Brad09
11-11-2008, 11:31 PM
Hey everyone, I haven't posted for awhile.
As many of you know, I work for Canadian Tire in Calgary. Anyway, since I am still fully wrapped up in my new rifle search, I usually give the guys that come through my store buying ammo a barrage of questions. I get a variety of mixed responses, but I have to say, this one tops them all...
So a guy comes in, not to purchase ammo, simply checking availability for 20 gauge shells for some bird hunting. We talked for awhile, and I found some similarities, one of the main ones being that neither of us were looking for a gun looking to blow giant holes in things.
Anyway, after a short conversation, my customer says to me, "my buddy, his dad had this rifle custom made and shipped up from the States. It's a left-handed gun, a .460 Weatherby Magnum. Now, I wouldn't pay any serious money for it, but can you imagine a gun like that?"
However, my customer, although definitely a nice guy, certainly overestimated my knowledge of different rifle calibers. So I went home, got on Wikipedia, and had a look at this thing. Have any of you actually seen one of these things? What a monster!
So just for the sake of asking, has anyone actually fired a rifle of this(or similar) caliber? I'm assuming this thing is for blowing holes in elephants and rhinos and Egyptian pyramids and such, and I am certain that it has no place in the hands of a North American hunter that wants to kill a deer. But I got to thinking. What exactly does one need a gun like that for, unless they make regular trips to the Sahara to shoot elephant? Is it just a macho show thing?
Anyway, something else that he mentioned to me is that he was also a left-handed shooter(as I am), but he had never bought a gun for someone left-handed. So, any of you south paws out there, do any of you own right-handed rifles? What is the big difference, just the bolt action on one side or the other? Is it worth looking at as a new shooter to check out a right-handed gun, or is this guy just really talented? I'm just curious because if it's a pretty simple matter of transferring over, that opens up my rifle selection by quite a bit.
Anyway, answers are always welcome, and I'd love to hear some comments about this cannon of a gun. Also, I've checked out a few rifles, and found a nice fit with the Browning A-Bolt and a Tikka T3, both in my price range and in .270 Winchester. I also heard about a specific Weatherby Mark 5 worth checking out, so that's probably in the plans this weekend.
As many of you know, I work for Canadian Tire in Calgary. Anyway, since I am still fully wrapped up in my new rifle search, I usually give the guys that come through my store buying ammo a barrage of questions. I get a variety of mixed responses, but I have to say, this one tops them all...
So a guy comes in, not to purchase ammo, simply checking availability for 20 gauge shells for some bird hunting. We talked for awhile, and I found some similarities, one of the main ones being that neither of us were looking for a gun looking to blow giant holes in things.
Anyway, after a short conversation, my customer says to me, "my buddy, his dad had this rifle custom made and shipped up from the States. It's a left-handed gun, a .460 Weatherby Magnum. Now, I wouldn't pay any serious money for it, but can you imagine a gun like that?"
However, my customer, although definitely a nice guy, certainly overestimated my knowledge of different rifle calibers. So I went home, got on Wikipedia, and had a look at this thing. Have any of you actually seen one of these things? What a monster!
So just for the sake of asking, has anyone actually fired a rifle of this(or similar) caliber? I'm assuming this thing is for blowing holes in elephants and rhinos and Egyptian pyramids and such, and I am certain that it has no place in the hands of a North American hunter that wants to kill a deer. But I got to thinking. What exactly does one need a gun like that for, unless they make regular trips to the Sahara to shoot elephant? Is it just a macho show thing?
Anyway, something else that he mentioned to me is that he was also a left-handed shooter(as I am), but he had never bought a gun for someone left-handed. So, any of you south paws out there, do any of you own right-handed rifles? What is the big difference, just the bolt action on one side or the other? Is it worth looking at as a new shooter to check out a right-handed gun, or is this guy just really talented? I'm just curious because if it's a pretty simple matter of transferring over, that opens up my rifle selection by quite a bit.
Anyway, answers are always welcome, and I'd love to hear some comments about this cannon of a gun. Also, I've checked out a few rifles, and found a nice fit with the Browning A-Bolt and a Tikka T3, both in my price range and in .270 Winchester. I also heard about a specific Weatherby Mark 5 worth checking out, so that's probably in the plans this weekend.