Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
.458 Win is quite a moderate cartridge in felt recoil, due to its typical velocity range. The exception is when it’s chambered in a sporter weight seven pound and change rifle like a Zastava. If you speed it up with a 300 or 350gr, it just feels exactly like a .375 H&H.
In my own subjective take, I categorize the .458 Win right with a 12ga slug from a typical 6 1/2lb 870. That is to say you’d let your wife try it for the grin and laughs. The .450 Rigby loaded to its potentially is an entirely different dimension of recoil you simply have to shoot to understand. It was too much for me. But .505, .577 were totally reasonable, as they were slow.
It was the velocity that was the difference, and the most recoil I’m willing to put up with from a 2500fps cartridge in a rifle of a weight I don’t mind carrying all day, is the .375 H&H.
In my own subjective take, I categorize the .458 Win right with a 12ga slug from a typical 6 1/2lb 870. That is to say you’d let your wife try it for the grin and laughs. The .450 Rigby loaded to its potentially is an entirely different dimension of recoil you simply have to shoot to understand. It was too much for me. But .505, .577 were totally reasonable, as they were slow.
It was the velocity that was the difference, and the most recoil I’m willing to put up with from a 2500fps cartridge in a rifle of a weight I don’t mind carrying all day, is the .375 H&H.