I am new to big bore and barely make the grade with my 375 H&H. It's a '37 Model 70 with the straight taper barrel and a lyman 48 peep sight. Stock is original and has more drop than you seen on any new rifles being built today. I was at the range yesterday and fired about 20 rounds of Remington factory 270 grain soft points. I managed to hit a 6" bulls at 100 yards fairly consistently. After 20 rounds though I was done or rather my shoulder was done. The recoil pad is original so it's a little stiff.

So how many rounds do you guys shoot from the bench or however until you've had enough?

I also have a straight taper pre 64 and 20 to 30 rounds is about it off the bench. I also have a sako that weighs eight pounds and 20 is much worse.

Just roll up a hand towel and put it between the butt plate and your shoulder. It helps a lot.

When you start dreading the next shot you know you are past your prime With my 375 it is 25+ rounds, my 416 Rigbys a little less and my Lotts are way less Recoil is cumulative and all those rounds add up. Pace yourself.

Seriously, the sitting bench done properly is the way to chrono and check your loads...after that the big guns (416+) don't like the bench.
I can stand the hit as much as the next guy, but when you are driving home and feel punchy, you know that you have gone over the edge! In my case I went through over 30 375 rounds (not a heavy round at all) and then 15 heavy Rigby shots. I was still shooting good but felt "different" after the shoot for many hours. This was too much shooting for me. Standing it is a different story, as your body can absorb the recoil better. I have a ton of fun shooting many Lott rounds (up to 20+ in an hour) at ground squirrels without the "hangover".

John

"...shoot 'til you feel different...!"

I like that!

I have a sand bag [ not a big one, laying flat it is about 1" thick ] I throw over my shoulder and put the rifle up against it. With that I can shoot almost anything that kicks.

it's conditioning. and 20 rounds with your first bigbore is pretty darn good...
that about my limit on the 550 off hand, these days...

you'll soon find the 375 is actually a light recoilling gun, off hand, you can empty box after box....


on the bench? everthing above 35 caliber in a sporting round becomes a beating after just 5 to 10 rounds.

jeffe

So why don't you get a new and better recoil pad installed? That will make life much easier.

475 Guy,

It's all original, and installing a pad would seriously hurt the value. I'd rather add a sandbag or a should pad I can slip on.

One of the big mistakes I used to make was getting too low on the bench. Setting your rest and bagging everything up until your upper body is almost vertical takes a lot of the punch out.If your rifle is drilled and tapped for a scope, the easy cure would be to order a Boyds JRS laminated stock and fit it to your gun, allowing you to keep your original stock unaltered. All that drop exaggerates felt recoil. I ordered the JRS for a pre-64 .458 Lott that I am building, to use as a pattern. To my surprise, the inletting was not too bad at all, and it is shaping up to be a decent looking stock. Being laminated, it is fairly heavy and made out at right at 10 lbs. With a Decellerator pad, it still gets your attention, but is not as bad as I expected. Best of all, it only cost $67 and my time to fit, shape and bed it. A pretty good value these days!

With my Caldwell Leadsled I can shoot all day.

Past recoil shield works wonders.

I can shoot a 375 H&H all day long off a bench. A 416 Rem about 100 or so rounds maybe more....I shoot a lot or used to anyway..

I can't handle a 458 Lott and up off the bench, they chill me out fast..I only shoot those big calibers off a standing bench rest or off hand...

Everyone should know their limits and deal with it, many do not and end up flinching...

Some hearty souls or immune to recoil or load their big bores with BS powder and expound on its virtures...

And some of us use the PAST pad at the bench if we are doing a lot of bench shooting.

I have no limits offhand or in the field until some part of my skeleton breaks or some nerve becomes paralyzed, or I go blind, and I haven't had any problems yet, knock wood ...

I don't currently own a big bore, but RIP is right. If you're going to shoot a lot with a high-recoiling rifle, use a PAST recoil shield or something like it. With my .338 RUM, which definitely has some recoil, the PAST makes it actually pleasant to shoot. 30+ rounds from the bench is no problem at all.

the cheapest thing is a sandbag between you and the rifle. otherwise the leadsled really does work well. If you're so inclined, making one is a simple job too

I had the same problem off the bench, then I bought a "Lead Sled" bench rest device from Midway that made the bench shooting a breeze. Basically, it is a typical bench rest rifle holder to which you add 75 to 100 lbs of bagged shot. This weight holds the rest in place and reduces the recoil.

Worked great for me.

I shoot the 505 Gibbs from the standing or sitting position only tyhese days!!

No bench work for me now!!

I swear by the PAST pad for your shoulder. It works wonders and is easy to wear. When I want to shoot my best groups I use it to reduce muscle fatigue, it seems to work.
I did run three rounds thru a friends 460 Weatherby once and I promise you 3 was MORE than enough. My shoulder hurt so bad I thought I was having a heart attack on the drive home.
By a PAST pad, period.

