Matt / PA

Holy crap........[:-]

So my turkey gun is the neighborhood of just about everything listed on that one chart thatyou would use for dangerous African game?

Good thing turkeys aren't dangerous or God only knows what type of gun we'd need.
No wonder I had to spend 1/2hr looking for a detached retina.

oldelkhunter

3 1/2" shotgun is fierce compared to most AFrican Calibers..a fact thank god a lot of hunters don't realize or they would flinch even worse.

Bob Chronister

Bravo. Two great replies for sure. Makes an old butthead like me laugh like hell. I still remember shooting the 3 1/2 inch 10 guage when I thought I could handle anything. I kept a stiff upper lip but that SOB hurt. I smiled and said not bad but when my dad and I drove home, think I threatened to kill his friend [8D][:-]

Matt / PA

I feel like the man now, I fired 14 shots back to back WITH A SCOPE on my 3.5" 12ga turkey gun from a sitting position in a T-Shirt!
(If I accidentally cried a little on the 14th shot that's still ok right? )

Woohoo.......bring on the Cape Buffalo!

8mm/06

A 3 1/2" Mag 12 ga is 3X the hit of a 300 Win Mag .....
And I absolutely beat the hell out of myself patterning my turkey loads this spring... and my gun is only a 3". Nevertheless, when you use the heavy shot and high velocity loads you're gonna feel it either way.

I'll suspect that those that say they can handle the largest and nastiest of the calibers might not all be able to supply decent targets for us to review.

I'm no wimp about shooting teeth rattling guns and loads, I just don't relish it.

vaughnm

The nastiest whipping I ever got from a gun was froma 3 1/2" 10 GA single shot break action shotgun with a 30" barrel and full chokethat a friend of mine owned and DOVE HUNTED WITH. He said he liked to reach wayout and touch them. It weighed a littleunder6 1/2 lbs and would absolutelymash you when you shot it. Itis the onlygun that I haveever shot that wasn't one bit of fun.

He only had it for one season and sold it after that.

SJAdventures

Those single shots are brutal anyways.

SwampCollie

In my opinion its worse Matt.

My 835 weighs in somewhere around 7#s.... and thats flinging at least 2oz of shot (almost 900 grains- which is about the sum weight of a full magazine of 30/06 bullets - just the bullets that is-).

I have fired several of the more common dangerous game cartridges (up to the .470 Nitro in caliber and the .460 Weatherby in recoil... and yes Bob I have shot one without a brake and I'll never do such a damn fool thing again).

The thing about the double .470 is it weighs in at something like 13-14#s. A gun bearer isn't just a nice luxury.... its a bloody necessity! I think the .460 was just shy of 9#s.... but I wouldn't shoot it again if it was 20#s... not without the brake. Its just too much gun for anything short of shooting down incoming anti-ship missles or Soviet spy Satelites.

Bob Chronister

Well I sure as hell would not fire any of the high end weatherbys (378, 416 or 460) without a brake or some serious shoulder protection. The evoshield has been certified with pretty nasty shotguns so suspect it would make shooting the weatherbys ok. Maybe one day I will give it a shot and see.

whitetaildreamer

My gun of choice for whitetails is the 7 mm mag. As stated in other posts, when a deer is scoped I've never felt the recoil but I do use a recoil pad at the range. I also use a .338 mag for moose and once again have never felt the recoil while hunting. The worst recoil gun that I shot was an old Spanish dbl. S/S 12 g. The problem with the Spanish style is the angle of how the butt sits on the shoulder (and this sucker had no recoil pad). Fired it once and once wasenough. It was an old gun of my friend's father and since that time at the range, ithas been for display only. I don't understand the need to own a gun that can put me on my a**.I look at all my firearms as tools and not toys so since I'm not planning of ever going to Africa for dangerous game, why buy a thumper when not needed. I've seen a few guys at the range that bring out the artillery, get pounded at the range, then laugh about it. I just can't see the enjoyment in it. Personally, I would worry about getting the, "flinch", which would screw me up for the rest of my guns (andGod forbid during a hunting situation). just a humble opinion.