OT; big bore handguns (John M.?)

I'm thinking about buying a Taurus Raging Bull in either .480 or 454. caliber. Probably .454 since .480 is pretty hard to get here.

I practiced alot with .357 and .44 before i even thought about heavier calibers. I tried the .454 (6.5 inch barrel, compensated of course and the recoill wasn't really THAT bad, despit he fact that the cartidges were handloaded almost to the max. If i recall correctly, i used 325 grain bullets that were going 1800 fps downrange, which is almost the maximum capacity of the .454.

Problem is, i ALWAYS shoot with 1 hand, and the owner of the club told me this will ruin my wrist and elbows, perhaps even shoulders in the long run, despite the fact that my lower and upper arms are much heavier then avarage. Muzzle upflip was not more then a foot, again with ONE hand.

what's your opinion about this, this whole aurgument about ruining joints?

Also, you think the Bull is a good choice?

I have to admit it looks kinda cool compared to Rugers Super Redhawk. Besides, even when not compensated, it still weighs almost 250 grams more, so it will absorb more recoill.

SA's are not an option.

I agree that a single-action is not a good idea in a big-bore high-power handgun, but perhaps for a different reason: the grips are shaped in the style of the old Colt SA (a carryover from the Colt and Remington blackpowder revolvers), and the muzzle rise tends to make them slide downward in your hand, pushing up the web of your hand up against the hammer. A hard grip may prevent that, but such a grip may also affect the precision of your shooting.

I like the Taurus Raging Bull. I have only held one and did not fire it, but I own a Taurus .357 Magnum, and it has always functioned well.

The primary damage I have noticed from heavy recoil is not to the elbow and shoulder, but rather, to the wrist and bones in the hand. The shock is directed right into the web of your hand. My most extreme experience was firing a pistol-grip 12-gauge shotgun with no shoulder stock using 3-inch magnums with 00 buckshot. I shot a whole 25-round box of cartridges, and my wrist and the back of my hand felt almost the same as it did when I had to break two 1' X 12' X 12' pine boards with a backhand strike. My hand didn't swell as much as it did with the board breaks, but it felt much the same.

I doubt that the .454 Casull or the new .480 have as much impact as those shotgun rounds, but with a single-hand grip, even with gas porting, you may wrench your wrist a bit. That was not a problem with the pistot-grip shotgun, since my left hand was holding the forend. However, the most impact is directed backward into the web of the hand, so that's your biggest concern.

My advice would be that you are probably strong enough to shoot the .454 Casull with one hand, at least for a while. I have fired a .44 Magnum with one hand for a few shots, and I have fired a .357 Magnum consistently with one hand, but you need to stop when it start aching. Even with the .357 Magnum, my hand gets a bit sore after 100 rounds.

The neighborhood squirrels really must be bothering you...

Have fun. Get your hands on a revolver chambered for the .50 Action Express (the same thing the Desert Eagle 50 shoots) if you want to tangle with some recoil. Because of the way the Desert Eagle recoils, if you limp-wrist it, it twists in your hand and ejects the brass in your face. I know of more than a couple of people who had get stiches on their foreheads because of it.

About the Taurus and the Ruger, both fine pistols. I don't have any experience with the .480 though. You could get a single shot Thompson chambered in .45-70 if you want to blow up your wrist and arms. BTW, I shoot single handed and do not have any issues, unless you shoot a lot, and you get a bit sore. IMO the recoil of the 12 gauge w/ pistol grip will be more felt recoil than you will experience with either of those 2 calibers.

-Ben

50AE recoil is rather tame. Same goes with the BFR 45-70. (And I would

raging bull.)

Pretty tame in the DE because it is so heavy maybe. A 9mm is tame.

-Ben

Even in a hot loaded FA 50AE (can hurt but you have to worry about jumping the crimp at these levels). Keep in mind you are talking to an idiot that the likes of Jurras and Taffin know as a person that explores the limits of guns and the limits of a caliber. They didn't realize 'Luna' was my last name for a while and probly assumed it was short for Lunatic. For example. Try 395gr 454 load at over 1500fps from a 6inch FA or my 445SM DW at over 2200fps with jacketed bullet of my own manufacture.

From my POV, a DE and a 9mm are in the same realm of 'tameness'. Loads that are warm enough to fling you arms over your head hard enough to break you nose are my benchmark.

You wanna see something amazing? This company makes a round launches a 90 grain .45 round at, get this, 2400fps and 1,250ft lbs from a 3 inch barrel without + P preasures and greatly reduced recoil! Amazing! See:
http://www.rbcd.net/

The bullet design is also very unique and it blows everything else away. You get almost .223 like balistics from a .45. Now THATS what you call a self deffense round. The 9mm is damn impressive also. Numbers for things like the .454 are out of this world. I think this and others like it will be the round of the future for all LEOS, etc.

Yeah the .45 Super is pretty impressive too, it will push the big 230 grain 45's up to 1000+ fps. That is fast for a bullet that size, especially considering my normal Hydra-Shok 230's only go about 750-850 fps. I think it will push 200 grain 45's over 1100 fps. You have to change the firing pin and main slide springs to shoot it, and you cannot use a composite frame gun, like a Glock, but that is all.

-Ben

.genuity.net...

My problems with ammo like this is twofold. One, it takes a long time, if ever, for there to be enough actual shootings with it to get some real-world results. There have been cases where great performance in ballistic gelatin did not translate into real-world results...the subsonic 147 gr 9mm, IIRC. Two, the ammo is usually so expensive that most people...me...can't afford to shoot enough of it to be secure in the gun's reliablity to feed, fire, and eject, and my ability to place rounds where I want.

Which is why I stick to Federal's and Cor-Bon's top performing ammo, and leave the exotic stuff to the tax-supported agencies.

You would be amazed at how many agencies carry the black talons. You know COPs toting cop killers. The the black talon never did anything for me and I like you prefer (and carry) Federal Hydroshock, Corbon or