THE RECOIL FROM THE LARGEST-CALIBER RIFLE IN THE WORLD IS NEARLY 10 TIMES STRONG

[Graybeard]

THE RECOIL FROM THE LARGEST-CALIBER RIFLE IN THE WORLD IS NEARLY 10 TIMES STRONGER THAN .30-06

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/big-gun-big-fun-shooting-worlds-largest-rifle-video/

Posted by Micah Sargent

The guys from Knight Rifles head to the range to shoot the world's largest rifle cartridge, the .950 JDJ.
This gun is no joke. It uses 240 grains of powder to push a 2,400-grain bullet 2,100 fps.

It bites on both ends though, generating 277 foot-pounds of recoil, or approximately 10 times as much as a 30-06.

Watch the video and see if these guys can handle it.

https://youtu.be/xohy9gWz7kk

The gun in the video is one of only three ever manufactured in the .950 JDJ. This prototype weighed 50 pounds but still produced excessive recoil. Subsequent versions weighed a minimum of 110 pounds.

The round is not for penny pinchers (every round costs about $40) and we're not too sure about the accuracy (this kind of recoil tends to promote flinching), but it sure looks like it would be fun to try.

At 50 pounds, this gun is a little too heavy to take coyote or deer hunting, but if you're looking for some explosive and slightly masochistic fun maybe you could get a .950 JDJ of your own.

I'd love to watch you shoot it!

[geezerbiker]

The guy on the forgotten weapons video did a piece on that rifle.  I saw it on Amazon prime video.  The only reason I can see to buy one of those is if somehow dinosaurs made a comeback...

Tony

[Drilling Man]

  They better bring back a "caveman" to shoot it!!

  DM

[powderman]

I friend of my Uncle Elvis brought his 458 WIN MAG out to his farm. He, Uncle Elvis and cousin Alan all fired one shot apiece, he only had 4 rounds, nobody wanted it. Still sitting on top shelf  of Alans loading bench. CHARLIE. 

[Dixie-Dude]

W.D.M. Bell shot over 1,000 elephants in the early 20th century.  He used a 7mm Mauser will FMJ ammo.  He shot them in the head.  I really don't know why they require 375 caliber or larger rifle for dangerous game.  A good modern rifle with good ammo should be able to bring down anything with a head shot with FMJ ammo.  Bell lived long enough to see the 308 developed and he said it would make a good elephant gun.  The area between an elephants eye and ear and between an elephants eyes is bigger than a deer's chest.  He said any good deer hunter should be able to kill an elephant.  Anyways, don't know why such really large calibers.  I've read that 375 H&H has the same trajectory as a 30-06.  I've read that if you can hit with a 30-06, you can hit with a 375 which is enough gun for anything.  Big calibers were good in black powder days, but with new powders and faster bullets, you don't need the diameter as much. 

[Drilling Man]

  Bell was a poacher, the game those days in out back Africa had never seen or smelled a white man before...

  He walked right up to them (elephants) and took his time making perfect shots, with the elephants standing right there looking at him.  He also had some get away wounded.

  It's also true that he was an EXCELLENT game shot.

  DM

[Lloyd Smale]

consider my self pretty impervious to recoil but OUCH! Only rifle i ever shot that bothered me enough that i walked away with out shooting second shot was a 460 weatherby.

[Drilling Man]

  I fired a 460 Wby. several times to help a guy sort out his sight in problem, I didn't think it was as bad as the 378 Wby., I'm not sure why though...

  BTW, the sight in problem was, it was shearing off the little foot on the bottom of one of those POS Redfield mounts.  Those things look good, but they are a turd!!

  DM

[darkgael]

W.D.M. Bell was a very good shot. He killed elephants with a 7mm 170 grain solid bullet. Not just a head shot....a brain shot.

W.D.M. Bell shot over 1,000 elephants in the early 20th century.  He used a 7mm Mauser will FMJ ammo.  He shot them in the head.  I really don't know why they require 375 caliber or larger rifle for dangerous game.  A good modern rifle with good ammo should be able to bring down anything with a head shot with FMJ ammo.  Bell lived long enough to see the 308 developed and he said it would make a good elephant gun.  The area between an elephants eye and ear and between an elephants eyes is bigger than a deer's chest.  He said any good deer hunter should be able to kill an elephant.  Anyways, don't know why such really large calibers.  I've read that 375 H&H has the same trajectory as a 30-06.  I've read that if you can hit with a 30-06, you can hit with a 375 which is enough gun for anything.  Big calibers were good in black powder days, but with new powders and faster bullets, you don't need the diameter as much. 

Nice post..it seems that the issue would be getting appropriate bullets..... non-expanding solid bullets in .308 .

[DEACONLLB]

Several years ago there was a post of a small man dressed like a middle east fellow turban and all shooting a 600 nitro express and when he touched that thing it unhorsed him and sent him and chair across the room may have even ripped his white robe.  His turban went one way the rifle and him went the other very funny.

Deaconllb

[Lloyd Smale]

i think it has something to do with velocity. My 6.5x300wby with 140s seems to kick as much as my 300wby with 180s.
 I dont know if it actually kicks as much or if its just a sharper recoil. Ive heard others say the 378 and 416s are as bad as the 460. Another gun that seemed to recoil more then it should have is the 300 ultra mag i had. That thing made my 300wby seem like a 308.

  I fired a 460 Wby. several times to help a guy sort out his sight in problem, I didn't think it was as bad as the 378 Wby., I'm not sure why though...

