Largest caliber you own?

[Litetrigger]

A couple more big bores: The bore of repo "Brown Bess" at top measures .720" I've shot it a few times but doesn't group well so I need to do more load development. (Any suggestions?) The rifled .50cal "Ky" below shoots amost as good as it looks.

 

[Oldelkhunter]

Before my dad passed, I had no reason to own anything bigger than a .35 Whelen or .30-06 AI. Elk was the biggest thing I would ever shoot and I never got the thrill of shooting something that hurt you. But my father, who hunted dangerous game in Africa, Alaska, and Siberia, had such a need for some serious calibers. His Africa days long since passed, he got rid of his double rifles in 416 Rigby, .458 Lott, and .505 Gibbs.

All that was left when he passed was a Ruger #1 in .375 H&H Ackley Improved, built by Al Biesen, and a Sharps rifle crafted in Oregon in .50-90. I fired the Ruger, got a mild concussion, and gifted it to my brother for Christmas, lol.

The Sharps is now the largest caliber rifle I own, and I will keep it until I die. I have fired hundreds of rounds of .45-70 govt. in BPCR competition, and plenty of .45-90 as well. So the thought of shooting a rifle in .50-90 did not seem all that intimidating.

Until today. When I went to my storage container to scrounge up some ammo to shoot this weekend. The recipe I found was 91grs of black powder, with a .030 plastic wad, and 600gr flatpoint lead bullets.

I checked the ammo for condition, then compared it to my normal .45-70 competition ammo...

View attachment 1208422

The .45-70 looks downright tame compared to the .50-90!

Typical Idaho Spring weather with snow, hail, rain, sunshine and high winds all in one day has prevented me from any rifle shooting, but this weekend is supposed to get near 80 and be calm, so will hopefully shoot the Sharps and do a YouTube review of it.

View attachment 1208423

View attachment 1208427

I'm sure other folks on here have similarly giant calibers. Probably a few .50 BMG owners. Curious as to what other dangerous game calibers folks have and what they use them for. My Sharps may someday take an elk, but it definitely isn't needed for one.

That Sharps is outstanding, beautiful wood.

My largest Caliber is .30 and it is a 300 win mag.

 

[plumberroy]

Rifled would be a H&R rifled 20 gauge shooting a .625 hard cast round ball at around 1250-1300 FPS

 

[plumberroy]

A couple more big bores: The bore of repo "Brown Bess" at top measures .720" I've shot it a few times but doesn't group well so I need to do more load development. (Any suggestions?) The rifled .50cal "Ky" below shoots amost as good as it looks.View attachment 1209528

I have a T/C 56 smooth bore. I got it to tighten up the groups with fairly heavy cotton patch and a over powder card between the powder and the patched ball

 

[natman]

All that was left when he passed was a Ruger #1 in .375 H&H Ackley Improved, built by Al Biesen, and a Sharps rifle crafted in Oregon in .50-90. I fired the Ruger, got a mild concussion, and gifted it to my brother for Christmas, lol.

I once had a #1 in 375 H&H. It was the most unpleasant gun to shoot I ever owned. I'm sure my 458 Win Mag recoiled more, but the 458's recoil was a slow push - OK, a BIG slow push - and you could sort of roll with it. The 375 in the Ruger was big AND fast. I sold it gladly.

I'm sure other folks on here have similarly giant calibers. Probably a few .50 BMG owners. Curious as to what other dangerous game calibers folks have and what they use them for. My Sharps may someday take an elk, but it definitely isn't needed for one.

I've had a couple of 458 Win Mags. The one I shot most was a Ruger 77 African. I fired a few full power 500 FMJs through it, but mostly shot a mid-power load with a Hornady 350 grain round nose soft point. I shot a deer and a couple of hogs with it. It was a lot more pleasant to shoot with that load than full power 500s. It was spectacularly effective with the 350 load, but I finally got tired of lugging the heavy 458 around and got a much lighter 308 that made deer and hogs just as dead.

 

[.308 Norma]

I once had a #1 in 375 H&H. It was the most unpleasant gun to shoot I ever owned. I'm sure my 458 Win Mag recoiled more, but the 458's recoil was a slow push - OK, a BIG slow push - and you could sort of roll with it. The 375 in the Ruger was big AND fast. I sold it gladly.

I've said essentially the same thing about comparing the recoil of my old .338 Win Mag (a pre-64, 70) to the recoil of the .300 Win Mag (a post-94, 70) I used to have. That is, on paper the .338 Win Mag probably kicked harder than the .300 Win Mag, but the .300 Win Mag I used to have hurt more. And I think it's because it was a faster recoil.
On the other hand, I actually like how my .308 Norma Mag recoils, and ballistically it's identical to a .300 Win Mag. Here's the thing though, my .308 Norma Mag was custom built, so it fits me perfectly, it has a good recoil pad and a shock-absorbing synthetic stock.
What I'm saying is, recoil charts (as well as ballistics charts) are interesting and fun to study. And they do provide some indication (or at least approximations) of how a certain cartridge is going to be recoil-wise (and perform in the field). But they don't tell the whole story - there's a lot more to it than that. I mean, most anyone with a lick of common sense knows that a 6 lb. .300 Win Mag is going to hurt more than a 10 lb. .300 Win Mag when it goes off.

