Right now my heaviest recoiling handgun is my 25-06 encore pistol. However im contemplating getting a 15 inch 450/400 nitro express barrel for my encore to go with my encore. I just want to be able to say i have a nitro express hangun lol. So what is your biggest caliber you have or heard of in a handgun?

There is that infamous video of the guy shooting a 600 Nitro Encore pistol and it flying over his shoulder from recoil. My heaviest is a 45/70 Contender.

I would expect a big difference between your 25-06 & the 450/400. My heaviest recoiling single shot is probably a 338-06 JDJ. However, it has a brake on it. The 375 JDJ without a brake and with 270 gr bullets produces more felt recoil to me.

In revolvers currently 454s. However, I am awaiting the 475 from Rod & the 500 WE from Bob.

I have fired both the 500 S&W and 50 AK in encores and the 500 S&W in a BFR. Without brakes they will get your attention.

Me too......it matches up closely with my T/C 14" .444 Marlin and 14" .375JDJ

458 Win mag, I know of other 450/400's and although the performance is less than the 458 the benefit is the rimmed case which of course works better in the T/C platforms. The 600 in the video is the largest I've heard of.

This one right here is the heaviest recoiler I have and have ever shot. It weighs 4-lbs and shoots a 525 just under 1,600 fps. You need a hardhat and a saddle to shoot it:



My next two kickers are my SRH in .500 Linebaugh which weighs a couple of ounces shot of 3-lbs, but right behind it is my 4-inch Redhawk in .454.





This one (BFR in .500 JRH) is bad when the 425s and 440s hit about 1,450.

Yep that baby will get ones attention for sure and for certain

Here is a friend of mine shooting that one at a Linebaugh seminar




Yes sir firing 525's near 1600 FPS in light frame revolver is like being invited to your own private earth quake

With the right (or wrong) ammo, my BFR in .45-70.

My 444 marlin 14" contender

375 Snipe-Tac (Chey-Tac Improved). Rear-Grip Specialty Pistol
150 grains of powder and a 370 grain bullet

Sounds serious, Ernie! What does it weigh?

Cartridge perspective:
223 Rem, 243 Win (308 Win necked down to 6mm), 375 Snipe-Tac

Diameter of the head of the case is .637

The one that hurts the worst is a 500 JRH - the one with the most recoil is a 416 Taylor.

The muzzle blast has to be of gargantuan proportions

I have a 460 in a 15 inch Encore..........that thing eats my lunch!!!!!!

Worst on single shots - my 475 JDJ in the Contender (45-70 straight-walled)

Revolver - 500WE, although the extremely heavy Corbon loads out of my 460 are no fun.

the worst i have is a 44mag- several of them, guess I 'll just put on my apron and do up the dishes

CorBon's 395 grain load for the .460 is no picnic. I shot a bunch of those and used them on a couple of hogs.

Hahaha!!! I could help....not a fan of big kickers.

My 460 encore at 6 lbs is the worst.

My Ruger 5 shot is a light revolver and when loaded with a 440gr full power, cast bullet load it sure can be a "headfull"...

44mag revolver with max loaded 240's and a 14" 35rem contender with 180's is plenty for me and have any reasonable comfort to shoot several rounds.
going from 120's to 154's in the 7-08 encore was very noticable! been a while. still have unfinished load work.....ugh.

those "recoil lovers" should consider long term damage to hands/wrists etc....IF you actually shoot them much. my right wrist hurts now if i try to bend it to it's max position. had a few days a while back where i could not use my hand. a real scare! doctors didn't fully determine, but you KNOW recoil does not help. i can shoot now, but who knows what the future holds.

disable yourself gentlemen. just think how fun handguns would be then. hey....you can always read about it.....

james....wicked beautiful revolver!!

Hahaha - nothing wrong with a 44 Magnum. I have never killed anything that a 44 Magnum wouldn't kill with the right bullet in the right place.

My 416 Barnes recoils with a little more punch than my 376 Steyr, but still not that bad. The biggest round that is put in the Competitor pistols is the 470 Capstick; with a 600 gr. bullet I can only imagine how bad the recoil would be.

My FA .500 Wyoming Express.

Here is a post I made with a slo-mo video of Fowler shooting it.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2058&ppuser=872

I have a customer that has a 470NE in an Encore.

My buddy's T/C in .416 Taylor has been in my safe for a couple years now. It's his "pig gun". It's not mine but I've shot it a few times - does that count?

It is impressive.
First day out I shot it 25 times at one time.
Here is the first two times I fired it. It was really windy outside that day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpvoURwOkSM

For sure the 450/400 would be more recoil than the 25-06 but ive seen 458 win mags that had muzzle breaks that looked pretty controlable. I also have some 450/400 black powder load data that would bee pretty cool to see that big billow of white smoke come rolling out the other end. With a muzzle break the 450/400 will probably be pretty managable plus it the smallest nitro express round and the cheapest to reload for.

I have a .25-06 and really enjoy it. Its recoil is pretty mild. I don't have anything thats horrible to shoot. My 15" Encore 500 S&W with a 385 gr bullet at 1700 fps would probably be the worst. It has as much energy at 200 yards as many .454 Casull loads have at the muzzle. My .45-70 barrels would come in second with 300 gr bullets at 1900 fps. Nothing close to what some of you guys are shooting.

The 450/400 is no cream puff by any means but it's about 200fps slower than the 458. The 450/400 is an old cartridge and it's brass isn't up to what the newer belted mags can take but like I said the nice thing is they eject easier. I agree too that owning a NE in a handgun is cool. I have plans to build one later this year but haven't decided on which one. The 458 Lott will come first, I know it's been chambered in Encore rifles but never heard of one in a handgun. I haven't talked to my customer about his 470 to find out what it's recoil is like. The one thing to consider with NE's is the cost of brass, the 450/400 isn't as bad since Hornady brought it back but some of the brass can approach 10.00 a piece and dies close to 300.00 which is why for a practical dangerous game cartridge I'm building the 458's.

Hornady 300grn XTP's in .454 out of my 3" FA 83 Packer. After 2 shots I went and got a glove. After 2 cylinders, I went and got the .44

I had to think about this for a while and frankly I am surprised by my answer. I have a few .500's, a .475, a .375-06 JDJ, and other various big kickers but I have to say that darn .44 MAG S&W Nightguard. It twists my arm and flat beats up my hand even with a glove on. Gun weight makes a real big difference!

Found this photo of the .50 AK being shot.

Hey Witworth anybody told you your not right shooting those things

. My worst one 454 Cassual Alaskan. Heavy loads pull the trigger and hope for the best.

Many times......

But that doesn't mean I listen!

Yes, I think he is recoil sensitive

14" contender .45-70.

Some of the best videos ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZL797pOAZ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea_Q8C_67jY