A few weekends ago my fiance and I flew out to Salt Lake City to visit a friend for the weekend and I took the opportunity to make a day trip and visit D'Arcy Echols since he is nearby. Besides getting to poke around his shop and ask too many questions I got the opportunity to shoot a big bore rifle for the first time. He had a Legend .458 Lott in the house and put it in a slave stock for me to shoot. Total package was 9 3/4 pounds, no pad on the stock but there was a PAST shoulder pad for me to wear.

Prior to this the largest centerfire I'd fired was a .30/06, and I'm familiar with shooting magnum slugs and turkey loads through lightweight shotguns but nothing like the Lott. It wasn't really as bad as I'd expected too- I expected sharper recoil though it still had some push to it. I fired a total of 10 rounds and it was all good after the first shot went well.

In this video I tried to shoot five rounds at a short range target as fast as I could while still getting a well aimed shot off.

Youtube video link

So... in conclusion the biggest bore gun I own myself is still a 12 gauge but I've learned that I can handle big bores if needed and they are fun guns too!

Good fun, hey! You handled the rifle just fine! What are you going to buy now that you're hooked?

I see you've been introduced to the Lott!

Were I getting a custom 458 Lott, I'd ask the smith to design a small depression for locating my thumb near the tang.

The one I tried had quite a long length of pull but still still came back far enough for my thumb to nearly take off the schnoz.

Recoil at the shoulder? No big deal, for a couple of shots, anyway. I realise that when people fire a packet or so in a day that opinion may change - but I prefer the Elgin Gates outlook of don't fire too many shots from big ones at targets, for fear of developing a flinch. I sometimes wonder if the old elephant hunters ever shot at targets (unless the sights were obviously out of whack). At seven yards sights would have to be way off to be the reason for missing an elephant's brain and I think adrenaline would keep even a tyro from feeling the recoil.

Wow, you certainly can work a bolt! It looks to me like you shot it really well. How was the receiver sight? Time for a big bore rifle now?

I have never met D'Arcy but he has been extremely generous with his time both on email and on the phone. I have a few of his Legend stocks on Model 70s and they are indeed legendary! A PH who lives here in Jhb has one of his Legend rifles and it is superb. I think the man is a gentleman and an artist. I cannot stress enough how pleasant D'Arcy was to deal with all the time knowing I live in SA and am not buying a rifle from him.

Y ou are very good at working that bolt

quote:

Originally posted by BenKK:
Good fun, hey! You handled the rifle just fine! What are you going to buy now that you're hooked?

Thanks! No new rifle purchases in my near future though the next one I'd like to put together for myself will be a 9.3x62. No, not in the same class as the Lott but still more gun than my .270.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Were I getting a custom 458 Lott, I'd ask the smith to design a small depression for locating my thumb near the tang.

The one I tried had quite a long length of pull but still still came back far enough for my thumb to nearly take off the schnoz.

Recoil at the shoulder? No big deal, for a couple of shots, anyway. I realise that when people fire a packet or so in a day that opinion may change - but I prefer the Elgin Gates outlook of don't fire too many shots from big ones at targets, for fear of developing a flinch. I sometimes wonder if the old elephant hunters ever shot at targets (unless the sights were obviously out of whack). At seven yards sights would have to be way off to be the reason for missing an elephant's brain and I think adrenaline would keep even a tyro from feeling the recoil.

10 rounds was enough for me, and I'm glad I was standing for all of them too. I doubt the old boys sat down at a rifle range bench for many of those shots. Regarding a flinch, I was focusing hard on just pulling the trigger once I had the sight picture I wanted and just went with the recoil. I was hitting the target I was aiming at too, not just flinging lead as fast as I could. I think it helped that the day before I was at a range and put a box of ammo through a compact S&W M&P Shield 9mm, and I was doing the same thing with just pulling the trigger once I had the sight picture without anticipating the recoil.

quote:

Originally posted by AFRICAN LEADWOOD:
Wow, you certainly can work a bolt! It looks to me like you shot it really well. How was the receiver sight? Time for a big bore rifle now?

I have never met D'Arcy but he has been extremely generous with his time both on email and on the phone. I have a few of his Legend stocks on Model 70s and they are indeed legendary! A PH who lives here in Jhb has one of his Legend rifles and it is superb. I think the man is a gentleman and an artist. I cannot stress enough how pleasant D'Arcy was to deal with all the time knowing I live in SA and am not buying a rifle from him.

Thanks, the receiver sight was a nice feature. The ghost ring aperture was a lil bigger than expected and the front sight bead was on the bigger end too but that meant target acquisition was fast and it was easy to get back on target. I can see why this is preferred for guns where your quarry may be happy to stomp your ass. Very slick well polished rifle. I don't think I'll be getting one for myself anytime soon but at least I'm glad I know I can handle them.

D'Arcy has been very helpful to me and I very much appreciate that. He's a good guy.

can we see a photo of the target?

Firing only a few shots at a time is sound advice. I built 500 Jeff for A Tanzanian Buff hunt. and after about 100 rounds spread out over a few weeks, I felt pretty comfortable..Of course, no perceived recoil while actually shooting at game.

The down side of these big guns...An MD friend, who also like big guns told me he had to quit shooting them..Naturally I asked why and he responded "Do you ever get a headache after shooting your 500?" Yes, I do and he said plainly that was called a concussion!!

I've come to the conclusion that a 404 will kill anything short of a dinosaur and no headache.

quote:

Wow, you certainly can work a bolt

That is how one should work a bolt from the shoulder.

I see way to many people dropping it from the shoulder then working the bolt.

Had a discussion with a fellow he was trying to tell me he could work his bolt gun as fast as a semi auto.

His statement was it doesn't take me long to drop the rifle from the shoulder and get it back up.

After that I knew he was full of it.

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
can we see a photo of the target?

Not much left of it to see.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
I've come to the conclusion that a 404 will kill anything short of a dinosaur and no headache.

I'd like to try that and a .375 H&H for comparison. No headache and no bruising from the Lott though I could still feel it in my shoulder afterwards.

Always fun how putting the sights on game makes the recoil go away.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

Wow, you certainly can work a bolt

That is how one should work a bolt from the shoulder.

I see way to many people dropping it from the shoulder then working the bolt.

Had a discussion with a fellow he was trying to tell me he could work his bolt gun as fast as a semi auto.

His statement was it doesn't take me long to drop the rifle from the shoulder and get it back up.

After that I knew he was full of it.

This is how I've always done it. If I'm really on the ball I'll try to keep my cheek weld solid while working the bolt too, though that wasn't happening this time around.