I have had a few big bores.I didnt like a Savage 458 stainless I had 6 3/4 ponds too light and thin of a stock.I sold it.I didnt shoot it but didnt want to try too.I didnt like the browning model 78 45-70 with the metal curved butt plate.It looked like it hurt without shooting it.I had only one 416 rem mag I did like a Sako that I thought I would.I didnt like the ring set up which slides and the cheek piece which was way too high for a 416 rem mag.I like classic straight stocks for 416 rem mags no cheek piece.I would just wondering if any one had any they didnt like .I have a bunch that I love to play with the rest of my 416s.I still want a 458 Ruger model 77 old style.I hate model 70 safetys.

I agree on the Savage. Same here. I had a Dakota 416 Rem Mag that was way to light. Sold it. Call me crazy, I like the Ruger No. l's the best. They fit me right and seem to shoot well. I still have a 416 Rem Mag in that rifle. Plus a 45-70. I have five 45-70's.

I don't like those that other people own, & I don't.

I do not like the cz550. Crappy safety, dog turd shaped bolt handle, crap sights, not a real mauser.

I didn't like my No.1 .458 WM...just kicked me too hard....
I didn't like my Ruger RSM in 416 Rigby. Was one the early ones, bought it a couple of months after they were released. Didn't feed worth crap...I have detailed my dealings with Ruger over this in previous posts....sort of made me angry to pay the better part of $1400 for a rifle and then have to pay a gunsmith an additional couple hundred to make it work. It would reliably feed one round from the magazine, but only if that was the only round in the magazine.

Brown Precision built on a Remington 700 in .450 Ackely. It weighed under 7 pounds. I simply found the recoil to be unbearable.

Several Winjammer Safari Classics, one in 375 and the other in 416 Rem. NEITHER would feed properly from a full magazine. The 375 barrel was not square with the action. Winchester was so embarrased that they bought it back from me, sales tax and all, then paid the shipping, once they got it back and had a look.

6.5lb Reidl SS in 378Wbee. I still wake up occasionally in a cold sweat thinking about the ONE shot off the bench I took. It was the only rifle I have ever fired that neither love nor money could get me shoot again. The gunsmith shot it twice, and the sceond shot broke his collarbone.

Rich
DRSS

A Merkel 500 Nitro Express. Just beats me up!

Nastiest bloody thing I ever saw (never fired it!) was a Ruger #1 in 458........the bloke who owned it, had planned to rechamber to 458 Lott

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
6.5lb Reidl SS in 378Wbee. I still wake up occasionally in a cold sweat thinking about the ONE shot off the bench I took. It was the only rifle I have ever fired that neither love nor money could get me shoot again. The gunsmith shot it twice, and the sceond shot broke his collarbone.

Rich
DRSS

Oh my! This first thing I would of asked was how much it weighed before I even considered shooting it.

Ptaylor,

late 'twenties, had made a double on Milk jugs at 10 yards two weeks before up at Elmer Keith's with his .600NE. He thought it amusing enough that someone would want to shoot all his big doubles at one session to allow me 1 or 2 shots with everything I asked about. A marvelous gentleman.
Anyway, I pretty much thought I was recoil-proof back in the 'seventies. Go to the range one afternoon and the gunsmith at a local place was getting ready to sight in the Reidl. A customer was going sheep hunting in Iran and wanted a stone killer long range sheep rifle. Tells Larry he'll pay ALL expenses for Larry to sight it in. He boresights it and asks me if I want the honor. Being stupid, I say "lemme at it!".

That was the first moment that the earth stood still for me. Shot is close, about 2" left and 4" high at 100 yds. Larry tweaks the knobs and sets down. One shot goes dead on and 3" high, and he decides, about ten minutes later, to doublecheck for recoil shift. Boom! I catch the rifle as it goes by; replicate the famous over the shoulder basket catch Willie Mays made that you see on ESPN all the time...and my cousin Bob catches Larry on the second bounce. He's crying like a baby. We end up hauling him to the hospital and they diagnose: broken collarbone. Two weeks later he boxes the rifle and sends it to the guy in California with a bill for nearly two-grand, and an explaination. A week later he gets the rifle back with a check for the total amount, one empty still in the rifle, and a request for a better pad. I see him a couple times a year, and he still cringes when I mention the incident to him...twenty-nine years later.

Rich
DRSS

I don't like Win 95s in 405. I briefly had a Savage in 458, also not too good. Also afraid of any Ruger #1s in 458 Lott, although they are great fun as plinkers with reduced loads.

I didn't ever bond with an A-Square Hannibal .450 Ackley I had Art Alphin build. At 11+ pounds it was heavy enough, but it just didn't handle well. It was good enough though for an exercise weight when I practiced dry firing at zeroes and ohs on the TV.

The second was a .416 Rem Mag M700 from their Custom Shop. It arrived weighing 7 pounds and change, and most of that seemingly in the barrel it was so nose heavy. I had Jim Brockman put two mercury tubes in the buttstock which brought the weight up, and improved tha balance markedly. Then I found out how badly the barrel fouled, and it seemed that each thing I fixed uncovered another layer of the onion. I finally sold it when it got to the stage where someone could hunt with it. The experience convined me the Rem Custom guys didn't know sh*t about dangerous game rifles.

jim

With the exception of ss stalking rifle anything with Blaser name on it. Gegr. '77, so there is no history, but oh boy there is plenty of fugliness!

