What's the hardest kicking firearm you ever shot?

I'll start ..mine was a Benelli Nova 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 3 1/2 duck loads..i think 4 shot....that Nova is a light gun and the butt pad is a little slick so when i fired that gun it gave a slap to the face i won't soon forget...brought a little tear to my eye....i guess i ought to also mention my older brother's 300 Win Mag, its a Howa with a synthetic stock....the problem is the cheap [censored] Simmons scope he has on it with the one inch eye relief ....he doesn't understand why people are afraid to fire that rifle

664 J&W

My dad has an old eddie stone 30-06 with a synthetic stock. Its probably the hardest kicking gun I've shot.

.300 Weatherby Ultra Magnum in a 6 1/4 lb mountain rifle. Boss sent me to the range to sight it in for his hunt. 17 torturous rounds later and I hurt for a week.

870 with 3 1/2 in buckshot

I don't have any experience with the big exotic cartridges, so the hardest kicking gun I've ever shot was a friend's lightweight .300 Wby. Mag. with a crappy hard rubber butt pad.

460 Wthby Mag, 2x's

375 H&H 4x's

I had a T/C Encore pistol chambered in the 375 JDJ. It was brutal. Notice i said had. Next to that was a savage in 300 win mag.

Knight 50 cal. w/ 120 grains black powder

3" Magnum slugs in my 18" barrel 12ga, or my Ruger .44. My Mosin and my .30-06 have a little kick too though, lol.

I once had a vicious 700 Mountain Rifle in .280...I've had other rifles in .280 since then and hey were pussycats. The Mountain Rifle was a hateful beast! I've shot .300s, .375s, and other stuff. It had to have been the stock design...

Most recently was a firend's very light weight 18" barreled .308 he sent with me to check zero. I'm shocked that I remember it, since its just a .308

I've shot .300 RUM, .338 Lapua Mag and 50 BMG, all with brakes but that little .308 comes to mind for some reason.

So far the 458 Win Mag is had that was a light bolt action rifle. That had a stout kick

.375 Win Mag. Never again. My cousin has a .10 gauge single shot he said he'd pay me $100.00 to shoot.


My cousin still has a hundred bucks and I hate him.

I feel your pain! I had a Ruger Compact .308 that let you know when you touched it off. Loved that rifle in the field, hated it on the bench.

.45-70 in a NEF Handi Rifle single shot.

My shoulder bruised faster than a little girl's.

416 rigby, but it wasn't the caliber. It was custom stocked for short fellow. and designed to be shot with open sights. Felt the first shot was going to take the side of my head off. Duct taped some foam on comb and solved the problem.

Many people know this, but if you will take a levi jacket or vest and safety pin a couple of squares of carpet where the stock meets your shoulder it will help tame the worst recoil to the shoulder because it spreads the impact.

I used to have a single barreled H&R 12 guage that would rattle your skeleton when you touched it off...

I shot a single shot break action 12ga that was made for Montgomery Ward in 1912 (IIRC). It was marked full choke bore. So the entire barrel was full choke. Anyway, it weighed about as much as a Rossi youth .22LR. You would take two steps back with every shot.

870 w/ 3.5" duplex turkey load. I shot it one time and I didn't want anymore. It was funny because the owner was whining about it and I was giving him a ration so he handed it to me. I touched it off one time and said no more...y'all can have that crap.

17hmr, thing kicked like a mule

155 Howitzer it hit me in the hip, watch where your standing when firing a 155 in a hurry.

.375 H&H

This and/or a 450 marlin.

460 wby mag w/o brake, feels like an nfl linebacker hit you.
378 wby mag w/o brake feels like Mike Tyson just gave you an uppercut.

Joking aside, I put 9 rounds through a 460 Weatherby sighting it in for a friend. I will not do that again, wasn't no lead sleds back then. Took me 45 minutes and my shoulder was trembling for 2 days.

Joking aside, I put 9 rounds through a 460 Weatherby sighting it in for a friend. I will not do that again, wasn't no lead sleds back then. Took me 45 minutes and my shoulder was trembling for 2 days.

The story about the 155mm is true, knocked me on my arse about 10ft back.

Had a fireman bud pick up a NEF 12 ga. for me at his BIL's pawn shop. He took it to his dad's and turned it down to 18 1/2". You know you did something when you drop the hammer on that little light weight 12.

No talk of bad arse pistolas or is that a completely different animal?

Browning BPS 12 ga w/ 3.5" magnum goose load. I was laying flat on my back in a muddy rice field amonst a white rag spread when a flock of snows came directly overhead. I shot from flat on my back straight up. My shoulder was solid on the ground and couldn't "give" with the recoil. I thought I broke my shoulder....

