I found these links on another site I frequent. They’re about 2 megs each so beware for those of you that are bandwidth impaired. I got a good chuckle though.
http://formenmedia.ign.com/media/news/image/hardcore/shotgun1.mpeg
http://formenmedia.ign.com/media/news/image/hardcore/shotgun2.mpeg
Those videos have been making the gun site rounds recently. I’m not sure but I think it’s a 500 Nitro express (a big elephant gun). UncleBeer, ExTank, any enlightening comments?
I always thought that T/C Contender chambered in .45/70 would be pretty rough…until I saw a custom one in 7MM.
What is the gun in the movies - doesn’t look like shotgun, looks more like a standard rifle?
I’m not sure who made its, but I’m pretty sure you’re looking at either an Elephant Gun, or a rifle chambered for .50 BMG. While I’m not real impressed by the form displayed by the test shooters, no current shotgun that I know of recoils like that, even when fired with sloppy form. I’ve seen a number of bench-rest shots of rifles chambered for the .50 BMG round, and the rifle in the video looks familiar. The gent I saw firing the similar-looking rifle was of ursine proportions, and even he was jolted, despite proper form and a bench rest.
Some elephant guns had bores as large as 4-gage, and required someone of heroic proportions to fire. Some of the old black powder elephant guns even fired explosive shot.
While I’m not sure who made the rifle in the videos, here’s some info on elephant guns, including a few amazing photos. Please note: These are not shotguns, they’re rifles!
Reminds me of a revolver I once had, a 3" S&W .44 Magnum. Yes, three inch. It had an unfluted cylinder and a full-length lug to make it as heavy as possible. It was an outstanding pistol when fired with .44 Special cartridges but an unbearable beast with full-power Magnums. “Severe” is not the right term to describe recoil, maybe “extreme” is more appropriate. Unburned powder made for a very impressive muzzle flash and the noise was not very .44-like but more like a 105mm. It even made a 6" .454 Casul seem tame.
Tranquilis, I’ve fired 12 gauge Magnum slugs more than a couple of times but those 4 and 8 bore rifles scare the hell out of me. “Heroic proportions” seems like an understatement to me. I’d also have to agree that both the shooters in the videos are obviously not holding the rifle properly. The tecnique they’re using might be fine with a .223 automatic but it’s pretty dangerous with a big-bore manual loader.
I’ve seen .50 cal’s fired up close, and none kicked like that. And at that, the Maadi-Griffin .50 had was modified so well, your kid sister could fire it standing and not flinch. Not even a .50 caliber machine gun on full auto. Best I’ve fired is a .65 caliber muzzleloader, and it didn’t kick anything like that.
I suspect someone’s shooting for an Oscar. rimshot
I only got the first one viewed, but I remember seeing it about a year ago. It’s a .577 Tyrannosaur. It was developed as a last resort “oh crap, it’s still coming at us and boy is it mad” weapon. It puts the .600 Nitro to shame as far as ballistics and recoil, and is just shy of a .50 BMG.
Did you see the damage to the booth door? It appears to be some kind of laminated glass, and the weapon nailed it with enough force to break the glass and wreck the door handle. Trying to determine what the rifle was, I did a frame-by-frame advance, and those gents were really getting their butts kicked by that beast. Both had measurable flinch before firing! The Maadi-Griffin, and almost all other modern .50 BMG rifles are either really heavy, and/or have superior muzzle brakes/recoil control systems. The rifle in these videos (and the one I saw at the bench rest shoot) is lacking a muzzle brake, and appears much lighter than the norm for such a heavy round.
I’ve never heard of the .577 Tyranosaur (but I’ll be looking now!), but by what Turbo posted, it really is an Elephant Gun. I frankly don’t know why anyone bothered, as the .600 Nitro Express is more than sufficient to stop any land animal on this planet, even when loaded with adrenalin and pissed as hell. The .600 NE has been observed to knock a bull elephant unconsious for up to 30 minutes with poorly placed shot. There’s no need, as I see it, other than plain old machismo, to go bigger/more powerful. Once you’ve reached that level, there are only two things that can make a rifle more effective: A cool head on the shooter, and a second barrel (which is why so many elephant guns are double rifles).
[lecturing]
You see folks, when a dangerous animal is charging you, and manage to pis away the first shot, the only thing that’s going to save your sorry ass is a fast second shot. Bolt actions are too slow, you’ll be a nasty red goo between the elephant’s toes, or a red smear on the rhino’s horn. Semi-autos are generally too weak, and may jam. Can’t trust them when the pressure’s on. Now a double rifle, there’s a reliable weapon! No action to cycle or jam, just two triggers to squeeze!
