway? -Rob

I started backing down a bit when I had shot enough stuff to realized that you don't need 100 foot pounds of recoil to have a very effective rifle for anything out there.

on the other hand if you find recoil exhilarating and you like to challenge your self. good on you no matter how old you are.

Good for you guys who shoot those big girls regularly. Used to be totally recoil proof. I've had to back off only in the last two years. I'm 64, but a rode hard and put up wet, high mileage 64. Torn retina, arthritis in my hands and shoulders. Years of poor decision making and trips to the emergency room take their toll. Still shoot my Taylor, with a big pad and stock made just for me. But I only do 20 or less shots per trip. Sadly, the rest are gradually leaving my safe.
Bfly

At age 65, I still shoot my 14 lb 600 nitro regularly using a Pachmyr recoil shield which helps quite a bit. I also shoot my 2 bore Jones every now and then using a 3300 gr. ball and 350 gr. of 2F--it dosen't hurt as such but the push is substantial--sure would have been easier 20 years ago. 4 or 5 rounds from the 2 bore is about it at one time,
but it is fun to shoot. I hope that everyone one who is older that enjoys shooting the big guys can continue to do so for many years in good health. Keep blasting away.

My doctor said that an interest in medium bores has been clinically proven to be directly attributed to a decrease in testosterone.

JCS:

I'm sure if I went to a doctor, he'd say the same thing. What I know is that I'm 52 and I can handle more recoil than I could at 32. I suspect I'll be able to handle even more at 62, but that's a guess. I ain't there yet.

Lavaca,
I think that JCS is saying that as one ages one is interested in LESS recoil.
Myself, I find that hunting and careful shooting are what keep recoil negligible.

My questions arise because I notice that it is harder to turn one's head all the way to the rear as one gets older.

Noooo, JCS is saying that if you start feeling that you should be shooting medium bores, you've lost your balls somewhere. Look around, find them, then buy a 50 cal.

I still love shooting all of my big stuff. But when Aurthur visits, it takes its toll at times.

quote:

Originally posted by Bitterroot:
Noooo, JCS is saying that if you start feeling that you should be shooting medium bores, you've lost your balls somewhere. Look around, find them, then buy a 50 cal.

Ya, what he said!

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
I've been listening to comments on Medium and Small Bore forums and I hear references to people getting on in years and wanting a softer shove from their rifles.

OK, I understand injury and repair, but is there an age where people should expect to step down from a 500 to a 458 or 416 or smaller?

Only when on a death bed.

Pyzda

I’m quickly approaching 64 and I’m stepping up in recoil – My .500/338 Lapua Magnum should be finished in the next month or so and my .423/338 Lapua Magnum (not quite as much a step up) should be finished a few months later.

I blame it on Michael and his short-light weight 50 B&M...

quote:

Originally posted by capoward:
I’m quickly approaching 64 and I’m stepping up in recoil – My .500/338 Lapua Magnum should be finished in the next month or so and my .423/338 Lapua Magnum (not quite as much a step up) should be finished a few months later.

I blame it on Michael and his short-light weight 50 B&M...

My son and I go around on this issue. I (62) like my 416 in the 6000 ftlb range. He (40) thinks its a little bit too josstling for day-in day-out shooting. We both agree that some regular dry firing or small calibre firing is necessary to make sure that a flinch does not develop. Right now our smallest calibre in TZ is a hot 416 Rigby , but dry-firing on expended cases is available. As long as groups remain tight, we're OK.

Here is the day after sighting in a Rigby with only a dozen shots:



We go through this every year, since many months are spent without any shooting. Fortunately, the next day after this pic I shot an oribi at 201 yards, right on top of the bruises, with only a sensation of satisfaction. (See terminals thread, around page 268.)

As mentioned in another thread, we picked up a 243 in the US. Even it can theoretically create a flinch because of the noise, but at least we don't get knocked off our rests. Both of us think that a 338WM is the cat's meow.

Anyway, Capoward, I'm with you. I'm older and building a 500 AccRel Nyati. It feels good, even if it shakes one up a bit. For me, the easy fix is to limit shooting a only a few rounds on the bench at a time. This prevents twenty-shot days that seem to insure that at least one round is not held perfectly, with resulting twinges of pain, or bruise on bruise.

Will I want something more than the 500? Probably not, but for cost and opportunity reasons. I mean, if it can't be done reliably and safely with a 500 AccRNyati or a 416 Rigby at 6000 ftlbs, what then? We will need to practice with the new 500 in order to treat it as 'just another rifle', and I suspect that we will be more than satisfied, especially if carrying one of these lightweights on a mountain. I don't look forward to heavier and heavier guns and want rifle+scope+cartridges to stay around 10-11 pounds or less.

Tanz,

Yep I definitely understand the bruises and the older we get the easier we bruise - especially from higher levels of recoil when we have long lapses between shooting sessions.

You need to get one of those recoil absorbing shoulder pads to use off the bench for that 1st day or so off the bench, it'll eliminate the bruising while your body limbers up to the recoil. Off the bench you may get some bruising initially but it won't be as bad as the bruising from the bench.

Using the recoil shoulder pad have noting to do with being macho, it has everything to do with our bodies aging and life interfering with the frequency of our shooting sessions...

I seem to be one of those that enjoys the larger bores as I grow older. I'm now 65, and following Mike458 and RIP (I've got to stop that), more +.40 calibers seem to be sneaking into the gun safe.
That info on the shooting pads was taken seriously by me when they first came out. The pads really do help out.