Big Bore Addiction Group

+1

Bob,

I bought my Lott off of gunsinternational.com. And if nothing else, it is a great place to go shopping and narrow down the choices. Then you can get down to finding the real thing in person.

The big shows are usually well represented by the gun makers too. I fell in love with a left handed Heym at DSC last year....
 
Just sold an older youth model .22 that I've had for years to a friend whose boy is starting to shoot. Now I need a replacement, but I want something a little stronger. What do you guys think about a .450/400?

BTW - here is a picture of my CZ in 375 H&H. Haven't shot anything but paper and steel yet, but I'm hopeful.

Hello Jay Kelley,

The .450/.400 is my personal favorite cartridge for double rifles.

Not that I am any sort of an authority on doubles, because I definitely am not one.

Furthermore, I have only possessed a relatively few DRs personally and have only actually hunted with two of them and I always have to sell one to buy one.

My current DR is a Heym 88B in .458 Winchester with 25.5" ejector barrels that I bought used but in nearly new condition, this year for $12K and so far it is working perfectly (but kicks like Satan at only 9.9 pounds)

However, one of my friends (Cal Pappas) is in fact an authority on them, having researched and written popular books on double rifles.

And so, thereby I have been blessed to have fired quite a few different calibers and maker's versions of double rifles over the past years.

The recoil of the .400 NE seems about in the same league as the higher velocity .375 H&H, yet it throws a 400 grain bullet.

The heavier bullet, albeit at lower velocity, seems like it should make the .400 a better choice for heavy / thick skinned / dangerous animals at close range, (at least in my shade tree opinion).

If I could afford anything I wanted in this world, near the top of my list would be to have Westley Richards build for me one of their drop-lock best grades, with 26" ejector barrels, in .450/400 NE.

If you do decide to buy a double for dangerous game, I recommend that you consider one with ejectors.

They are not essential but, they do really pay for themselves when practicing your reloading drills, not to mention if you actually need to shoot some huge grumpy beast, more than with just your original quick right and left.

Regards,
Velo Dog.
 
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My name is Drew though my collection is small, I am addicted to recoil. I love to feel the thump in the shoulder to let you know you've just fired a winning shot in competition/ or brought the animal down quickly and humanely.

In my photo I suppose you could only call the 500X3" Nitro and the 12 Bore Paradox rounds true big bores. The 375H&H was always a small bore and the 416 Rem Mag a medium caliber, by the old standards.

The 9.3X62 I shoot offhand Olympic style ( off the finger tips). It is devastating on Brumbies out to 400m.

The 8mm Rem Mag is about ready to return to Africa next week.

And the 300 Win Mag is purely a competition rifle for me.
 

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Good luck on that leopard hunt drew416!
 
Thanks, I certainly hope it goes according to plan too!
Roy sent me this a few weeks ago when he started pre baiting for me.
PICT0003.jpg
 
that's a nice little teaser drew416
 
That's a fat cat!!!
 
Matt, most CZ need some work on the ramp and rails to qualify as a DG rifle, but once this is done - by someone who knows what he's doing... - they are outstanding rifles.

I have several, and they all feed anything you can throw at them. On my Lott, I can load a mix of WM and Lott ammo, with flat noses, round noses, CEB, and even Woodleigh Hydro, and it will feed and eject all of them as fast as you can run the bolt.
 
My name is nine.three and it shall remain that to protect the innocent. I am on the brink of falling into unhealthy associations with big bore rifles. I thought I would be safe if I only lurked on this site....never posting, only absorbing the great information and fascinating stories. It wasn't long until I began to break down, purchasing a beautiful and accurate double rifle in 9.3x74r and taking it to Namibia, accounting for game from warthog to eland. Returning to North America only spurred a desire to return to Africa. I began to make excuses to attend local gun shows where I hefted and then coveted a M70 Safari Express .458 win mag that pointed like a magic wand. I became well known at local boutique gun stores for asking for rifles larger than .375 H&H. Web forums feared me for my probing inquiries about their .416's, thinking me a gun nut green-behind-the-ear kid. After countless hours on this forum and this section on Big Bores, I thought I had come to my senses, beat my desires and talked myself out of buying a big bore. I even purchased a vintage .300 H&H bolt rifle and hunted elk, associating only with a buddy carrying a 45/70. Yes, the fog was clearing. Or so I thought. But the environment around me deteriorated. A call came from a shooting center..."was I interested in a new .416 Rigby?" A sporting goods store not 2 km from me has a CZ550 Safari Classic in .404, collecting dust, calling to me. A website has a safari grade .375H&H just a click and a credit card away. A boutique gun store brought in the most amazingly tiger striped CZ550 in .375 H&H I have seen yet. I am in deep now. My investment plans involve investing in gunsmiths who can build a .404j for me, or who could rebore a donor.375 H&H, or who could rework a 9.3x62 to 9.3x64. I only hope that in time, I can emerge from this affliction before I fall entirely overboard and follow in the footsteps of some of those here.
 
