[Largest Caliber Rifle]

Prolly [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7FeeamC4qk"]this one[/ame], but I don't think you can carry it....

 

.50 BMG of some sort.

 

Those punt guns werereally more light artillery!!

I think the 460 Weatherby or 458 Lott are the biggest calibers around right now. The old British Express rifles were awesomw though. I think Holland and Holland had a 500 that was pretty stout! Here's a video of the 577 T-Rex that looks pretty sick too! LOL!
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQJSZs-euZU[/ame]

Check out the muzzle flash some of the times when the barrel is inside the shooting tunnel.

 

Practicality and availability aside, it would be a 4 bore black powder
cartridge gun. Or maybe a 2 bore---I've heard that some were made but never seen one.

 

Powerful for sure and yeah you can carry them but I took the OP to mean in the field as in hunting. I sure wouldn't want to carry a 30-35 lb. rifle all day! He did not specify that so I guess the big .50 just might be it!

 

Check this: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHfzdQ8HWoI[/ame]

Wow.

 

OMG What a CANNON!!! Wonder what that thing costs per shot?!?!

 

Probably not too bad. 2000 gr cast lead bullet, some powder and primer.
Maybe a couple of bucks for components. For sure a handload situation,
you are not going to find 4 bore ammo at Wally World. The gun itself
if it's an original is worth big bucks.


Most I ever paid for one shot was $20. 20mmx138mm cartridge, Solothurn
anti-tank rifle. WooHoo!! Worth every penny!

 

Holland & Holland makes a .700 Nitro Express. I seem to remember that it takes a couple of years to get one and they're around $60,000+
Shoots 1000 gr bullets ME + ~8900 foot pounds. (Has been pushed to 15,000 ft lbs) Recoil around 196 ft lbs. $100 per round for commercial ammo.
Gun weight is 14 lbs.

 

OK--- go here: http://www.wdlr.org.uk/stensby/firearms.htm

Scroll down until you come to the "wall of guns". The big one in the middle
is a 2 bore rifle. OP wanted the "largest caliber rifle that you can carry",
this might be it! 1.325" bore diameter, a 2 bore round ball weighs 3500
grains.

 

OK Carcrash, you are the OP on this. Clarify your meaning of "light enough to carry". Do you mean portable at all or light enough to be truly useable as in target shooting or hunting and carrying all day?

 

I've humped a 32 pound M240B with ammo, so the term "light enough to carry" is relative to the poor bastard that has to carry it.

 

LOL I guess I mean easily carried by your average guy. At my age, I'd tip over after about 100 yards carrying that thing!!

 

Mind over matter brother, mind over matter. I was 6', 185 lbs back then.

 

Now he's 5' 185lb.

 

Now I'm, 6', 215 lbs. I've long since lost muscle mass and chubbed up a little.

 

I've heard of this thing called a .585 Nyati. Invented by PH Ross Seyfried for Cape Buffalo, in fact Nyati means cape buffalo in many African Languanges. It is usually chambered in magnum Mausers. With a 750 grain Barnes bullet it has 10,620 foot pounds of energy. I do NOT need to pull the trigger on one of these, as it has something like 10 times the recoil of a .30-06!!!! BTW, I got this info from "Cartridges of the World, 10th Edition".

 

About the biggest...

... I would want to carry for sport would be something like the .458 Win Mag or the .416. Why anybody in the CONUS would like to take that kinda beating is beyond me.

 

I went to Cabela's yesterday and on the gun counter was a 50 BMG for sale. It was $2999.00 for the rifle. I went and checked out the ammo for it, the stuff they carried was $83.00 for 10 rounds. The guy at the counter said it only kicked about as bad as a .223. It had some sort of reverse recoil venting on the end of the barrel that actually propels the rifle in a forward manner when shot. He said it sounds like shooting a cannon off when fired though. I guess the employees were allowed to try it out one day. It was a mean looking gun, but not one I would want to carry for a long distance.