Earning your "man card" type of guns!

[Hickory]

S&W 329 with 320 gr., boolit loaded with 20 grs. of 2400.
It's a good bear load, but no good for plinking.

[dragon813gt]

Probably the worst was a 12-gauge pistol grip shotgun fired one handed. It just seemed to *destroy* my wrist...

I have a Rossi youth matched pair. It has a 20ga barrel w/ it. Shot it "from the hip" and I'm still wondering how it didn't break my fingers. The gun weighs practically nothing. I'm glad I shot it first before letting my then 8yo step daughter shoot it. It could have turned her off to shotguns for life.

[OS OK]

"Man card! Man card? . . . We don't need no stinking Man cards! . . . "

[rintinglen]

I gave up on high recoiling firearms when I started developing arthritis. My shoulders and wrists will no longer take the abuse.
The youngsters can fight with that stuff all they want.

You said it, Taz. I don't box anymore, don't ride motorcycles anymore, when I shoot, it doesn't hurt or I don't repeat it. My own "worst's" were a light weight single shot 10 guage shotgun, a 375 H&H with a steel butt plate and a 3 inch M-29 made by some outfit in New York. Just about the same as pounding your palm with a ball peen hammer.

[Hickory]

"Man card! Man card? . . . We don't need no stinking Man cards! . . . "

Sometimes you just have to step up to the plate.
Wuss really stands out among real men.

[Gray Fox]

I shot 10 rounds of the 400 grain cast boolit loads through one of the first .500 Smith 8 3/8" revolvers to get to Atlanta. Did get my attention. Then, last year I traded for a 640-3 Pro Series in .357. Ran about half a box of Federal 158 SP through it and decided it was enough for that range session. The 640 recoil is definitely harsher, plus the lack of available grip surfaces just add to the fun. I think I will switch to my version of the .38 +P Chicago load in .357 brass. Otherwise I like the little gun with its Trijicon sights and moon clips for warm season carry. GF

[Thundarstick]

I've learned that recoil has a lot to do with the geometry and hold of said firearm and I've shot some rough stuff. Like an old fella I was talking to that was proud of having a 600 nitro express. I exclaimed how reluctant i would be to fire it, to which he replied "no problem", "I just stick the butt in a tractor tire, wrap a rope around the forearm, and pull the trigger with a string"! Every time I go into Dixie Gun Works I see that 4ga shotgun (yep, that's a1/4lb ball o lead) Turner Kirkland killed an elephant with years ago and remember the story of how he said it almost screwed him into the ground!
I've leaned to shoot my 375 H&H with no more issue than a shotgun, off the bench it's a bear!

[dragon813gt]

've leaned to shoot my 375 H&H with no more issue than a shotgun, off the bench it's a bear!

If mine is on the bench it's in a sled. And my shoulder is nowhere near the butt of it. I can shoot offhand w/ a sling or on shooting sticks comfortably. Higher powered rifles are always more comfortable to shoot when in a standing position. Your body can absorb the recoil a lot easier. But I rarely shoot full power loads. Load it down to comfortable levels and it's a fun, but heavy, plinker.

[bdicki]

Thompson Center TCR83 12 ga slugs and my Contender 444 Marlin.

[Bigslug]

I believe it was a Wildey or one of the other '80's "Auto-Magnums" that wasn't a Desert Eagle. The back corners of the gripframe might as well be Bowie knives.

[Mytmousemalibu]

I will agree that the act performed might make for a questionable I.Q. to speculate on. The gun is certainly chambered for .357 so we had to see what it was like! By no means would I claim it to be fun, it hurt! I winced and gritted my teeth and let it bark! I did it, I can say I have experienced it and no need to repeat it. I was thinking about getting one myself so I could carry .357 but im satisfied with warm .38 specials. My little 442 with Altamont classic wood grips is pretty harsh in its own. I can handle the hot rod hard kicking guns right now, someday that will end so just having a go at it while im willing to!