 

[Rip dog]

I've said essentially the same thing about comparing the recoil of my old .338 Win Mag (a pre-64, 70) to the recoil of the .300 Win Mag (a post-94, 70) I used to have. That is, on paper the .338 Win Mag probably kicked harder than the .300 Win Mag, but the .300 Win Mag I used to have hurt more. And I think it's because it was a faster recoil.
On the other hand, I actually like how my .308 Norma Mag recoils, and ballistically it's identical to a .300 Win Mag. Here's the thing though, my .308 Norma Mag was custom built, so it fits me perfectly, it has a good recoil pad and a shock-absorbing synthetic stock.
What I'm saying is, recoil charts (as well as ballistics charts) are interesting and fun to study. And they do provide some indication (or at least approximations) of how a certain cartridge is going to be recoil-wise (and perform in the field). But they don't tell the whole story - there's a lot more to it than that. I mean, most anyone with a lick of common sense knows that a 6 lb. .300 Win Mag is going to hurt more than a 10 lb. .300 Win Mag when it goes off.

Agree on stock design and recoil pad taming hard kickers. My big beast is in 358 Norma

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

45/70

 

[Zygodactyl]

A couple more big bores: The bore of repo "Brown Bess" at top measures .720" I've shot it a few times but doesn't group well so I need to do more load development. (Any suggestions?) The rifled .50cal "Ky" below shoots amost as good as it looks.View attachment 1209528

The Brown Bess was developed for rapid fire, not accuracy. British infantry was trained with live ammo to fire as fast as 4 shots a minute. For accuracy the Russians developed a bullet that resembled a short hollow base shot gun slug. You may want to experiment with slugs and tighter fitting balls.

 

[Armorer 101]

Discounting the cannons and muzzle loaders, the 458 Lott is the most violent and 99% of the visitors will not shoot it, period.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Before my dad passed, I had no reason to own anything bigger than a .35 Whelen or .30-06 AI. Elk was the biggest thing I would ever shoot and I never got the thrill of shooting something that hurt you. But my father, who hunted dangerous game in Africa, Alaska, and Siberia, had such a need for some serious calibers. His Africa days long since passed, he got rid of his double rifles in 416 Rigby, .458 Lott, and .505 Gibbs.

All that was left when he passed was a Ruger #1 in .375 H&H Ackley Improved, built by Al Biesen, and a Sharps rifle crafted in Oregon in .50-90. I fired the Ruger, got a mild concussion, and gifted it to my brother for Christmas, lol.

The Sharps is now the largest caliber rifle I own, and I will keep it until I die. I have fired hundreds of rounds of .45-70 govt. in BPCR competition, and plenty of .45-90 as well. So the thought of shooting a rifle in .50-90 did not seem all that intimidating.

Until today. When I went to my storage container to scrounge up some ammo to shoot this weekend. The recipe I found was 91grs of black powder, with a .030 plastic wad, and 600gr flatpoint lead bullets.

I checked the ammo for condition, then compared it to my normal .45-70 competition ammo...

View attachment 1208422

The .45-70 looks downright tame compared to the .50-90!

Typical Idaho Spring weather with snow, hail, rain, sunshine and high winds all in one day has prevented me from any rifle shooting, but this weekend is supposed to get near 80 and be calm, so will hopefully shoot the Sharps and do a YouTube review of it.

View attachment 1208423

View attachment 1208427

I'm sure other folks on here have similarly giant calibers. Probably a few .50 BMG owners. Curious as to what other dangerous game calibers folks have and what they use them for. My Sharps may someday take an elk, but it definitely isn't needed for one.

Your dad had double rifles chambered in .416 Rigby, .458 Lott and .505 Gibbs?

I know there have been several doubles produced in .416 Rigby and .458 Lott but they aren’t the best choice of calibers in a double due to being high pressure and rimless. I’ve never personally heard of a double chambered in .505 Gibbs. That must have been a seriously rare custom double gun!

As far as CF my biggest is a .470 NE. I also own a .404 Jeffery and a .375 H&H. The biggest I’ve shot is an 8 bore falling block and I’ve dabbled in the various .500’s, NE, Jeffery etc.

 

[DesertFox]

Measly .30-06 here.

 

[Trey Veston]

Your dad had double rifles chambered in .416 Rigby, .458 Lott and .505 Gibbs?

I misspoke. Those are the calibers of ammo I found for rifles he had. No idea what the .505 Gibbs was chambered in.

This is one of his bolt guns, and it must have been in something big if he was taking a Cape Buffalo...

 

[357smallbore]

The ever time tested and great 30-06. Not a critter I wouldn't hunt in North America or the rest of the worlds continents with my 30-06. Well let me back off and say no to
(Elephant, Rhino, Hippos) But I wouldn't feel under gunned for anything else. It's just matching the right bullet for the animal being hunted and keeping shots at a practical distance.

 

[Bazoo]

45-70 is my largest caliber. I've yet to fire this Winchester 1886, but I have everything to load for it, including some purchased bullets. I have a mould , but am missing the sizing die and top punch.

 

[Dr T]

For me, it would be 16.5 mm (73 caliber) since I have a pump gun with a 12 ga. rifled barrel. I also have a 50 caliber muzzle loader and a 45 caliber (460 S&W barrel for an Encore). But nothing nearly as pretty as the Winchester 1886 45-70 above.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I misspoke. Those are the calibers of ammo I found for rifles he had. No idea what the .505 Gibbs was chambered in.

This is one of his bolt guns, and it must have been in something big if he was taking a Cape Buffalo...

View attachment 1209704

That’s a custom built on an Enfield action. Looking at the barrel contour I wouldn’t be surprised if that was his .505 Gibbs.

 

[vanfunk]

I have a Thomas Bland and Sons .470 NE double rifle (1912, I think) and a .460 Weatherby, both inherited from my Granddad. I fired the .460 once about 25 years ago and got a mildly detached retina, no thanks. The .470 should be more mild but I am hoarding my Kynoch ammo for it and haven’t shot it. I should.