Shooter's Point of View Firing .505 Gibbs, .470 Nitro, .450 Rigby, and .375 H&H (Video)

I was shooting this afternoon practicing for my Elephant and Rhino hunts this winter. I put a camera on my head while firing .375 H&H, .450 Rigby, .470 Nitro, and .505 Gibbs while practicing transitions on targets and speed.

I live in Northern Canada, one of the last great wildernesses, and we like our big guns up here as well.

The targets are roughly one foot square wood blocks.

Excellent. Thanks for sharing. This will be good for the newbies who have questions about recoil.

you handle the double very well .
I wouldn't be taking the one that jams any where , anytime soon

Thanks Doc and bluey, indeed bluey on the .450, the minute it gave me frustrations I was done with it. With TSXs it had zero issues, only those blunt nosed solids did that, and just the once under a hard cycle. But that's enough for me. Doubles are just a natural fit for me, grew up wingshooting, only way I'll fly here out on dangerous game. As mentioned I'm hunting Elephant in Cameroun self guided this winter and will be carrying a stopper, as there is no backup. Following that I'll be hunting Rhino, will be sure to do articles and hopefully some video on both.

Ardent said:

Thanks Doc and bluey, indeed bluey on the .450, the minute it gave me frustrations I was done with it. With TSXs it had zero issues, only those blunt nosed solids did that, and just the once under a hard cycle. But that's enough for me. Doubles are just a natural fit for me, grew up wingshooting, only way I'll fly here out on dangerous game. As mentioned I'm hunting Elephant in Cameroun self guided this winter and will be carrying a stopper, as there is no backup. Following that I'll be hunting Rhino, will be sure to do articles and hopefully some video on both.

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self guided ???

Looks like the 450 need to go to the gunsmith for feeding issues.

Thanks for sharing..

Yes indeed Bluey, will be with only a tracker in the jungle and it should be a hell of an experience. I shoot these big guns the same as I do a .375, so I might as well carry insurance by way of bore and nitrocellulose.

The muzzle jump of the .450 combined with the jam.......if it were mine it wouldn't be for much longer. Those Empires are supposed to be fine rifles, but if it can't feed flat nosed solids, I wouldn't want it.

Easily the most impressive was the 470, very little muzzle jump allowing quick follow up shot. Thanks for sharing Ardent!

Indeed, it's a beautiful rifle, and every spec on paper made me think it was going to be a potential favourite, at least for bolt actions. Just didn't work for me however, it will move on. Lovely action, lovely setup, just not going to force the issue when I have guns that work very well for me.

The .470 I would actually rate as just as comfortable if not more so than the .375, more push, but very gentle big shove. Low bore axis over the stock and barely climbs too. Big thumbs up.

Nice video, good luck on your hunts.

Thank you enysse, hopefully I'm lucky in West Africa.

That's really nice.... That .470 looks like nothing. Funny what a well fit and well balanced rifle will do.

Ardent said:

Indeed, it's a beautiful rifle, and every spec on paper made me think it was going to be a potential favourite, at least for bolt actions. Just didn't work for me however, it will move on. Lovely action, lovely setup, just not going to force the issue when I have guns that work very well for me.

The .470 I would actually rate as just as comfortable if not more so than the .375, more push, but very gentle big shove. Low bore axis over the stock and barely climbs too. Big thumbs up.

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I don't doubt that about the 470. Now the $64M question for me is how would the recoil of a 10.5 lb 470 compare to an 11.5 lb 500? Just cause I already have a 458 cal and if I ever got a double, I'd want something a bit different.

That's a good question I'll run the calculator later, but I'd bet you'd have a damn hard time telling them apart.

Great info.

Ardent said:

Yes indeed Bluey, will be with only a tracker in the jungle and it should be a hell of an experience. I shoot these big guns the same as I do a .375, so I might as well carry insurance by way of bore and nitrocellulose.

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that sounds awesome .
id love to able self hunt in Africa, plains game bow stalking ,would be a dream come true .
but dg hunting would be spectacular, to say the very least
hope it works a treat for you

Great video. You handled all of your rifles really well, and you definitely recover for your second shot with your 505 Gibbs faster than I do with my 500 Jeffery ...

PHOENIX PHIL said:

I don't doubt that about the 470. Now the $64M question for me is how would the recoil of a 10.5 lb 470 compare to an 11.5 lb 500? Just cause I already have a 458 cal and if I ever got a double, I'd want something a bit different.

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Hi PHOENIX PHIL,

I have fired an English made Pre-War .500 NE double that weighed something over 11 pound and a custom one built by Evo-Rifle in Idaho, on a Chapui or Verney-Carron action, 20" barrels and too light.
The properly made one felt very similar a .470 in recoil.

The custom lightweight .500 was in a word - painful.
Not sure what it weighed any more but I think it was around 8.5 pound.
Seems like I mentioned the weight of it in a prior post some time back, closer to when I had fired these rifles.
At any rate, it was too light.

Likewise, I have a double rifle in caliber .458 Winchester that only weighs 9.9 lb and it is a bit too light as well.
It has a snappier recoil than I would like.
Another full pound of weight would be to my liking for this one.

Last but not least, I have a custom .458 Lott built on a CZ 550 Magnum action that weighs 11 lb.
With full pressure loads (500 gr bullet @ 2300 fps from the 23" barrel) it also is not as comfortable for me to shoot as that proper weight .500 NE was.

(I load my Lott down to .450 NE ballistics - 480 gr @ a little over 2100 fps - and as such it is much easier on my sissy shoulder, not to mention shockingly accurate).

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Best of luck on your hunt. I didn't realize you could go self guided.

There is a book on this very subject called : "Buffalo, Elephant & Bongo" by Dr. Reinald von Meurer.
It is more of a documentary/adventure book, on the Author's experiences in the jungles and not as much of an instructional book on "how to do an unguided Central Africa safari".
However, Doctor von Meurer does include enough details that I quickly decided it is not for me, even though I have done something like that for fishing in Central America, (Lago Petan, Guatemala) as well as in the headwaters of the Amazon (Rio Napo, Equador), once each place when I was 37 and 40 years of age respectively.
(Now I am too old to mess with such an adventure so, I am thankful for hard working PHs.)
In reading this interesting book, it appears that one should have some extra time on their hands to deal with all of the set-backs and delays that a proper PH would otherwise prevent from happening to you.