Nine.Three you are in deep trouble;).
 
welcome Nine.Three!

have you tried shooting a 375 H&H yet? if not, then don't! your addiction will become a monster that not even a stubborn wife could control. before you know it you will be asking the forum for 505 Gibbs load data...

I don't even have my 505 Gibbs back yet and I already ordered some more Corbon 505 Gibbs ammunition. it was on sale... :cautious:

-matt
 
Well the ammo was on sale(y).
 
Nine three, as far as building a 404 Jeffrey, a great starting block is to find a Winchester mod 70 in one of the RUM chamberings. I got one in 300 RUM, sent it off to PacNor, and that's all it took.

I guess I'm an enabler.
 
Nine three, as far as building a 404 Jeffrey, a great starting block is to find a Winchester mod 70 in one of the RUM chamberings. I got one in 300 RUM, sent it off to PacNor, and that's all it took.

I guess I'm an enabler.

Ha ha, you're enabling him mate!! :D:D
 
not sure about that, those RUM cartridges with super high velocities generate a completely different kind of felt recoil. for example the 450 NE 3.25" and the 300 RUM generate about the same muzzle energy (if using a 220gr bullet at 3000 fps in the RUM). but the 450 NE will have a much slower felt recoil then the 300 RUM. the 450 NE will shove you while the 300 RUM will punch you.

-matt
 
Turns out this addiction is more comprehensive than I first realized. 404 Jeffery is too long for a standard rock chucker. Sure you'll be able to recap and resize no problem but when it comes time to seat the bullet, it is a really tight fit.

I'm pretty sure the box that brown truck Santa brought yesterday is my new reloading press.
 
Welcome!

You're in the right place!

We all started small. We all thought we could handle it on our own. And then we all ended up here...

Big bores and the subsequent reloading. Just trying to get more for the same price!
 
Nine.Three, it is only a problem if you have to attend meetings, this is a forum of great minds not Big Bore Anonymous so you are good. Remember the anti drug add in the early 90's that said "I work more hours to make more money to buy more........GUNS. I used to tell my first and second wives that I needed more guns for sporting purposes, they would argue that a man doesn't need three .375's, as a good husband would agree with them and promptly acquire a fourth. Turns out that I wasn't quite understanding the way women think. Now on those long, lonely nights as I sit by myself in my gun room, seating a .458 solid into a fresh piece of brass, I stop and listen to the sound of nothing but the faint wail of Hank Williams coming from the living room and I smile, realize that the .458 will not be pissed when I bring home a .505 or even another sleek and slender number in .375.
Carpe diem-
Cody
 
nine.three Welcome to are group of addicted big bore junkies, you are in good company. Since you say upon returning to NA and didn't specify Canada or US. If US would you be kind enough to share the number for the shop with the Dusty 404J if you aren't planning on buying it? as a 404J is on my short list and will save me from build another custom.
 
not sure about that, those RUM cartridges with super high velocities generate a completely different kind of felt recoil. for example the 450 NE 3.25" and the 300 RUM generate about the same muzzle energy (if using a 220gr bullet at 3000 fps in the RUM). but the 450 NE will have a much slower felt recoil then the 300 RUM. the 450 NE will shove you while the 300 RUM will punch you.

-matt

The RUM is a donor action, not a steeping stone of recoil. The 404 Jeffrey is a parent cartridge of sorts for the RUM family, so there tends to be fewer feeding issues, PacNor is a barrel making company. I sent them a Win 70 barreled action in 300 RUM that I'd bought used (never fired it myself as a 300); and they sent back the barreled action as 404.
 

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