Opinions on Best Big Bore Rifle
- Thread starter Hardrockminer
- Start date
I would like one of those WILD WEST take down Marlins in 50 Alaska 
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Wouldn’t that be something? I’d pass the bear the gun and let the recoil kill him
I ran the numbers for fun with a 7 lb gun. Comes to 462 foot pounds of recoil, or roughly the same as 15 300 Mags going off at the same time.
I ran the numbers for fun with a 7 lb gun. Comes to 462 foot pounds of recoil, or roughly the same as 15 300 Mags going off at the same time.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Stopping and elephant that is intent on killing you is an entirely different undertaking than killing an elephant that is unaware of your presence.
You're not wrong about the African cats. There really isn't any need to shoot something overly large at what amounts to a thinly skinned and relatively easily killed animal.
I've fired a 50 Alaskan, built on a 71 Winchester. Recoil didn't seem that bad, but I don't recall what bullet weight/velocity we were getting. - dan
Big bore dinosaur
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NORT OF COW.TOWN.EH
I shoot hard cast 525 gr out of my 12" 50 Alaskan chiappa ridge runner.
1400 fps groups really nice, and recoil is manageable.
Wanted more speed but cloverleafs win
Penetration was surprising.
Exits 3 twelve inch logs at 40yards
1400 fps groups really nice, and recoil is manageable.
Wanted more speed but cloverleafs win
Penetration was surprising.
Exits 3 twelve inch logs at 40yards
There was a video on YouTube some time ago about a guide turning a brown bear charge with a .404 Jeffery. The client had shot a different bear and this one charged up the river bank.
There is a difference in shooting a calm, relaxed animal vs one that is wounded or charging. And of course your point is spot on about bullet placement, except that some folks are proficient enough with the bigger stuff to properly place a bigger bullet.
I doubt many brown bear guides carry a .30-06 to back up their clients. IIRC Phil Shoemaker used a .458 WM as backup. There is a reason for that.
Horses for courses. Just because something can work, doesn't mean its an ideal match for a situation: old WDM was and is the exception to the rule.
If I'm hunting bear from a ground stand in the evening I want a hole on both sides of the bear that will wreck innards and produce a blood trail, not a shot that will (more slowly) kill but allow it to run without leaving a trace into good ol' Canadian jungley-bush. Been there, and still feel nauseated by it years later (and yes, it was hit well and properly- roar, bite the impact site, rolled and then ran).
A 450/400, 9.3x62, or 458 WM are what I'm leaning on, even if I could bring out a 6.5X54MS to admire while waiting to see if something decides to show itself.
A big bore is a rifle that you KNOW is enough!
If I'm hunting bear from a ground stand in the evening I want a hole on both sides of the bear that will wreck innards and produce a blood trail, not a shot that will (more slowly) kill but allow it to run without leaving a trace into good ol' Canadian jungley-bush. Been there, and still feel nauseated by it years later (and yes, it was hit well and properly- roar, bite the impact site, rolled and then ran).
A 450/400, 9.3x62, or 458 WM are what I'm leaning on, even if I could bring out a 6.5X54MS to admire while waiting to see if something decides to show itself.
A big bore is a rifle that you KNOW is enough!
He has also used a 30-06 as a backup and has stopped wounded brown bear with one.
Actually for years Phil carried a 30-06 cause he could t find any partitions for his other gun and he thought that he was better with a 30-06 with 200gn partition than anything else with poorly made bullets.
To this day the record costal brown bear was killed with a 30-06!
As for cats, not your house cat, a adult lion or lioness is very much as or more dangerous than any bears on this planet, way faster, way more agile, a lot more predatory even more than the polar bear. As for weight a male lion can weight up to 600lbs, male grizzly up to 700lbs so really little difference when you think the lion as more speed. Polar bear can be a lot heavier at up to 1300lbs, but really not as common and not a species hunted that much if that make any differences!
For me I feel more confortable in grizzly country than in big cats country
For me I feel more confortable in grizzly country than in big cats country
He did.
He called it Old Ugly.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
He also built a 505 Gibbs as a backup rifle, kept a 416 Rigby in his outhouse, and dummied a homicidal brownie with a single stack 9mm, and had rounds to spare.
Phil is a different breed of cat. And if he was a cat, he'd be the most dangerous one on earth.
!
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
While I'll probably never go to Africa, I believe wholeheartedly that train how you fight/fight how you train applies to big bore rifles, or any rifle for that matter. Or is it the other way around? But same difference. Short sessions of 4 rounds of rock n roll shoot/reload quickly, would be in my mind a hundred times better than 1000 rounds of watered down 45-70 off the bench.
