Big Handgun

[X-NewYawker]

I'm on the verge of getting a .375 H&H barrel for my Thompson Encore pistol -- has anyone shot anything like that in a handgun? Recoil?

[Snapping Twig]

I shot a 35Rem in a TC. There was a guy that had one and we'd meet up at Sharps Park and shoot each others guns. I shot it quite a bit but it was like eating scotch bonnet peppers straight - not a lot of fun, more a rite of passage.

I wouldn't want a 375 H&H in a handgun, but I'm not the one that will end up shooting it - you are.

I have a Casull and that's as big as I go.

[PatriotnMore]

I wouldn't want that round in a handgun either. The recoil isn't as much as the 375 Ruger, or the 375 Ultra Mag, but at a little over 36 ft lbs, I would be flinching for recoil every time. I had to suppress the urge with my .44 loaded hot, but at standard loads it still has 11.2 ft lbs of recoil energy.

The 35 Rem, btw, has 13.5 ft lbs of recoil, and the 35 Whelen, 22.6.

[JTROKS]

I have a 16.5" Super with a muzzle tamer chambered in 45-70 for my TC Contender. I've loaded some 405 hardcast at about 1400 fps and they are brutal. I had a short Harris Bipod attached to the forearm and a Tasco Pro Point for sights. It's a heavy handgun, but after the recoil it stops about 3 inches from my right eye temple with the barrel pointed 75 degrees up. It is so brutal that it bent the screw that I used to mount the bipod with. I'm 165 lbs soaking wet, maybe a bigger guy can keep it from flying off the bench.

A 375 is probably going to be about the same if not more depending on the bullet weight you'll be shooting.

[Beelzy]

If you don't plan on handloading for that caliber.....I feel pity for you.

Unless, you get a brake the size of a Red Bull can!

(wear head protection when you shoot it) ;-)

[PatriotnMore]

I have a 16.5" Super with a muzzle tamer chambered in 45-70 for my TC Contender. I've loaded some 405 hardcast at about 1400 fps and they are brutal. I had a short Harris Bipod attached to the forearm and a Tasco Pro Point for sights. It's a heavy handgun, but after the recoil it stops about 3 inches from my right eye temple with the barrel pointed 75 degrees up. It is so brutal that it bent the screw that I used to mount the bipod with. I'm 165 lbs soaking wet, maybe a bigger guy can keep it from flying off the bench.

A 375 is probably going to be about the same if not more depending on the bullet weight you'll be shooting.

According to the recoil chart, a 45-70, with a 405 grain bullet, with a muzzle velocity at 1330, has recoil of 18.7 ft lbs.

A 375 would have double, just to give you a visual.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

[X-NewYawker]

You just touch them off and get out of the way...

[JTROKS]

You just touch them off and get out of the way...

I suppose if you have Bruce Lee speed you can get out of the way.

After firing the 45-70 the 454 seems docile.

[X-NewYawker]

I had a 45-70 14 inch barrel on my COntender -- I think it was relatively tame because the loads out there are relative low pressure because of all the old cowboys lever guns in circulation. I wanted it shipped to me with a 454 barrel so I could use 45 Colts as "specials"

SSK will also do 458 win mag...

[X-NewYawker]

And I do have Bruce Lee reflexes.




They just come a little slower these day....

[JTROKS]

458 Winnie in a handgun?!!!

I suppose if you have Bruce Lee type of reflexes you'd be a stiff.

[lockwrench]

I have a 375JDJ barrel for my Encore. The high end of a 375JDJ
loading will just about touch the low end of a 375H&H, with some
allowance for barrel length. The recoil and muzzle
blast is definitely formidable. Really a different experience than
the big-bore revolver rounds. What is hard to get used to is the
torque.

Strongly suggest handloading and working up slowly from reduced loads.
Hornady has some good data.

[22popnsplat]

I have about 20 contender barrels and have shot most of the offerings from 22 to 45-70 and have come to the conslusion that the contender grip frame is not real recoil freindly with the big cartridges in comparison to a big revolver ,I dont know if that changes with the encore .
I have seen a 338 winchester Magnum chambered in the encore with a brake, two guys brought it and 12 cartridges to the range and were looking for help to shoot them all , I declined . I would have no interest in a handgun in 375 h&h , I have a 375 winchester with a muzzle tammer and its not bad at all .
This video of what is supposed to be a 600 nirto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lzri8dn7p0

[Kid Stanislaus]

And I do have Bruce Lee reflexes. They just come a little slower these day....

I know the feeling!!

[freakshow10mm]

Yes, I've had a .375 H&H Encore pistol for several years. Sold it a few months ago because I needed the cash.




After a range session one afternoon. 300gr SP at full velocity.