  BTW, the sight in problem was, it was shearing off the little foot on the bottom of one of those POS Redfield mounts.  Those things look good, but they are a turd!!

  DM

[Lloyd Smale]

yup the cheerleaders tend to overlook the real facts when it came to Bell. Kind of reminds me of guys who claim he 223 is a good deer round and tell you theyve shot 50 with one. If you could peal back the bs youd no doubt find they forgot to mention the ones that ran off wounded and werent recovered. My personal opinion that thinks a 757 is adequate to kill an elephant is a macho (censored word) that has no respect for he animal hes hunting or in bells case is just killing. Sure doesnt impress me. My guess is he was just a tight wad that didnt want to spend money on real ammo and didnt give a rip about those animals suffering. 

  Bell was a poacher, the game those days in out back Africa had never seen or smelled a white man before...

  He walked right up to them (elephants) and took his time making perfect shots, with the elephants standing right there looking at him.  He also had some get away wounded.

  It's also true that he was an EXCELLENT game shot.

  DM

[Drilling Man]

  Well, Bell kept detailed records on his ammo and how much each shot cost, he made statements that he did like some more powerful rounds better, but they cost more to buy and didn't kill any better on "perfect" shots.  The cost per elephant drove him to make better shots.

  He shot all those elephants and left them to rot, just taking the ivory...  Think about that, over a thousand elephants left to rot...

  These days, some countries shoot poachers...  lol

  DM

[ironglows]

.
  Were they all left to rot...and is all elephant harvesting wrong?  I on Monday past, I visited with a surgeon at his home..where my son was doing a real estate photo session for his home.
 
   He being a surgeon and his wife a psychiatrist, they have a very nice home on 30 acres with two lakes, but want to leave this blue state.
 
  The good doctor took me to his "Africa room" which included many African trophies.  Walking in the door..i am greeted with a full body mount of a big, male lion.  Very obvious, were the tusks, ears, tail and feet of an elephant.

  He explained that he had harvested the tusker in Botswana.  At that point in time, there were estimated 128,000 elephants in country...on a range which comfortably supports 28,000 of them

  He said that when he downed the elephant, and had saved the trophies he wanted, there were 60 native villagers waiting for the go-ahead to jump in and cut up the carcass..taking it home to feed a very hungry family.

  It is a win-win for hunter and country.  The hunter gets his trophies, the people get some food, local businesses sell dinners, hotel rooms and etc...plus the Botswana conservation program gets thousands of dollars.

[Drilling Man]

.
  Were they all left to rot...and is all elephant harvesting wrong?  I on Monday past, I visited with a surgeon at his home..where my son was doing a real estate photo session for his home.
 
   He being a surgeon and his wife a psychiatrist, they have a very nice home on 30 acres with two lakes, but want to leave this blue state.
 
  The good doctor took me to his "Africa room" which included many African trophies.  Walking in the door..i am greeted with a full body mount of a big, male lion.  Very obvious, were the tusks, ears, tail and feet of an elephant.

  He explained that he had harvested the tusker in Botswana.  At that point in time, there were estimated 128,000 elephants in country...on a range which comfortably supports 28,000 of them

  He said that when he downed the elephant, and had saved the trophies he wanted, there were 60 native villagers waiting for the go-ahead to jump in and cut up the carcass..taking it home to feed a very hungry family.

  It is a win-win for hunter and country.  The hunter gets his trophies, the people get some food, local businesses sell dinners, hotel rooms and etc...plus the Botswana conservation program gets thousands of dollars.

  That has NOTHING to do with what Bell was doing back in his "poaching" days!

  There was lots of "other game" around for the natives that they could get fairly easy, they weren't starving like many of them are today.

  DM

[darkgael]

About Bell and poaching. All one can do about Bell these days is read. Was he a poacher? The discussion has gone on for years as has speculation about the “why” of his choice for smallbores for such big work.
I find little to indicate that Bell was an inveterate poacher. The most often cited episode involved the Belgian controlled area of the Lado along the Upper Nile river. The area was lawless. Poaching?

And poaching... Poaching what from who? Who gave any right to the King of Belgium or old George or Victoria over the land and elephants and whatever else belonging to the Karimojong, Dinka, Acholi, Allur, Pokot, Toposa, Baganda, Aliab, or whoever else? Poaching? When the local chiefs and elders and kings were in full accord with the hunter, and everybody around benefited from meat, salaries, rewards, trade? Poaching what? Bell shot 1000 bull elephants in his career, only 5 years of which were in Karamoja. That's at most 150 bulls per year in an area of 20 to 30,000 square miles, where herds were plentiful. In the fifties and sixties, 20,000 elephants were culled in Northern Uganda to make space for agriculture...

[Lloyd Smale]

used to run a 340 grain cast flat point with 22 grains of 2400 in my #1 458. Even killed a deer once with that gun and load. It was very mild to shoot. Felt about like a 357 mag marlin carbine but quieter

Speaking of the 458 Win Mag.....

I have a friend with a Ruger No. 1 in .458 Win Mag.  He accurized the rifle and keeps it with open sights as he is blessed with good eyesight for a guy in his seventies, and he's a target shooter hobbyist, not a hunter.

He handloads his cast lead bullets to around 1100 to 1400fps with paper patches and 5744. From the bench at 100 yards I've seen clover leaf cluster groups with his hobby shooting when everything is just right.

.TM7