Far, far worse than my .375 H&H Mag.

Most common hard kickers will be light weight guns in a powerful chambering or have a stock that doesn't fit the shooter. Combination of both is brutal. I have some big guns and have shot others but the Tikka light hunter in 270WSM was the most painful to me until it got a good recoil pad. Knocked my hat off my head almost every time I shot it.

I like the stories about guns that kill at both ends...hard kicking pistols ....i have shot short barrel 44mags with stiff loads and a Dan Wesson 445 Supermag but the most uncomfortable pistol i ever shot was one of those Davis derringers in 22 mag...there's just nothing to hold on too and jump all around when firing it...could hit squat with it either....

Shot my second deer with dads rem 700 mountain rifle chambered in 280 rem when I was 11. Always loved that gun and probably always will... but its got a little rumble, especialy chunking hot 150 grainers.

matt

10 gauge single shot with 3 1/2" magnum shell.

870 with 3 1/2" 00 buckshot, and my 700 in 300 win mag, both are synthetic and super light

A Yldiz O/U with a 2 3/4" foster slug. Surprised the hell out of me and gave me a nice green bruise under my right eye. That gun is way too light for that purpose.

k98 in 8mm Mauser. I bought the thing for about $150 bucks. It had the stock replaced with some cheap plastic job.

That rifle kicked harder then anything Ive ever shot then and since. At the time I had a Ruger in 338mag. That Mauser made that rifle feel like a 30-30.

Damn that Mauser kicked. It would leave a nasty bruise that would stay for 5days. The kind that get all yellow as it heals.

S&W 500 for handguns

Shotgun with 3 1/2 buck

Rifle was probably my dads lightweight.270 , haven't really shot any big big bores

Mine is the Browning BPS I just bought last week shootin 3" #4 steel shot. Not enough to keep me from shooting it but I think I'll get something else for my wife to shoot when she duck hunts with me which is what I bought it for.

A guy pulled out one of those 500's at a range. He was shooting at a humvee window set down range. Another guy pulls out a round with a 700grain bullet. Flat point, plain lead. The round looked like a lipstick tube. And as big.

That 700 grain kicked half of what the other rounds did.

Neither the 700grain nor whatever the other round was would go through bullet proof glass at 25yards.

Weatherby 460 off a bench at a shooting fair down south of Alvin that was put on by a California outfit, spondered by the Houston area dealers and us gun Reps that was open to the public. Made my 71/4 lb factory stocked McMillan 375H&H SAKO carbine feel like almost like a 243. My old friend Dud Grounds the Weatherby rep in those days fell down he was laughing so hard.
Ron

for rifle - 300wsm in browning abolt. had to put a brake on it real quick.

pistol - 454 casull. shot it 4 times and will never touch that pistol again. i don't remember the model but it was a revolver and it was not heavy at all. no brake on it either.

My shoulder hurts thinking about that one.

30-378

pretty sure thats what thats what the guy said it was... had to sight it in for a client...figured out why he didnt want to...then he went deer huntin with it ha

How about a 14 inch Contender in a full length 458 Win Mag, shot that one at a match in Notree's.

You guys should try the 2 bore.
Kinda expensive tough. I think it's like $80 per round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXoa5zNn0TU

Most recent sore shoulder was from a steel butt plate on a standard issue Mosin.
Prior to that it was a 30-06 sporter that had a pretty good push.

As for handguns, it would have to be the Ruger 44Mag Super Redhawk silhouette pistol I had for a while.
I sprained my wrists pretty bad racing off-road motorcycles.
After that, it was tough for me to shoot it like I wanted to shoot it and I sold it....kinda wish I had that one back...

416 rig. with a 4x scope. Wasn't much of a kick more of a push

Ummm..I believe you win.

I've shot rifles with a lot more muzzle energy, but the worst for me was a .450 Marlin lever action. Must have been because the gun was super light and had no butt pad or brake.

Top 3-

338 Lapua Magnum shooting a 300 grain SMK with no muzzle brake

An ultra light-weight Rem 700 in 7 STW shooting 168 VLD's.

And the worst was a 338 Win Mag in a light-weight Blaser R8 shooting 225 grain Barnes TTSX at top speed! It was brutal! The Blaser has no action. It's a stock, bolt and barrel and has no weight to it.

