I am going to have John Put a Leupold scope on it but what scope do you recommend (I am planning on the 1.5-5 VXIII)

I must reiterate what Bigbore said. Make sure you pull the rifle into your shoulder / chest tight and it won't get much of a running start to hit you with.

Todd E

I'd recomend you start out with 350 gr bullets @ 2400-2500 fps, recoil won't be that bad at all. The 400's at the same speed will start to get your attention, but shouldn't be too bad. If you've fired 3" shells from a 12ga, its in that ballpark.

As far as technique, off the bench make darn sure you hold the forearm and pull it down into the bags. I tried shooting the 458 lott off the bench without holding it down once, actually it was a 3 shot string, and the last time I shot that gun off the bench. I did fire 350's out of the lott off the bench and it wasn't bad at all.

For the real hard kickers, shooting offhand, or standing with supports is much more pleasent. If you have a wrest for your forearm, you can shoot pretty good groups.

That should be a great scope, I really like the Leupold M8 2.5x compact w/ a 4a reticle, Leupolds least exspensive scope, 5" of eye relief, and very robust. I'll probably just get another one for the 500 Jeffrey.

Steve

Do I pull down on the forearm or just pull it into my shoulder?

I am excited as a kid at Christmas. I think I only have a short wait.

I do have to give John Ricks a big thanks for helping me through this whole project. He has show great patience with me, even while we were in the discussion stage of the project.

Paul,

I thank you for getting me into the idea of big bores.

Greg

I build up the rear rest with sandbags and use an adjustable rest for my support hand, which also supports the forend. The buttstock is set firmly into the sandbags and I stack them in a way where I can sit up as straight as possible and not lean forward into the gun anymore than I have to.

I also use a medium thick, Past recoil pad and limit my sessions to no more then 20 to 30 rounds. Anymore then that with the big guns and my head starts to hurt.

I limit my bench sessions to load developement and sighting in only.

Hope that helps!

Tony

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www.miltsparks.com
holster@ix.netcom.com

I use sandbags for all my guns, as I make them out of playground sand and blue jean legs. (== CHEAP). I would use only bags for the 416 as there's fewer chance for scratches and dings when all your friends want to shoot it ... once! Put a quilt or egg crate foam over the rest of the bench for the Nimrods.

Welcome to the club. John Ricks has mine, too!
Don

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Shoot well, and hit hard.

Arild.

On the pulling the rifle into your shoulder MAKE SURE THE TOP OF THE RECOIL PAD IS BELOW THE TOP OF YOUR SHOULDER. That way when you pull the rifle in you are getting contact with 100% of the recoil pad not 75%. If memory serves me you can watch SEEADS videos and see some examples where you can see the top of the reoil pad over the top of the shoulder. I had two friends get hurt because they thought they knew how to hold the rifle, 450 watts mag. I learned to watch them from the side while they were placing the rifle and they thought that they "knew what we were doing". I don't mean hurt bad but a bruised shoulder takes awhile to heal and the eago takes longer. It may seem odd but I had another "friend" scope himself three times in a row because he knew what he was doing and was going to prove it and it was a rem auto in 30-06 180gr factory load,I forgot the model number.

Shooting from the bench, until you get used to the recoil don't sit on a bucket or chair try it from you knees and you will pivit from the knees instead of the waist. Good luck
RNS

Ditto everyone. I shoot off sandbags with my hand under the forearm. A good grip on the forearm (not exceedingly tight) takes alot of recoil and jump out. I tried shooting mine once with just one hand on the stock (trigger hand) and the rifle dang near came out of my hand.

Another thing. Watch where you rest your trigger hand elbow. (right elbow if right handed) It needs to be on something soft. Your elbow is going to move back very fast. If you are shooting on a rough bench, you'll get cut or scraped.

When I first fired my 416 Rigby, it was quite shocking!! The largest caliber I had ever fired was a 300 mag.
If you have irons I would shoot it with those first.

Good shooting,
Terry

quote:

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Originally posted by T. Kanaley:
Newguy,
I have found that when shooting my 416 Rigby off the bench, that grasping the forend firmly and pulling the gun in tight into the pocket formed by the shoulder and chest is the most comfortable way (oxymoron) to deal with the recoil.

I build up the rear rest with sandbags and use an adjustable rest for my support hand, which also supports the forend. The buttstock is set firmly into the sandbags and I stack them in a way where I can sit up as straight as possible and not lean forward into the gun anymore than I have to.

I also use a medium thick, Past recoil pad and limit my sessions to no more then 20 to 30 rounds. Anymore then that with the big guns and my head starts to hurt.

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I agree completely with this advice, as well as that given by most others here. Also, wear gloves -- I use inexpensive fabric work gloves that have plastic beads covering the palm and finger fronts -- and don't crowd the scope or stock; keep your face and eye as far back as you can. And hang onto the forestock tightly with your left hand (assuming your are right handed), and use that hand to pull the gun back snugly into your shoulder. Building up your rest so that it is relatively high keeps you from huncing over the gun -- if you hunch over it, it is likely to hit you in the face when it rises from the recoil.

[This message has been edited by LE270 (edited 07-26-2001).]

I hope you haven't been scared off yet. After all this is only a 416 so it shouldn't kick too bad. The only thing I have noticed that no one mentioned yet is make sure you hold on tightly to the pistol grip. If you do not your hand may slip off under recoil and you will punch the back of the trigger guard. This I assure you hurts much worse than the kick. Also I would reiterate the elbow and the bench advise this can hurt also.

Todd E

Death Merchant

RNS makes a good point about kneeling instead of sitting at the bench, it helps. As others have said, I wear leather gloves. Watch your right elbow for scaped skin.

The 416 isn't a problem, but the Lott is killing my "finger" finger with the rear of the trigger guard. Will probably have to do a Watts conversion.

I got one of the Past Super Mag pads. It seems to make a big difference from the bench but not so much when standing.

You have to work your way up to recoil.