Some People ARE Nuts!

Never thought I’d be one to say it, but there really can be such a thing as

TOO MUCH GUN

The Biggest Damn Revolver of all time, chambered in .600 Nitro Express.  The .600 Nitro is not just an elephant cartridge. It’s THE elephant cartridge, against which all others are judged. It throws a 2 1/8 ounce, 60 caliber bullet at 2000 feet per second, generating more than 7,500 pounds of muzzle energy. Even in a gigantic heavy Magumba style safari rifle, it’s an insane amount of firepower.

And don’t give me that .50 BMG derringer BS. It won’t work worth a damn without nearly 3 feet of barrel, at which point it’s no longer a derringer. And the one hand recoil would break your wrist. And your arm. And your elbow. So you could build one, but you couldn’t shoot it. And the .50 uses a “tiny” little bullet of only 750 grains compared to the 900 grain slug this behemoth fires.

Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum

The worlds most powerful pistol is the Austrian Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum. It is chambered to fire the British developed .600 caliber rifle bullet originally made by Holland and Holland. This revolver was not originally a full production model but a one-off built especially for a wealthy Swiss gent...Mr. Zeliska.

But if you would like one and I am sure that a few of you licensed rootin tootin gun lovers with a bit of disposable income would, then contact Pfeifer arms (url near bottom of page) and they will make one for you. Priced at EU€13,840. This equates as US$20,560. (Exchange rate December 4, 2009)
...
The .600 Nitro Express Magnum revolver is a Single Action, 5 shot, old west style gun. A single action revolver is stronger in construction than a double action revolver due to the solid base frame that the cylinder sits in.

The gun weighs in at 13.23 lbs. and consequently is heavy enough to absorb most of the violent recoil. In fact it is on scale to firing the .50 Magnum.

The recoil is not uncontrollable, but instead, tamed by the guns weight. A bi-pod and shoulder stock may be in order though.

Technical Data
Caliber: .600 Nitro Express
Muzzle velocity: 1950 fps with a 900-grain Solid
Muzzle energy: 7591 ft/lbs.
Weight: 13.23 lbs.
Capacity: 5 rounds
Barrel length: 13 inches
Overall length: 21.65 inches

So the pistol weighs just as much as the heaviest safari rifle. Still, it’s going to leave a lasting impression when you pull the trigger. And it has 5 shots, which is 3 more than most rifles that were ever chambered in the big .600.

Ouch. No thanks.

h/t to Carole

1. Oh Come on Drew, You know you want to hit that trigger just once. Even if just to compare to that other evil gun you shot years ago that I dont remember the name of but which you spoke of here long time ago.

   Posted by Rich K       12/07/2010  at  05:40 PM  

2. Holey Sheets, I thought it was ‘shopped for a moment. It’s a ridiculous amount of pistol.

   Posted by Doctor DETH       12/07/2010  at  08:30 PM  

3. Oh that other evil gun I shoot all the time. It manages to throw a mere 400 grain bullet at 2200fps, or a 500 grain bullet at a tiny hair under 2000fps. Weighing in at 11.5lbs, it’s still more recoil than most people are comfortable with. Compared to full-on elephant guns though, it’s a popgun. It’s merely a buffalo gun, built to shoot “little” 1500 pound bison with. Cape buffalo. Or perhaps giraffes or hippos in the < 4000lb range. It’s not enough for elephants.

   Somewhere out on the internet you can find videos of people shooting a hunting cannon called a .577 Tyrannosaurus. That’s a similar amount of recoil to the .600 Nitro.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnk5pl6VPoM&feature=related

   problem is, that same video clip has been reposted with all sorts of different cartridges said to being used ... if you can’t see what they’re loading, you can’t tell what they’re shooting.

   Here’s one for a .700 Nitro, fired by a guy who knows what he is doing. Look at the size of that bloated cow of a rifle!

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D41NYBHkb9M&feature=related

   Note the lack of falling down and screaming. Duh. Hold a big rifle in a push pull grip so that both arms are under tension. Your off hand grabs the forearm like your life depends on it (it does!) and pushes the gun away from you. Your trigger hand grabs the rifle’s wrist just as hard and pulls in into hard contact with your body. Together, you whole upper torso is locked, as if you’re doing those Charles Atlas isometric exercises. Lean into the shot. Really lean into it. Step into it! Keep your head up! And even with all that, the guy in this vid takes a step or two back, and damn near implants the second gun in his face. You want to try that in a handgun? Hella no!