X 2

I had a Browning L/H Stainless Stalker in 300 Win Mag that put
pressure wrinkles on my leupold and Burris Scopes with good rings, and that kicked so hard it would turn me 1/2 around. It
would pull threads from patches when I cleaned it..and after a lifetime of purchasing and owning Brownings, I quit..I also had a
muzzle loader that wouldn't go boom and I didn't know it was dbl
loaded w/two 54 cal. slugs and dbl charged that kicked me about 10 ft..but I didn't drop the weapon..it cracked the stock..DD

Maybe HWY_MAN shoiuld change his name to ARTILLERY_MAN ?.....maybe Don should too?....

30-06
Or 7mmWSM

300 win mag

Single shot .50cal and it scoped me pretty good.

Pistol grip mossy 3-1/2" magnum loads after 5 rounds I thought my thumb was broke!

When I was a small child at the tender age of 7yrs, I had a single shot breach loading 20ga shotgun, I believe it was made by Savage...... This was the shotgun from hell, it left me severely bruised, and that's using Winchester AA bird shot in it. My father's friend shot it, And he told my father to get rid of it after he shot it. I can tell you this a 12ga was real tame compared to this piece of #^%@

T/C Contender pistol in 45-70 off the bench. Got 12 rounds down range before I gave up. Was a week before I could put my thumb and fore finger together to pick up a piece of paper. I'll take my S&W 500 any day over that 45-70.

Barret .50 cal sniper rifle. I snugged the butt of the rifle up to the edge of my bullet proof vest, i adjusted a bit before firing, the rifle slipped off my vest giving about an inch between me and the rifle. I fired it jumped back and i couldn't move my shoulder for a while after that.

I have a 45-70 marlin and with some +P buffalo bore ammo it has a pop. My uncle has a model 660 in 350 Remington mag has a little kick, but they don't kick like a 460 weatherby I shot once.

A friends dad had a Remmy 700 BDL chambered in the short lived 8mm Remington Mag. It made his 458 Win Mag feel like a pellet gun. Im still not sure what was worse, the recoil or muzzle blast.

A Winchester 1300 18" HD 12g.

Never shot a rifle bigger than a 30.06

I hate hard kickers so I stick to the sissy guns, .270's and smaller. I put a new scope on my dads pump 30.06 and tried to sight it in for him, freaking brutal! I starting flinching so bad I quit even trying to get it dialed in, freaking trigger would never break at the same place twice and had a ton of slop. I still hate that gun and now own a lead sled.

My cousin gave me a 10 gauge when I was very young. I can't remember what shells we shot but we all took turns shooting it. After the 3 of us shot it two times a piece we put the butt of the gun against a tree and fired it. The recoil busted the stock on it.

I've shot quite a few magnum deer rifles but none of them compare to my Browning Sweet Sixteen. I have no idea why that gun kicks so much.

The worst handgun was a Ruger Alaskan in .454 (2.5" barrel) Some loads aren't to bad but others will draw blood from the recoil.

Tikka T3 Lite in 270 WSM was very unplesant though not really a large caliber. The lightweight and poorly designed stock/recoil pad caused for a good bit of discomfort. As a 12 year old I remember hunting with my newly gifted to me, NEF 12g single shot. I remember the bruises and pain inflicted while shooting a box of 12g 3" heavy pay load waterfowl loads in morning hunts. I then got a 1300 pump 12g and never went back to the old single shot that kicked like a mule

470 nitro express double rifle

24" h&r single shot slug 12 gauge.

For me it was a Winchester .338 magnum.

A 1937 Savage Model 720 Auto Loader 12 gauge. I have no idea why this shotgun kicked so much but it was definitely very uncomfortable to shoot. I hope its new owner likes it better than I did.

Ive seen those rifles NOS from the late 70's for sale with a price less then $400. I almost bought one at a gunshop/pawn. Until I saw the "30-06" on the barrel. No way in hades.

Forget that crap.

My cousins Browning (A-Bolt, I think) 300 Win Mag w/ 180 grain loads.

I shot it 3 or 4 times off the bag, then had to go to the vice. Shot 3 or 4 more times and had to quit. When I took it out of the vice, the trigger guard was broke. Ooops.
I have sworn off 300 Win Mags forever. Guess I should have known something was up when he asked me to sight in HIS rifle.

10 gauge semi auto magnum loads. 20 years ago friend says here try this. Duck flying at 11 o'clock. Put it up and wham! Dropped the thing in the mud like a sissy.

Don't laugh, 30-06 - certainly enough for me.

Sighted in a 458 win mag on the bench for a friend. Kicked real hard! Then, I shot his brother's 416 Rigby in a Ruger 1 and man, I really found out what kicking was! My sunglasses flew off my head and it knocked me back two steps. No shotgun ever kicked me like that.

