quote:

Originally posted by kudude:
Getting back to the man's question and the info he provided, the rifle would kick the pure snot out of you. I have a 458WM that weighs 8.5#s and a 500gr bullet at 2068fps made me post here about alternatives, and I don't consider myself a whimp and have several 375's, and have one 40 and just got rid of another.

... but my eye doctor told me to stop shooting it because it caused me obnoxious floaters and raised the specter of retinal detachment. Kudude

I think all you guys over 50 years of age should listen to his advice. One of my friends at the gun club is now essentially blind in his right eye thanks to some very heavy handloads in a light lever action .45-70. He got a retinal detachment about three years ago which did not heal properly, so he has had all the fun of having to re-learn to shoot left handed only. He's now also pretty much restricted by his medics to rifles in "big boomer" calibers such as the .221 Fireball.

I am going through something similar right now. As a result of some heavy handloads in the .404 Jeff and the .405 Winchester among others, I apparently have a torn right retina. As a result, I have not been able to shoot at all for the last 4 months. My body is gradually re-absorbing the blood in there, which completely blocked my vision, but it will be another 6 months at least before I am allowed to shoot ANYTHING by way of a shoulder weapon. They won't even let me shoot a .17 HMR right now. My retinal surgeon would have a classic S--T hemorrhage if he was your doctor, you were over 50, and he knew you were going to shoot that.

Then he'd probably gamble on buying a new Lexus for his wife, in anticipation of your insurance company paying for it!!

No joke, guys, as we age those retina's get pretty fragile. If we are lucky they will last forever, but every year we put that kind of recoil energy to tossing our upper bodies, the more likely we are to enjoy a dim old age.

I once owned a Brown Precion rifle in 450 Ackley that weighed just shy of 7 pounds. It would shoot the 500s at 2,400. And yes I did chrono them.
I simply could not shoot it even after I had a brake added. Call me a wussy if you want but I sold it and moved on to heavier rifles.

Well unfortunately I'm in that over 50 crowd. Maybe I'll stick with my wimpy 10.5 lb 375 H&H. It weighs 11 lbs with my 1.5 - 5x Leupold scope on it, and it's a pussycat with regard to recoil.

Chuck