[/lecturing]
it is the .577 T Rex as Turbo Dog Said. More videos at http://www.accuratereloading.com/videos.html
One thing I noticed is that both shooters were pulling their shoulder back, no doubt in anticipation of the recoil. This unfortunately makes matters worse as the rifle has a bit of a gap to slam into the shoulder. Pushing one’s shoulder into a heavy recoiling rifle is the only way to deal with it.
BTW bernse, you’re nuts if you intend to get one 
But I’m sure you already knew that. My next rifle, just got it actually, will be for prairie dogs, chucks and coyotes so I don’t think I’ll need that much muzzle energy, a .223 should do nicely.
There are some other videos on the site of guys firing the .577 and not getting knocked ass over teakettle. The kick is still brutal but the shooter is pushing his shoulder tightly into the buttstock and remains standing after firing three rounds.
I couldn’t find too much on the net about it, but here’s a site that has a little bit of info on it.
http://www.accuratereloading.com/577tyr.html
Also, here’s what Col. Jeff Cooper says about it.
[q]We were fascinated at SHOT to examine the “577 Tyrannosaur” from A Square. This piece is designed to end all discussion about stopping power. It is a bolt-action (1917), 3-plus-1, 13lb rifle which fires a 750-grain bullet at 2460 feet per second. It is said to be the first sporting rifle cartridge that “breaks the 10,000 foot-pound barrier.”
In my opinion this is a definitive example of a piece which is made to own rather than to shoot. It is not at all clear that it will kill an elephant or a buffalo or a hippo any better than a well placed hit from a 470, and, of course, it will not do anything with a badly placed hit except annoy the recipient. As I see it, this combination should be referred to as the “577 Dundee.” You keep it available in your armory so that when people start talking about the power of their rifles you can break yours out and say, “That’s not a rifle. THIS is a rifle!” [/q]
Awesome weapon, but I like my body too much to have it folded into a taco shell. I’ve fired a .50 BMG straight bolt action (no buffer system). Lemme tell ya, it is not something you’ll do on a Sunday for fun.
I’ve just got to continue the lecture. I’m a cartridge collector, and I have a number of specimens of the British big game cartridges. .600 Nitro, .577 Nitro, the Jeffers, Rigby, etc cartridges, and an Eley 4 gauge shell.
From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, the well-made British double rifle ruled the African/indian big game hunting world. Like Tranquilis says, there’s only two actions that are strong enough to handle this kind of power - bolt and break. Of the two, the break action is mechanically simpler, more reliable and faster with the second shot - and those differences could mean life or death.
These rifles were also heavy - 16 to 20 pounds. This helped make the recoil manageable, to some extent. It’s also the reason for gunbearers - it wasn’t that Bwana was too damn lazy to carry his own gun, a fatigued person isn’t going to be at the top of his form when the chips are down.
A great reference with a huge amount of fascinating background material is “Cartridges of the World” by Frank Barnes.
Well shit.
I can’t get any of the .mpegs to load, so I have no idea what this beast looks like, other than the tech-specs Turbo linked to. Having dispensed with the equivocations:
Jesus-Jumped-Up-In-The-Crosshairs! Bernse, what in the name of Sam Stone are you going to shoot with this monster? Going to the Dark Continent to explode some bull elephants?
Or taking out some LAPD light armor? Apache gunships? Make some M-1 Tankers sit up and notice you (trust me on this one friend, you don’t want that kind of attention!)?
It’s your dime, spend it however you see fit, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out any useful purpose for this monster anywhere in North America. It’s too much even for Polar Bears.
This, of course, coming from a guy who laid out $500+ on a tactical shotgun rig (I call it “The Brady Nightmare”) w/all the bells and whistles, and will prolly never ever use it outside of a firing range. :rolleyes:
Ain’t we just a kooky bunch of Joes?
On the general mechanics of shooting: if you’re afraid of the gun, you got no business shooting it. Tuck it in and take the beating. I flinched once on my Stoeger-IGA Uplander double-barreled 12ga. coach gun (I use it in Cowboy Shooting), loosing both barrels, and sported the bruise for several weeks.
Now I keep that baby tucked and firm, and I still take a bit of a beating, but not all that bad.
My Win. Mod. 70 w/ B.O.S.S., in 7mm Rem. Mag., has been enough for my purposes so far (that is one sweet round; flat and fast!). A pro at a private gun club in Fayetteville, N.C. (he wouldn’t tell me his MOS, but I’m willing to bet he jumps out of perfectly good aircraft and enjoys eating snakes) got her w/in MOA with little trouble. He was placing 2 in. groups at 300m. with Federal Premium 165gr. BTSP. Sadly, my shooting skills w/long guns ain’t up to snuff, but I’m working on it.
Of course, he couldn’t hit shit with a pistol, which is my strong point. That’s why I get a bit torqued at knuckleheads in GCDs harping on “evil handguns” :mumble grumble:
Bernse: If you get this thing, could you maybe send me a .jpeg?