   While a 12 gauge slug is actually a tiny bit larger than .700, the .700 bullet is about 50% heavier than the 12 gauge slug. And it’s fired 35% faster, or more; 80% faster if you compare “reduced recoil” slugs to hot loaded .700 ammo. So the amount of recoil is about 8 times as much: E = 1/2mV^2.

   Posted by Drew458       12/07/2010  at  11:26 PM  

4. Oh wait, you meant the .356 Winchester. Yes, that one has truly EVIL recoil. Not so much because the cartridge itself is super potent, but because the rifle that shoots it has the 2nd worst ergonomics of any rifle ever made. You betcha, the Model 94 Winchester sucks ass when it comes to recoil management. The butt is far too small and too narrow; it’s just a little bit better than using an axe head up against your shoulder. Triple the size of the gun’s butt, so that’s it’s the same as a regular bolt gun’s, and recoil wouldn’t be bad at all.

   Big gun butt, big recoil pad, heavy rifle, good stock design with a longer length of pull: put them all together and you can shoot seriously powerful guns with comfort. Take any two of these factors out of the equation and you are entering a world of hurt.  PS: most rifles don’t weigh enough, and almost all of them have poor stock ergonomics for recoil management. Two factors right there! This means that almost all powerful rifles are unpleasant to shoot. Damn shame, that. Alpin’s Coil Chek stock is a wonder, but it isn’t pretty, so it never caught on. And everybody wants their rifle to weigh 3 ounces until they pull the trigger. Dummies.

   Want to know more?
   http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_recoil.htm
   http://a-squareco.com/Rifles.html

   and I’ve debated with folks for years that the real limiting recoil factor is recoil velocity. Each to his own, but for me, anything that comes back at me faster than 15fps is going to hurt. Get a heavier gun and slow down the recoil impulse. The pounds of recoil don’t mean jack. It’s the speed.

   Posted by Drew458       12/07/2010  at  11:45 PM  

5. I knew I could get you to ‘Explain’ this further.
   The only big gun I ever shot was a .460 weatherby. It had a nice cushion on the butt so it wasnt too bad.
   Those are great vids btw,Fun to watch.

   Posted by Rich K       12/08/2010  at  05:12 AM  

6. Drew I agree and your calculation above confirms it. The recoil energy is hugely dependent on recoil velocity. I do have to laugh at the people who are obsessed with having the biggest guns. I worked for a time in a gun shop, and the biggest chumps are those, who having missed game the previous season, think that a bigger gun will cure their shooting problems. The reality is a harder kicking rifle will most likely result in even worse performance. As for shooting that 700 nitro hand cannon. Thanks, but no thanks. I think I would pass on that.

   Posted by LyndonB       12/08/2010  at  01:13 PM  

7. I can see owning a Nitro Express if one is hunting rhino hippo or other large land based animal, but for normal day to day deer or moose shooting, I think I will stick to the .303 Enfield.
   My dad has a .50 cal that my granddad built in 1910 as an apprentice project that we have fired a few times, Call me a wimp if you want, but that is plenty.

   All I can see anything that large for is curiosity, collectible, crackpot or protection if one works in Africa in a place known for attacks or where hunting for large critters is legal.

   A waste of cash IMHO..
   Bill

   Posted by Doctor DETH       12/08/2010  at  01:40 PM  

8. Doc, not every gun is for every person. That’s why it’s great to have such a choice, and the freedom to buy as many as you feel like.

   The good old .303 is a great hunter. I like the big soft round nosed bullets in the .303, but the little 125gr SP are awesome for the smaller stuff. The right powder will get you 3000fps!

   Posted by Drew458       12/08/2010  at  03:42 PM  

9. I agree, but as I said, my opinion
   I use a variety of loads depending on what I am hunting and where I am hunting. I use the military style FMJ (175gr) mark 7 ammo a for almost everything. They get me about 2400-2500 fps if my gunsmith wasn’t lying to me. I also have a few boxes of 150gr that get me damn near 2800 which makes me giggle (I use these for anything over 200 yards) I like a rifle that can make a decent sized buck flip over. :3

   Posted by Doctor DETH       12/08/2010  at  07:16 PM  

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