.500 Nitro Express crazy or sane.

[Cynical]

So I was watching Wild West Alaska and watched the dude shoot a .500 Nitro Express and it dislocated his shoulder. The worst recoil I have felt was from a .300 Win Mag. It was a Win Mod 70 featherweight and I blew the reticle up in my prized vintage Redfield 2-7. My question is has anyone ever fired the .500 Nitro? If so can you quantify in terms of recoil how much worse it is than say a 12 gauge with 3" slugs. It would appear to me you would have to be insane or about to be eaten by something to willingly light the fire on that beast.

 

[aaron580]

totally sane

 

[Mgderf]

No personal experience.

That said, my guess is the butt was not pulled tight into the shoulder before he pulled the trigger.
You don't want ANY slack in there for that butt to travel.

Many, many years ago, as a kid, I can remember learning that lesson the hard way with a single-shot break action 12ga.
Those kind of lessons don't need taught twice, unless you're stupid.

 

[danielson]

No personal experience.

That said, my guess is the butt was not pulled tight into the shoulder before he pulled the trigger.
You don't want ANY slack in there for that butt to travel.

Many, many years ago, as a kid, I can remember learning that lesson the hard way with a single-shot break action 12ga.
Those kind of lessons don't need taught twice, unless you're stupid.

PLUS ONE!!!!!


I learned that lesson the same way, with the same gun, 20 years ago. Never made that mistake again.

 

[williamnewman1]

buddy of mine has a 10g auto for geese. That one will beat you quite a bit , that being said I'd love to shoot a .500 Nitro, but I'm a glutton for punishment I suppose

 

[spearheadersarge]

That guy wasn't shy he shot it twice !

 

[FERLACH]

I once owned a George Gibbs 450 #2 nitro express double rifle. Shot it a few times and recoil was not bad. However, the gun weighed 10 lbs. so that helped lesson recoil. Ammo was so expensive that I sold the gun when I found a buyer willing to pay what it was worth.

 

[Hookeye]

Same reason why people remarry..................

 

[Leo]

I have never fired a 500 nitro. I HAVE fired a .416 Rigby and a .470 Nitro in a double rifle. I have owned a rifle chambered in .375 H&H. If I had 2500 lbs of charging cape buffalo charging at me, I might fire them again, but I am far past the point of volunteering for that experience "just for the heck of it". After having my heart worked on several times, I am in no hurry to shake loose the patches and splices the Dr.s have put in there. The .30-06 is about my upper limit these days, and that is offhand where I can control the recoil, I wouldn't even take that to the bench.