With a bit of age we realize running has no place in our rules of engagement. Thumpers become rimfires and hideout pea shooters become race guns when circumstances get serious. In all my piggy confrontations I can only recall four that took exception to my assessment of the food chain and three large, aggressive dogs that took advantage of my foolish engagement plan. Practice is everything and the stories make the tourists nervous. OTOH it's tough to practice with a gun that can cause an involuntary flinch, shooting from a bench from an aggressive position increases felt recoil. Recoil mitigation helps you learn to place the shot and follow through, events that help ensure a favorable outcome. Cal me what you want but I'll slip one on for anything about 30WCF and above. 

Mike

Mike

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2224125045194097

I've never confronted dangerous game unless you count feral hogs. I've never hunted outside the State of Texas except for a little bit in Mississippi. My experience is limited to Whitetailed Deer,  Rio Grande turkeys, the said hogs,  various gamebirds, and the occasional Star-crossed coyote. 

Having a Cape Buffalo stare at me balefully like I owed him money he intended to collect right then, or walking into heavy brush after a big dog leopard I'd foolishly wounded, are things I've never experienced.  I do intellectually understand the risk and potential consequences --  an old friend was badly mauled by an unwounded leopard who'd simply grown tired of being tracked.

But when it comes to the physiological and neurological effects of adrenaline, you are preaching to the choir. In addition to its analgesic effect - desensitized pain recognition -- I have many times experienced how it dramatically increases alertness, focus, and memory consolidation. All part of the "fight-or-flight" syndrome. 

This beneficially occurred piloting a small, general aviation aircraft, when required to execute a somewhat complicated instrument approach - say, an ILS back course approach where the Localizer works backward -- at a busy airport. Even in moderate weather. 

More frequently, every time over 40 years when I had to pick a jury and possess my soul without apparent nervousness, as all those people filed into the courtroom. Invariably I experienced a very private horror that I had never been to school for seven years, had not prepared the case, and would soon be disbarred as a fraud on the public. Mercifully, the old epinephrine would gin up and restore me to life while hizzoner welcomed them,  so that, by the time I was bid to stand up and make a noise,  the golden words poured forth with confident sincerity.

So, hopefully, I would not heave a Winchester African at the Buffalo and run like Hemingway's Dr. McComber.  It is unlikely in my age and circumstances I'll ever have a chance to find out. I'm aways glad to hear the experiences of my friends. 

Zebulon said

TXGunNut said
PAST makes a great wearable recoil pad, they even make a magnum model for the serious thumpers. They need to be replaced every five years or so as the cushioning material doesn't age well. This type pad tends to reduce the increase of the length of pull you sometimes get with lace-on recoil pads. 
 
Mike
  

Do you think the PAST material is Sorbothane?  I've wondered if the Limbsaver pads don't lose their effectiveness by hardening up over time. 
You've reminded me I need to order a PAST - mine is circa 1989 and useless. It will be a magnum this time - you know eventually we've got to shoot my 375 Holland, even if it is a post-64.  You can have the honor of the first shot. 
  

Zeb:

I discovered the secret of shooting a .375 H&H and not noticing the recoil: shoot it at a Cape Buffalo that is pawing the ground and considering whether to charge or not.  Don't even notice the recoil.  I lived in Tanzania for three years in the seventies and found a pre-64 .375 H&H in a local shop at a reasonable price.  And as I was close friends with a young American who worked for the Game Department, I was able to hunt all over the country for those three years and take several buffalo, along with a number of other animals.  Never noticed the recoil when shooting at buffs, especially at close range.  Fred

Mike

Tony

My late father who would have been 90 today, was born and raised in Italy, mainly by his mother, as his father who fought in the Italian Army, fought in Africa during WW ll.  Dad never was in the military and came to America, at 18 years of age, to live with my grandfather as the large family was transitioning to America Legally, for a better Life! He would tell the stories of Canadian soldiers fighting against the Germans, and witnessing a Canadian Soldier using a bayonet to end the life of a German soldier outside their window. Later a bomb exploded on the house next door and Dad was thrown down the concrete stairs, as most everything was concrete over there, and broke his nose. Dad was a kind soul with a friendly disposition!

Safe Travels to Cody!

Tony

Henry Mero said
July 1st., Happy Canada Day 'eh, to all the  W.A.C.A. members who live in the Great White North.
  

Happy Canada day Henry and special thanks for all our great Winchester Commemoratives from the Cooey plant! Whether made or assembled there 😁

Happy Canada day!

BRP

Maverick said
Ebay has gotten crazy with these prices. I miss the days of starting a auction for $1.00 and watching it climb. Its all gone to "Buy It Now".
I'm beginning to sound like my father! I remember when a $1 would actually buy you something.  
  

I’ve said it before.  eBay now sucks, it used to actually be an auction site with dollar opening bids and no reserve.  Plus you used to be able to purchase guns.  Let the highest bidder determine the value.  Now it’s just an overpriced marketplace, like everything else, items perpetually relisted until a desperate enough sucker comes along.

Si, how does one create an actual auction website, dollar start, no reserve (most of the time)?