Been thinking of getting a heavy rifle. The members of this board seem to know what they are talking about. Searching the web I found a place called American Huniting Rifles. Anyone here know anything about this company? I am thinking about getting one of their DGR's, any caliber recommendations?

Thanks in advance for all the information it is truly appreciated.

Kent

I read about these guys a while ago. I have no great experience with their particular product per say, however, the CZ action should be a good strong action for building a big womper on.

I don't remember if i read about them in Rifle magazine or Handloader but if i locate the article i'll put it up for you.

as per cartridge recommendations, i'll yield to the more experienced individuals on this one.

I have a buddy that has one of there 500 AHR, and his ordering it is how I got the coponents for my 500 Jeffrey, a long story.

Anyhow, he is one of those men of few words, so I haven't gotten much out of him about the 500, but he seems to like it so far. Unfortunately he's not on the road system, or I would have gladly made a trip to shoot it!

Unless I was just playing around, I'd stick to the standard calibers, 416, 458 Lott, 404 Jefferys and the 505 or 500 Jefferys in the bigger bores. Just my call.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Kent,

I have an AHR DGR and would recommend it wholeheartedly. My rifle is a 500 AHR, which I would not necessarily recommend to those not used to heavy recoil. Anyway, the AHR DGR rifle is well put together and the stock work is exceptional as well.

Todd E

In addition to the BIG KILLER, AHR rifles are made in both the .416 and .450 Rigby calibers. I think they are a good deal given the relatively low price. Plummer's a good sort; I've spoken and corresponded with him. If I was looking for a new heavy, that's the route I'd take.

Sarge

Todd E & Old Sarge,

You guys seem to have some first hand experience with both of my questions. I appreciate the information regarding AHR and I think I will pursue this through them. I am however a little concerned about recoil. If the 500 is too hard of a kicker then what?

I have shot beau coupe 3" 12 ga slugs and have a 300 Win Mag both of which I have no problem handling. How much of a step up in recold is the 458 Lott, 450 Rigby, or 450 AHR.

Thanks,
Kent

Kent,

The answer to your question is not straight forward. There is a lot to consider when you get into the what is preceived as recoil. I have no first hand experience with any of the 458's your have asked about. I have had several light weight 458 WM that I shot for practice with very hot loads. By practice I mean recoil familiarization. These rifles weighed about 8 pounds loaded and kicked savagely. My 11 pound 416 Rigby does not kick hard at all (still harder than the 300 Weatherby Mag I once owned but not much more). My 500 AHR weigh 11.5 pounds with a muzzle brake and kick considerable harder than the Rigby. With the muzzle brake off and using the same full power loads recoil can best be described as AWESOME.

The load by the way is a 570 Woodleigh travelling along at 2600 fps (avg). The same load yields the same average velocity wth the Barnes 600 grain solids also and is not very much compressed.

To try and put my recoil preception into perspective. A 12 gauge 3" slug fired frommy M1 Benelli I consider to be almost nonexistent. I also consider the recoil of a M70 classic (7.8 pound rifle I think) in 30-06 to be nonexistent. By nonexistent I mean I feel that I could fire this weapon all day long without any recoil related problems.

Hope this long response helps you out.

Todd E

Todd's load for his .500 AHR is very much a Class IV DGR, absolutely devastating but not necessary for anything that ever walked this planet. A .416 Rigby is a Class II, an entry level stopper. It has the power to take out anything around under any circumstances and even gives you a little margin for error over the sainted .375 H&H (Class I). That being said, I find that my .450 Rigby (Class III) is quite manageable. Make sure that the finished rifle weighs 10-10.5 lbs, has a straight stock, fat comb and really fat Sorbethane pad. When you are sighting it in, and I recommend a peep sight only for this much recoil and the ranges you hunt Dangerous Game at, put on a PAST pad and a lead sissy bag. Once the beast is sighted in STAY OFF THE BENCH!!! As Mac once said, dangerous game is only dangerous at close range. Shooting a buffalo or an elephant at 200 yards doesn't count. That means that our vaunted MOA groups are silly and spending hours on a shooting bench trying to achieve one is a study in self-flagellation. Make yourself a set of bamboo shooting sticks, stand on your hind legs and shoot like a man and don't try to fire more that 1-2 rounds at a time without all the padding on, at least in the beginning . Cacek recommends starting with a round of skeet the first week, two the second week, two the third week and one shot from your Thumper. Keep this schedule up until you can put five aimed shots into 8" black spot at 50 yards. Now you're ready to get on the plane for Joberg. Recoil IS manageable but you have to work up to it.