A friend, his son and my .475 Linebaugh

[44man]

They came over today so I could fix their double shotgun. I invited them to shoot my BFR cannon. Neither had shot a revolver before. Yeah, I heard all the stuff about starting with a small gun and working up. I explained how to shoot and showed them by shooting a can off hand at 50 yd's. They listened and I started them at 25 yd's. No flinching. I let them shoot 50 yd,s and they were doing great so I set the 100 yd ram up. The father missed an inch to the left because he was wobbleing a little but the son slammed it down first shot. I never seen anyone shoot so good the first time and both were amazed and very happy. I think I have made two converts to the revolvers. Neither showed any fear and really loved to shoot the gun. Both said it was not as bad as they thought it would be. I ran out of loads though.
It is such a joy to have new shooters follow instructions to the letter.
Next time they come over, I will let them shoot the 45-70 BFR. I can't wait!

[lar45]

I think alot of the gun rag writers do more damage to people than the guns. They talk about getting hit in the palm by a bat or 2x4 or .... and how horendous it was... at the limit of human endurance...
So people get nervous and are afraid of it before they start. When I bought my first revolver, I really wanted a FA 454, but I didn't know if I could shoot it or not. I didn't want to break my thumb on the first shot... So I ended up getting a 10 5/8" M29 and it turned out to be too small for my taste. I bought an RCBS reloading kit and casting stuff at the same time, but for whatever reason, I never thought about downloading the 454 if I couldn't have handled the full power loads. The guy at the gun shop should have mentioned it. I had the cash in my pocket and he would have sold a more expensive gun. Big guns can be loaded down to little gun levels, but little guns will always be little guns.

I think the gun writers do a disservice to potential shooters by scaring them away before they try some of the big bores.

If the father and son shot that good and had a great time, they should get into casting and reloading so they can shoot more often for less money. I know I have a great time when I'm out shooting with the boys. I hope it will be some of the good times they remember after they're all grown up.

Are you still shooting the factory grip on your .475 BFR? I really don't care for the one on mine.

[dk17hmr]

I shot a Linebaugh a few summers ago, at that time I was about 20 pounds lighter then I am now and didnt have the muscle I have now, construction really build muscle. But anyways the owner gave me a cyclinder full of full power loads and said hold on. The gun was a custom job on a single action Ruger, the owner said he doesnt shoot the full power loads without bleeding a little, he told me that after I shot it. I didnt hit much but I made it through all 5 rounds without having the pistol flip out of my hands or bleeding. Since then I have shot a few 500 S&W, but those dont even compare to that Linebaugh.

[44man]

Lar, yes I still use the factory grip. I like it, it fits me and keeps the trigger guard from hitting my finger. A Ruger with either standard wood panels or the Bisley will tear up my finger. I changed out all of my Rugers to rubber grips (Pachmeyer) because of my large knuckle. A Blackhawk .44 with regular grips is more viscous then the .475. Put on the right grips and the .44 is a pussycat.
The BFR with it's weight and size is very pleasant to shoot compared to the little Freedom gun. My friend wanted the pretty grips on his Freedom until he shot it. He called the factory right away and ordered the rubber grips. And he wasn't shooting the boolit weight or power I was in my BFR.
My .45 Vaquero with heavy boolits and hunting loads is much worse then the .475. I had to change the grips to control the fierce recoil. I used to wear a glove with foam taped to the middle finger. Still beat my knuckle, the rubber grip solved it.
I have a very large knuckle from shooting heavy hunting bows most of my life.
DK, you don't have to be strong to shoot big guns. I would never, of course, hand my gun to a woman but even skinny guys have no problem. The only guy to ever hurt himself with my BFR was very large and strong. He hit himself in the head, split his fore head and had a shiner for several weeks. He told me after that he likes to hold his guns loose. Then said he doesn't like my guns!

[475/480]

Another problem is some ARE recoil sensitive,I was shooting my SW 500 with a Burris 2x scope-8 3/8" bll at the range this weekend with 495gr cast WFNGC at 1100 fps.I used 21.0gr of Surplus # 107,a light load.
I saw a man looking at me shooting and I asked him if he would like to shoot,he shot 1 time and said it hurt his hand,so some people (writers included) do not handle recoil well even a little recoil.


Sean

[Bigscot]

I find I am less sensitive to handgun recoil than rifle.

Bigscot

[Bucks Owin]

I agree with Lar45, so many of these idjits in the gun rags would have you believe that they've practically taken their lives in their own hands to test certain big bore handguns....:roll:

I've got some really old issues of Amer Rifleman, Outdoor Life, Shooting Times etc and it's a real hoot to read the articles from 50 years ago. "The .44 magnum is for the select few who can manage it's ferocious recoil" and "The .44 magnum left my hand bruised and bleeding"...blah blah blah....I think most of us would admit to being pretty nervous the first time we slipped the sear on a .44 mag round. "Gee, will I get whacked in the forehead?" (Thanks to all the hoopla from gun mags)

Happily, a few dozen rounds will have "most" folks wondering why the "gun gurus" are so limp wristed!

"Hey! This ain't so bad.." :Fire:

Dennis

[44man]

Yeah that and all the handgun testing is done at 25 yd's. How proud they are when a gun shoots 2 or 3" groups at that range. They go overboard saying how accurate it is. If that was what I could expect, I would never buy that gun. They do us all a dis-service by not testing the right way so we can evaluate the guns we are thinking of buying.
Thank God for our forums where the truth is learned. All of you fellas have more brains in one finger then all the gun writers on earth.