Good luck and good shooting,
Eterry

quote:

Originally posted by Eterry:
I swear by the PAST pad for your shoulder. It works wonders and is easy to wear. When I want to shoot my best groups I use it to reduce muscle fatigue, it seems to work.
I did run three rounds thru a friends 460 Weatherby once and I promise you 3 was MORE than enough. My shoulder hurt so bad I thought I was having a heart attack on the drive home.
By a PAST pad, period.

Good luck and good shooting,
Eterry

Good advice, as you will get closer to real shooting that way, the sighting will be closer to field ready, and you will not crack your stocks and shatter the scopes as often as you will with a lead sled and a big bore.

Lead Sleds are for sissies with small bores.

Ok, today I shot a friends' 460 Wby 10 times. Keep in mind I have never shot anything larger than a .338 RUM. I shot this without any recoil shield. To be quite honest it devastated me. I am not a wimp, but this gun ate my lunch. I pride myself on being somewhat recoil-resistant, but 10 rounds off the bench with this rifle was just too much. I would advise anyone shooting this type of cartridge to use a recoil shield like one from PAST. I certainly wish I had used one.

When preparing for my first trip to Zim, I had a mammoth range session working up loads off the bench.

At the end of the day I had fired about 30 rounds through my .375H&H and 20 through my .475NE.....

.....but after that battering, I couldn't have shot an air-rifle and it took me a couple of days to get over it - towards the end I could feel my brain 'sloshing' around in my skull!!!

These days I am much more patient with my big bore load development and spread it out over a many, many days.

For load development, I use a weighted rifle rest, so recoil is not an issue.

For practice, I shoot off-hand, kneeling, or off shooting sticks.

George

For my testing and chrono work I use
stand up bench and weighted tripod locked
to the barrel.If I didn't, these wildcats
of mine might hurt me.Shoot all day that way.Rest of shooting is offhand.Ed

For bench shooting with virtually all heavy calibres I personally find a leather or suede sissy bay filled with sharp sand or bead blast medium to about 5-6lbs in weight absorbs recoil a plenty, if the bag is long enough it can stand on the bench at the face of the recoil pad, it does make eye relief a little longer but for zeroing and accuracy testing it proves the best method.

I have gone 60 full power .458 Lott loads off the bench without any discomfort, you will often have to re-align the bag after each shot however

quote:

Originally posted by fusino:
Ok, today I shot a friends' 460 Wby 10 times. Keep in mind I have never shot anything larger than a .338 RUM. I shot this without any recoil shield. To be quite honest it devastated me. I am not a wimp, but this gun ate my lunch. I pride myself on being somewhat recoil-resistant, but 10 rounds off the bench with this rifle was just too much. I would advise anyone shooting this type of cartridge to use a recoil shield like one from PAST. I certainly wish I had used one.

I am with you. I was whacked quite badly by a .416 Rem Mag and nearly sold it. I bought the Lead Sled, a weighted rest and have not trouble now. It still kicks to shoot offhand, but I can manage it.

I am 6' 3" an 250 lbs and still do not like recoil.

I havd a very expensive bench rest contraption and it will take all the recoil out of any gun, but it will also trash a stock if you don't know how to set it up..all that pent up recoil has to go someplace..so I leave a 3 inch gap in strapping down the forend and take a slight amount of recoil..I only use it for testing accuracy and sighting in..then its off the bags and off hand and sitting.

505,
I would rather shoot off the bench than sitting, sitting is a good way to get a real half moon with a big bore, at least for me. 505s should be shot off hand if at all!!

Ten years ago I was zeroing a 416 Rigby off the bench. 103 grains of H-4831. Blam! Blam! After five rounds it was starting to hurt. Had it zeroed at round 6. Ouch. Decided to be a stud (read MORON) and shoot a group. Three awful trigger pulls later I had a cloverleaf.
Couldn't leave the range with one cartridge left, oh no. BLAM! The scope, which had been held on with an original issue set of Warne gunsmith rings and bases (no recoil shoulders) was now laying on the ground, the group didn't mean shit, and I had to start the truck ignition with my left hand.....
lawndart

quote:

Originally posted by Prewar70:
475 Guy,

It's all original, and installing a pad would seriously hurt the value. I'd rather add a sandbag or a should pad I can slip on.

You could install a new pad and keep the original... and reinstall the original on sale day.

In theory, that would only decrease the value while you were shooting it and enjoying it, then it would add the value back to it at a later time.

I don't know. The longest sitting was two boxes + 15 -- then I ran out of ammo (it was old Winchester and Remington stuff -- I was trying to reclaim brass; some of it was my handloads, I wanted to unload to reload with better projectiles).

Dan