Stopping Rifles, .375 - .450 - .505 Gibbs

Ardent said:
It's with a good home at stickhunter's, he certainly understands what he has and appreciates it. As do I in being kindly leant it. Be sure to let Steve H know we're enjoying his work- and ask him if he's interested in doing one in .577. ;)
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Whelen B passed my info along and Steve H and I had a nice phone conversation last year. Rest assured, the rifle is in good hands and I let Steve know that he'd have first right to refusal if I ever decided to sell the rifle. It's a working rifle, so I'm glad Ardent is getting a chance to put it through the paces. Having young kids at home and other priorities, the rifle was spending most of its time in the safe, so I'm happy to share the enjoyment of it.
 
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thepitchedlink said:
This stupid thread has somehow caused me to horse trade into a 416 Rigby....not quite the same league as these "stoppers", but I'm sure a few things will "stop" when I let it off for the first time....
At least the goal of owning a +.40 is achieved, look out whitetails!!!!
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Big brown box arrived today.....man, what the hell was I thinking. This certainly is in a different league then your normal magnums. Was it an option on the RSM to be Magna Ported at the factory? I didn't realize this one was....guess I'll see how I like it
I can only imagine what this 450 Rigby is going to feel like....now to find some cheaper 416 fodder to try out in it....only came with Barnes....
 
You touch one off yet? No not to my knowledge for factory magnaporting, you'll probably appreciate the ports they're not as loud as a brake is and do tame muzzle climb a bit. I was fire forming .450 brass until 9:30 last night, was good bolt handle practice on the new rifle as twoshot's .338 Lapua brass feed and chamber like cartridges with the "small" for .45 bore neck. Lost about 1/3rd to splits, but have just shy of twenty good cases. We'll try the .505 RSM with Superior ammunition shortly and shoot a stack of spruce planks.

Took this shot of bullet bases, the .458 is second from left and only appears the equal of the .475 next to it by optical illusion, the beveled base on the Woodleigh .475" solid makes it appear smaller. Truly shows just how big .505 is, far left is .375.

 
This bizarre cartridge came about from a wingnut experiment after I cycled .375 through my .450 GMA action just for kicks, it cycles and ejects them perfectly despite the massive case head diameter difference. That's after fire forming with corn meal, then loaded it with trail boss and a 200gr lead .45 bullet. Fire formed out nicely as a rebated head case (not pictured, below is a halfway pic), in a pinch, would work. Won't continue with it as I'd rather not enjoy a case failure.

 
Ardent said:
This bizarre cartridge came about from a wingnut experiment after I cycled .375 through my .450 GMA action just for kicks, it cycles and ejects them perfectly despite the massive case head diameter difference. That's after fire forming with corn meal, then loaded it with trail boss and a 200gr lead .45 bullet. Fire formed out nicely as a rebated head case (not pictured, below is a halfway pic), in a pinch, would work. Won't continue with it as I'd rather not enjoy a case failure.

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Your nutts....keep up the good work. Need any more 416 brass? I got me some now....gotta find some 416 bullets. Have not touched one off yet...too busy. Leave for elk chasing on Sun early AM
 
thepitchedlink said:
Your nutts....keep up the good work. Need any more 416 brass? I got me some now....gotta find some 416 bullets. Have not touched one off yet...too busy. Leave for elk chasing on Sun early AM
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Thanks Jon for the offer, I'll shoot you a PM might need to buy some, but only if you have a healthy stock. Having fun tinkering with it, going to cast some .458 500gr hard cast with a gas check to keep costs reasonable. I have a .416" 400gr mold, good one a Saeco if memory serves, would swap ya if you want to do some low cost thumping.
 
I have a 470-500 (.474 500 gr.) rcbs mold I just picked up, but I'd like get one set up for .475 gas checks. Where is the best place for us Canucks to get them from?

I've thinking I might just shave a small step on the rear edge if I can't find one. Anyone try that?
 
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Whelen B said:
Steve H. is not a computer guy but I'll let him know next I see him that his Gibbs conversion (creation) has been let out to run its legs some. I have discussed that rifle with Steve on several occasions. He told me that when it was done he REALLY didn't want to give it back to the customer that contracted him for the conversion - he liked it that much - but of course he did.
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That M77 .350 RM, while not a "stopper" for this thread is wearing new clothes and bling... I will bring it out to Denis's for the next rap session...
 
Ardent said:
You'll like the .375, you'll shoot it and figure, "That's it?" And every .30-06 thereafter will feel like a .243. It's in the .375 buyer's guarantee somewhere.
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That was exactly my reaction after shooting my 375 Ruger. A 30-06 still feels like... a 30-06, but the 375 is easily manageable and not intimidating. The 300 Weatherby I had was less fun.
 
Ardent said:
You'll like the .375, you'll shoot it and figure, "That's it?" And every .30-06 thereafter will feel like a .243. It's in the .375 buyer's guarantee somewhere.
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When I was shooting my 375 ruger, It was quite a different story, on bench it would push me around quite a bit, when standing I was better, when I was shooting I would lean forward on the one leg and once the shot was off it would make me rise my leg and push me back. a 300gr solid @ 2700fts is quite powerful. I was thinking on load my 300gr spbt to about 2550-2600fts more in the range of the H&H, until I get used to 375 class recoil.

My 9.3x62 285GR bullet @ approx. 2450fts, is so much more comfortable. To me it feels like a 30-06. The 375 ruger is far from the 9.3 for recoil in my opinion.
 
And that right there shows how differently each shooter experiences recoil! My experience shooting a 9.3x74R with 286's from a combo gun left me feeling much like I had fired a 30-06 with 165's.

The math says that a 375 should recoil about twice as much as a 30-06, but it doesn't feel twice as stout to me.

I think there's something to be said about body size and recoil; I tower above adolescent hobbits at 5'6" and about 170lbs.
 
dgradinaru said:
When I was shooting my 375 ruger, It was quite a different story, on bench it would push me around quite a bit, when standing I was better, when I was shooting I would lean forward on the one leg and once the shot was off it would make me rise my leg and push me back. a 300gr solid @ 2700fts is quite powerful. I was thinking on load my 300gr spbt to about 2550-2600fts more in the range of the H&H, until I get used to 375 class recoil.

My 9.3x62 285GR bullet @ approx. 2450fts, is so much more comfortable. To me it feels like a 30-06. The 375 ruger is far from the 9.3 for recoil in my opinion.
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Unfortuantely, the H&H is dead equal with the Ruger, so recoil is identical, the Barnes data for the 300gr solid is 2,735fps for the H&H over 76.5grs RL15 as well, top load for the .375 Ruger with the same bullet is actually a split hair slower than the H&H at 2,726fps. I'll agree classically the .375 H&H was down loaded to slightly lower specs and used archaic powders (and even cordite!) in years past, but today there isn't a lick of difference between the H&H and the Ruger. Both the H&H and Ruger can of course be comfortably downloaded and due to rifle weight, can feel like a .30-06 but deliver more on target.

The good news is, it gets much worse! Stickhunter's .505 is equivalent in recoil to firing three .375s simultaneously, from the same weight rifle (his .505 is actually lighter than my .375).
 
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