155 towed.....hits like a bomb, kicks like a mule on crack!

Shortened 12ga sxs firing both barrels at the same time with magnum buckshot loads. Not something you forget quickly......

I have a Rem 870 slug rifle. It is the hardest kicking gun I've ever shot. Shoots 3 inch slugs. It is also very loud.

H&R Ultra Slug 12ga with a 1 1/4oz sabot slug, Leopold scope broke on the first 5 pack.

However, bought a Boyd's stock set and put a good recoil pad on it and it became tolerable.

Shot an old British 303 that kicked fairly good, my 338 wm has some decent recoil but nothing horrible, worst pistol ever was a snubnose air weight 357 magnum felt more like a hammer was hitting my hand than anything.

My worst was a Benelli Nova 12 GA with 18 1/2 inch barrel and a tactical stock. After two rounds of #4 buck and one round of Remington #4 duck and pheasant shot, I was ready to surrender. I sent it back and got a Mossberg 590 instead.

I have shot 7MM Mag, 300 Mag, 30.06, 8MM K98 Mauser, and .308 and I'll take the .308 any day over the rest. Shooting is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Not a source of self inflicted deformation and brutality.

I have a Charter Bulldog .44 Spec that is real fun to shoot. I am surprised how sociable it is considering it's light weight. It is easier than my XD45 or EAA 10mm. The 10 has such a recoil you'll get double shots if you don't hold on to it. The prefect CCW.

I don't know which was the hardest kicking, but I have shot all of these and they hurt:

460 Weatherby Magnum with heavy reloads, 500 gr bullet at 2,800 fps
.58 cal Hawken rifle, 600 gr minie ball with 180 gr powder
10 gauge pump with 2 oz slugs

But what hurt me the worst was when my 12 gauge Ruger Red Label doubled on me when shooting 1 1/2 oz shells that where 1,400 fps.

I sold that gun.

For pistol stuff I owned a Contender in a 35Rem and after about 5 shots my wrist hurt so bad I didn't want anymore. That was with a factory brake on it...I can't imagine how brutal it would've been without the brake.

For the most part I don't enjoy shooting big stuff but a 338 Lapua or 338 Edge was no match for the 870 with turkey loads.

460

300 ultra

It's the difference between a push and a slap. The 458Win Mag. in a browning rifle pushes so that you can't stand up to it and it will walk you backward but unless you have your back up against a tree or building, it doesn't tend to hurt. Just a massive shove. On the other hand a 264.Weatherby Mag's recoil is sharp and violent. Like a boxer hitting you without a glove.

870 super mag...

While duck hunting a friend handed me a 3.5" to "try"... um... never again...

7.21 Lazzeroni Firebird. 168 gr bullet with the same ballistics as a 22-250.

My FIL keeps wanting me to shoot his T/C Encore in 45-70 with a pistol grip. Haven't decided I hated my hands and wrist that much yet.

458 lott mauser
470 ne double
458 win mag cz mauser
old 4 bore muzzleloading rifle no idea but it was awesome!
45/70 marlin and trapdoor springfield( trapdoor had no kick but was again awesome too shoot family friends granddad used it in the spanish american war was the story I was told)
50bmg (82a1 really didnt kick that bad)


thats in order of pain lol. I lvoe the big guns

375 H&H mag.

Shot a half box of shells through my buddy's Win. Model 70 express in 375 H&H. I was surprised that it didn't have near the recoil I expected - heavy rifle and a good stock, I guess. It didn't even start to hurt until the last couple of rounds.

My Marlin 1895 45-70 is pretty tame with trapdoor level loads, but one of these days I'm going to try some Buffalo Bore stuff, just to say I did it. Probably develop a permanent flinch in the process...

I have shot my brothers Browning made 1886 in 45-70 with stiff handloads many times. It may not be what you want, but it will be all you want.

Russian surplus rifle that I think was a M44 carbine. 7.62x54, it just hurt to shoot. And the .44 magnum vaquero was awful, major hammer bite.

Personally I find that 3" mag 12 gauges can be brutal. As for rifles, the .378 Weatherby punches pretty hard. I have a Schultz & Larsen .308 Norma Mag that's pretty tough with 180+ grain rounds.

too old to have an ego about magnums and such, common sense tells me to stay away from unnecessary punishment. even my 30-06 are in safe, most guys I know that shoot magnums etc, cant hit S*** cause they are flinching when they pull the trigger....but they got a big rifle....I just laugh.

I hand-loaded .45-70 to modern rifle level with a healthy dose of H4198 under cast 500gr bullets, and when I shot them from my 6lbs H&R 1871 without a recoil pad, it was brutal, teeth rattling brutal....

