That Big-bore Itch
For a while now I've considered myself kind of a recoil wuss, but recently I changed my shooting form, and suddenly the recoil I'd been dealing with was gone. Sure, I can still feel a nice push, but what was once a painful ordeal—for example, sighting in my 870 with slugs—is now just a pleasant, exhilarating exercise. I had to laugh at my relatives over the weekend when they refused to shoot my father's Ithaca Model 37 Featherlight, claiming it kicked 'like a Missouri mule.' I shot it, and while the recoil was a little sharper than my own shotgun produces—my gun is about 1.5 pounds heavier loaded—it was extremely comfortable, not jarring or painful at all. Granted, last season when I was using it during deer season I almost knocked myself out of the stand leaning to get a shot around a tree
(I missed low), but it just goes to show how important form really is.
Anyway, on to the meat of the matter. With this newfound capability to deal with recoil—which I intend to test a bit by getting some 3” magnum slugs—I feel a sense of freedom. No longer shall recoil
(within reason) be a deciding issue in choosing a long gun. Now, I'm not going to go out and buy a six pound guide rifle in 600 Nitro Express, because I like shooting more than one shot a week with no hospitalization in between, but suddenly the realm of belted magnums looks less forbidding and the big bore lever-action rifles look positively inviting. If I had the means I'd forsake my 30-30 and buy a new Marlin 1895 in either 444 Marlin or 45/70 Government. I'd have to say I favor the wide and heavy cartridges over the relatively light-bullet magnums, though out west I'd break down and buy a rifle in 350 Remington Magnum or some comparable caliber. I wouldn't mind acquiring a Weatherby Mark V Dangerous Game Rifle in 460 Weatherby Magnum
(7,500 ft-lb of muzzle energy makes for a happy Dave, if a sore one after the first shot. The cartridges also retail for about 5 bucks a piece.) to shoot about once a year, but the MSRP of $3360 makes that take a seat behind just about every other rifle I'd have a real use for—and that list is twenty rifles long. Some could be considered redundant
(i.e. 44 Remington Magnum and 45 Colt Marlins) but I have a reason for each and every one, be it practical or not.
My big bore itch extends to pistols too. I have a very strong desire to own a 1911 in 45 ACP to replace my semi-automatic, and beyond that, any semi-auto I buy is kind of superfluous. The 1911 / 45 ACP combo reigns supreme in the semi-automatic class; the only concession to technological evolution I might make is to buy a high capacity 1911. I've held a few double stack .45 1911s, and while I never shot them, they felt quite comfortable in my hands. Perhaps more comfortable than a single stack 45, even: while my 9mm grip feels a bit too small front to back, a 1911 feels too skinny side to side. I have no doubt I'll buy many semi-automatic pistols in my life, but the pistol I keep on my hip
(barring a revolver) will be a 45 ACP.
(Okay, so the 45 ACP isn't really a “big bore” like a 44 RemMag or 50 AE, but compared to my europellet 9mm, it sure seems big.)
Enter the revolver. The first revolver I buy will be a 44 Remington Magnum unless it's a 22 LR, and while I may buy smaller caliber revolvers to augment rifles I own
(I'm a great fan of the companion concept, which is matching the ammunition of the rifle and pistol, and in the case of some rifle/pistol combinations, the magazine) or for their historical significance
(44/40 WCF, please), or for utilitarian reasons like killing snakes, they will never have a serious place in my animal or goblin slaying toolbox. The only revolver that escapes that sweeping classification is the S&W 627 in 357 Magnum, and then only because it carries eight shots. On horseback or in the woods, if—for some incomprehensible reason—I'm not carrying a rifle or shotgun, you'll see a 44 Magnum, 45 Colt
(loaded hot), or 500 S&W Magnum
(only if it's a 4 or 6 inch barrel model, customized if necessary) on my hip, and nothing less.
