I was about 40 when I had my first 375 H&H made up on a LH 700 action, back when it was tough to find LH ones. It was for an Alaska bear trip that I never did, though I later used it in Africa.

I then fiddled with a couple of 458s, one a RH Model 70 push feed and the other a Ruger Model 1. Neither much suited me, so I ended up quickly getting a dandy old H&H double in 500/450.

I was supposed to get a "free" LH 505 Gibbs as a perk for investing in the original Kimber firm, but it went bankrupt before the rifle came. What a bad investment, by the way.

My latest is a LH Model 70 in 375 H&H, bought today. I have to stop doing that. That's about it for big bores, though I still think about a 416 Rem Mag and and a 340 Wby.

My story is pretty un-impressive but here goes. I bought a Marlin 45/70 when I was 14, with money earned from mowing yards(worked part time in a mower repair shop as well, the owner was a friend of my father). At 17, I acquired a Model 70 in 375(still mowing yards and working at the local lumber yard). At 23, a Ruger RSM in 416 Rigby(worked as an electrician through college). At 25, a Model 70 in 416 Rem(still playing with electricity). Now, at 29, I'm off in the right direction and have .404J in the works(currently attending college, again, and working as a CNC machinist for electro-optical materials industry). Maybe something like a 450 Dakota/Rigby next. I only dream of a nice double someday. A .450 3 1/4, but my pocket book is nowhere near that deep. Luckily, it doesn't cost a thing to dream.

In 1964, I was 16 years old. I already had a Weatherby Mark XXII, and wanted to upgrade. I convinced my father to help me buy a .460 Magnum. The gun was from the Southgate, Ca plant, weighed 10.5 lbs.,and had an integral muzzle brake. It was stocked in a blond colored mesquite wood with a rosewood tip and grip cap. If I recollect, the gun was a tad over $500.00 back then. I never had the balls to shoot the thing, so it languished on my bedroom wall as I went through college. In the early seventies, when I got my first taste of the real world, money, for me, became an issue, (I needed it!). I reluctantly instructed my father to sell the gun. It fetched $200.00 from a Chicago vicinity gunsmith. I wish I had that gun today. Oh well!

At 26 an Sako L61 in 375, wonderful rifle but the scope mounted to close to the eyes with Suhler Claw Mount and Habicht 1,5-6x42 in Steel. I sold it as it did hit me all the time. Excellent components but lack of experience tolde me the lesson.