Once bought a beautiful 16 gauge German-made double. My goodness, it was gorgeous. Light weight, fine lines, nice wood. Used it one dove season -- hardest kicking sonuvagun I ever shot -- especially after a 50 rounds. Took a couple of years to get rid of the flinch I developed.

Without a doubt my 20 gauge New England firearms single shot. Hurt like heck. I know it's a small gun, but I think I would rather be kicked by a mule.

3.5" Max dram turkey load in a Mossberg 535. Handed the gun back to my buddy and just use 3" turkey loads outta my 870 with a nice recoil pad and sureshot stock.

10 ga shotgun with a fiberglass stock.

I love big guns but the one I remember was a Savage 99 in 308. Bad ju ju!

Well said.

But, I do see folks with heavy hitting rifles faithfully on target every time too.

Rocket launcher off the back of a U.S. Naval submarine.

Rifle: 700 nitro express out of a H&H side by side. pistol was and American Derringer Alaskan in 45/70. It took 2 months for the bruise to go away after the 700. The Alaskan jumped out of my hands both times.

7 mag in a 5 lbs gun.

10 gauge shotgun on a duck hunt when I was 18 !

November 1977 ouch

I guess my single shot Handi-Rifle in 500 S&W Magnum.

375 h&h ultra mag it took meat on both end's... lol

10ga 3.5" slugs

Hot .45/70 handloads out of an 8 1/3 lb. rifle (total weight). These were 550 grain cast bullets that the manual showed as moving out at 1800 fps. I only fired 5 rounds but could have stood more.

The nastiest kicker I had was a 6.5 x 55 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight (6 3/4 pounds + scope) which comes standard with a 1/4 inch hard rubber pad. Until I changed out the pad for a thick Pachmayr Decelerator, this thing was cringe inducing. It left my shoulder purple/yellow after every shooting session.

458 Lott with 500gr handloads, didn't hurt but it pushed me back a few steps. On a bench it would be brutal.

Agree with this! Mine is a 14" bbl with no brake! They should've sold it with a gun crew, ear muffs, and a chain to hold the barrel down. However it works real good on deer at 125yds.

6 1/2 lb 338 Win Mag with Federal High Energy 250 grain Partitions, that combo makes 375's feel like [censored] cats!

My dad took a single barrel 16ga. Placed it on a can. Shot the thing off. I was about 11 when he showed me. After watching the can get smashed flat...I stopped asking if i could shoot it.

It had been my grandpa's shottys. he had hollowed a space in the stock, and place some lead balls in it in an attempt to keep it from knocking the crap out of you.

So you could say that was the hardest kicking firearm...I never shot. It's also why I never bought a 12ga single barrel.

Daisy Red Ryder

500 S&W and a ultra light .270

been there; done that...

Ouch! That would be murder!

45-70

Yup that gun drew blood on my buddy (the owner of it) more than once! The crazy part is that it shot sub MOA with the HE Federal loads at 200 yards if you could handle shooting it.

Pretty bad when your shooting a 375 H&H with 300 grain loads and laughing at the guy with the 338WM!

.458 Win. Mag. I was at the range and saw the guy shooting it, he said he was getting ready to go to Africa. He was a small guy and it was just about knocking him off the bench. I watched him a while and he asked if I'd like to shoot it. Wouldn't want to plink with it, but I didn't think it was too bad.

Single shot 12 gauge with high velocity steel shot, 3x left my shoulder nice and bruised.

I owned a Winchester 670 in 300 win mag. Traded it off several years ago and is probably the only gun I've ever sold without regret.

458 win mag, did not care for it at all.

Of late, a friend's Thompson Encore in 7 Rem Mag and 175 SMKs. The light weight rifle is not much fun to shoot.

Every round I've fired has been prone on the bipod, proper form, loading the bipod and its still pushing on me pretty hard.

S&W 500 Magnum with a 4" barrel and heavy loads!!

Rifles:
State Arms Lightweight 50 BMG (~17.5lbs) Yikes.

338-378Wby with a custom Shilen barrel, with no muzzle brake and the factory B&C stock.

300RUM Sendero I owned. Ouch.

Pistols:
500 S&W - No reason for these things. Carry a rifle like a sane person.

This

Id have to say it was my friends 7mm rem mag.

New England single shot 12 gauge with three inch paper hull buck shot I was thirteen . The first gun I ever owned

10ga
and
Barrett m82a1 (didn't kick hard but the muzzle blast was ridiculous, was like face planting into a body of water)

458 Lott or a 7 lb 340wby I had built... Both got meat on both ends