#1 in 460 WBY. Even Magnaported with a brake it was ugly.

Hi DGR416:

I have a Ruger 77R, Tang safety in 458 Win Mag in excellent condition, if you are interested in it I will send pics, make me an offer.

Regards... Jim P.

I also had a CZ 550 in .458 Lott for a SHORT time. Dog turd is pretty accurate description.

Crappy safety, lousy sights, but the clincher is that it didn't feed reliably.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
A Merkel 500 Nitro Express. Just beats me up!

AMEN!!!

and anything chambered in 300 rum.....

jeffe

Those Merkel .500NE's without a pad really kick the crap out of people. They sure are accurate though. I like mine. I HATE any Rifle ever made by WEATHERBY. Now your talking real crap!-Rob

I think too light for the caliber is a common notion with these rifles we dont like.I did find that my Remington Model 700s in 416 with fiberglass stocks and kevelar stocks kick less than the wood stock rifles.I added Kanes Chaps to all my guns which are no longer made.I use two past pads and shoot standing off of a milk carton.I also shoot alot of reduced loads.I had to put new springs in all of my Remington model 700 s in 416 they all had to have Weatherby Springs.I love my Weatherby Accumarks.I wish I had one in 416 Weatherby Mag.I hate model 70 safetys and love Tang Safetys.I like blanaced guns with straight stocks.Big monte carlo stocks dont belong on big guns.I like Sorbathane recoil pads.I hate metal butt pads.I hate sling swivels that wack your left hand.They belong on the barrel band.My weatherby 338-378 accumarks have shot .25 inch groups.I do like model 70s but hate that safety Is there a way to convery them to tang safety.I heard of a conversion.I think metal curved butt plates on guns might be neat on 22s nothing bigger.I shoot 416 rem mags that are 7 pounds but I am use to them. I found that some bullets do kick harder than others.The 410 gr woodleigh bullets wack me in my guns but I trust them.I like the 350 gr speer bullets in the 416.I hate hard rubber pads on guns not much better than plastic.I like well blanced guns that fit you like a glove and shoot fast and accurate.

IMHO, stock design is more of a killer than the weight. F'r instance, the legendary Marlin 1895 of Sw Idaho in the 1990's. This rifle, a 45-70, showed up at a Boise gunshow at Christmas, with a box of factory minus three rounds. It showed up at the next one in April, with seven empties in the box. Showed up in September, with four more gone. At Christmas I bought it with four loaded rounds left...very cheap. I put a good Pachmayr Pad on it and finally sold it last fall to a friend who had to have one, but did not have the $$$ for one of my 1886's.

There's a moral there somewhere....

Rich
DRSS

All of the ones owned by Alf, they seem to be elcheapo replicas.

All the Weatherby's. Ugly, hardkicking, and not especially reliable or accurate.

PA hunter I sent you a pm on that Ruger model 77 in 458 Ruger.I think they are one of the best rifles made.I love my Weatherby Accumarks.I have heard nothing but bad things about asquare rifles.They made alot of heavy jammers.I have never had a weatherby above 338-378 but I lovre the two I have.I think Ruger is the best gun for the money.I think they under estimated the recoil of the 458 lott and alot of stocks broke.Their magium rifle is an awesome gun I just dont like the chamberings.I want to rebore one in 375 h&H one day to 416 rem mag.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
A Merkel 500 Nitro Express. Just beats me up!

AMEN!!!

and anything chambered in 300 rum.....

jeffe

Rusty...tell the truth....did the Merkel kick very hard when you only pulled one trigger at a time?

I used to defend it, somewhat, as it seems to be a strong action and a good one for a custom build. But I'd had it with the big CZ550, just got to bug the crap out of me. Mine was 416 Rigby and I returned it to Cabela's. I was fed up with all it's issues and quirks.

A Remington M700 "Big Game" in 416 Remington. Ouch!

I think there are a lot of over 375 cals that could be 2 or 3 pounds heavier.

And while action design isn't of terribly great importance to me, the stock design is.

I would rather have a Blaser R93 with a thumbhole stock in a 416 Remington than a Mauser 98 with a Weatherby stock in the same caliber.

Bad stock design, plus light weight equals broken collar bone!

I have often thought of building a 378 Weatherby on a Ruger number one with a 28 inch octagonal barrel and a fiberglass thumbhole stock from MPI.

Ruger #3 in 45-70 with cresent butt plate

I have two Remington Big game rifles in 416 rem mag and love them.You have to shoot these 416s standing off the bench not bench rest.I shoot off of a milk crate with a 60 pound bull bag.I love thes 416s.They are short and light for sure and tough as nails.I need to add glowing sites to mine. You have to change the springs in them the factory mag spring sucks.Its well balanced and short they were made for guides.I have shot the heck out of mine.

quote:

Originally posted by Robgunbuilder:
Those Merkel .500NE's without a pad really kick the crap out of people. They sure are accurate though. I like mine. I HATE any Rifle ever made by WEATHERBY. Now your talking real crap!-Rob

Now you're talking. Although I did have one good "weatherly" that I bought. It was one of his early ones with a 1951 FN action in 30/06. Once I rebarreled it to 257R & restocked it in classic Eng. walnut, it was a real nice Weatherby .

The one that did this!

That 6.5 lb. 378 wby. doesn't sound like fun at all...