[NavyVet1959]

Take an old single shot 12 gauge with no recoil pad and shoot 5 rounds of 3" OOB from the bench. Get your Stupid Man diploma!

When I was a kid, my grandfather had a 12-gauge side-by-side double-barrel with double triggers and I used to shoot it at the blackbirds in the trees, both barrels at the same time. Just a puff of feathers left...

[HABCAN]

10 years old, idiot adult handed me a Model 95 lever Winchester (crescent buttplate) in .405 Win 'to try'. 'Matured' right then, after they picked me up!

[azrednek]

Mine was a Thompson Contender shooting factory 35 Remington.

[bgw45]

I quit trying to impress the other range rats 30 yrs ago. Since I don't hunt it just doesn't make sense. I have friends that are 70, don't hunt and don't carry. They just seem to enjoy the pain.

[pineknot]

Worst kicking thing I was unfortunately conned into shooting was a double barrel howdah pistol chambered in .577 Snider. The idea is while hunting tiger from atop your elephant sitting in that little box they call a howdah, if you wound the tiger he's going to try and climb your elephant an pay you a visit. You then drag out your faithful howdah pistol and pop him with a 577. round. The guy that owned the pistol had a 20 round box with 4 rounds used. He shot it once and then found 3 more fools that were crazy enough to pull the trigger. I think I was fool #3. A lot like having your own personal earthquake.

[Rainier]

I'm curious how nasty a 329PD is in comparison.

I love the 329PD as a carry gun but really didn't care to shoot it much. I couldn't find a load for it that didn't hurt when you shot it, Until... a member here recommended I contact S&W and get a set of the X-Frame grips used on the 500 Smith. Bingo! now I can load a 429421 with a bit of BE, W231 or TrailBoss and shoot it comfortably. Needless to say full snot woods carry loads, the same 429421 with too much 4227, still hurt the hand but you can carry the thing all day and forget your wearing it on your side. So the answer is, it can be "nasty" but it doesn't need to be unless you just like pain.

[Mytmousemalibu]

I like the Scandium frame guns, they are so light for what they are. They are kinda like the stripped down, lightweight hot rods of S&W's revolver family. I've been seriously considering adding a 329PD to the family.

When i was just a lad with my .22 rifle and infatuated with firearms I wanted to a shotgun pretty bad. One Christmas morning a couple decades ago I woke up to an H&R 12ga "Topper" single shot. Chambered for 3" shells and a full choke barrel and a hard plastic butt plate I promptly threw on clothes and went outside with a box of skeet loads and let the 1st one rip! That gun all but laied me on my butt! Even today, that gun has some thump to it. Equally nasty despite the size is a little H&R 28ga. single shot. With hi-brass skeet loads and a nice steel Cresent butt plate, that little gun will bark your shoulder too! My shortened M91/30 Mosin in a composite stock will rock your socks decently as well.

[jimb16]

Mine was a TC contender with hot 45-70 loads. NOT MINE! 3 rounds was enough. Two hours later, I could feel my hand again and it hurt! And I'm extremely recoil tolerant. I shoot hot .44 mag loads and don't care. Even the .50 AE doesn't make me flinch, But those .45-70s were just too much even for me!

[Kraschenbirn]

I shot some nasty combinations back in my IHMSA days but a couple years ago at our club range one of the members was sighting in a brand-new S&W 69...the 5-shot L-frame...in preparation for handgun deer season. Lou has a pretty hefty build and I couldn't help noticing that whatever he was shooting was rocking him back pretty good so I had to ask. "300 grain Buffalo Bores" he said "Wanna try it?" My first shot clipped the 12" 50-yard swinger a little low and right; my second, I'm sure, hit the berm behind it but I'm not sure where; and my third went into the dirt right below the target frame. At that point, I opened the cylinder, dumped the last two rounds along with empties and handed the gun back. Right hand felt like I'd snagged a hard-hit ground ball on the first hop...without a glove!

Bill