I was nervous Saturday afternoon. Never shot
a gun this big. My wife got the video camera
and off we went behind the house to a nice
safe canyon. She was hoping to see me land
on my ass, a view she expressed repeatedly in
light of the fact that I pled the 5th as she
grilled me about the cost of the gun and ammo!
T-shirt, no P.A.S.T. pad, no cushioning. I wanted a heads-up recoil test.
500gr Woodleighs loaded to 2450-2500 fps.
11.5 lbs with scope. 3.5 inches eye relief.
No muzzle brake.
We put on our ear protectors. After about 5
exchanges of "Are you ready, Huh, I can't hear you" the moment was at hand.
Standing up, off-hand, no rest, did I gently
squeeze the trigger like a seasoned hunter?
Get serious. I jerked that baby about six feet to the right at 50 yards. My wife, who I
didn't notice was filming a little too close and a little too far forward, rocked back and
ended up with the video camera "sky-shooting". She said "the wind" really felt strong, which I told her was concussion. She
said she didn't care what it was, that even
with the ear protectors the thing was too
damn loud and I was nuts.
And the recoil? As Lee Marvin said in Cat Ballou after he had shot his backshooting
brother in the back, "It was grand, just
grand". Strong, firm, but smooth. Definitely
an attention getter, but no hard whack or slap in the face like I have felt on lightweight guns.
I shot it twice more just to be sure it wasn't just adrenalin rush and it felt the
same.
I know that the bench work to sight in will
be no walk in the park, but a big bag of shot
between me and the gun should take care of that.
Anyway, I think I'm in love!

Thanks,
Wes
ps Al Sharpton is on CNN's Crossfire as I am
typing this and I am about to puke on the
keyboard.

Congratluations!! Welcome to the world of the Big-Bore. It isn't as bad as many make it out to be and it is a lot more fun.

"She was hoping to see me land
on my ass, a view she expressed repeatedly in
light of the fact that I pled the 5th as she
grilled me about the cost of the gun and ammo!"

That was pretty funny.

Wes, Congratulations! I don't think you'll regret the purchase. You'll find that the rifle balances like a nice fly rod. On my last 21 day safari I took mine and a 30 caliber. I found that I preferred the Dakota for almost all the shooting as it balanced well, came on target, and didn't shake all over the place. I think I shot the 30 caliber about 3 times only, reserving it for truly long shots.
For general practice, I use the 350 grain hornadys and load them down. With the rifle's weight it kicks about like a .30-06.

Good luck!

DWS - Glad to hear everything worked out well with the new Dakota. Now go shoot that ele!

Also - Do not forget to load up the magazine and check feeding. If you have time, you may want to load up a few dummy rounds to verify smooth chambering.

[This message has been edited by Zero Drift (edited 08-21-2001).]

Zero Drift

You and Will gave me that good advice a few
weeks ago and I took it to heart. I had Dakota load up 5 dummy rounds as you guys
suggested. So far, working good!

Thanks
Wes