The 50 Alaskan is a real headache!

86er · Post by **86er** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:00 pm

Some of you may recall that a friend of mine gave me an Alaskan Guide Gun in 50 AK last year.

Well a guy had a Watusi bull that stepped on something that went through its foot. He asked someone else to come shoot it. After, he asked me if I'd stop by to help since he didn't think the other fellow really knew what he was doing.

I showed up first thing in the morning. We found the bull in the corner of the fenced area of about 30 acres. It was standing on 3 legs. The other shooter, Anthony, had brought a 300 Win Mag with 180gr Accubonds. I didn't want to interfere since he was asked first. At 50 yards he fired - and again, and again. Well, after the 5th shot the bull had had enough. Frankly, so had I. The bull started to come downhill towards us. Anthony dropped to the ground and started reloading his now empty gun.

When the bull was around 40 yards out I threw up the Wild West Guns creation and squeezed off a 500 grain Kodiak bullet travelling around 2000 fps. Whomp! I got knocked to my knees. My eyes shut involuntarily for just a second. Blood was pouring from my forehead and the right side of my face was rapidly swelling.

No- the bull did not get me. The 500gr bullet hit the Watusi in the face and exited the back of the neck just under the head. It went down hard and stayed down. I went down hard too, but just for a minute.

The rifle had jumped up and the hammer imbedded itself in my forehead. The continued momentum of the rifle jumping caused me to yank the hammer out of my skull and get hit in the mouth with the barrel.

Somehow I had the insight to work the lever and ready the gun again. I guess the stock is too short for me. I should have tried it before this. Oh well!

Here is the culprit:

This is the Watusi.

SmokeEater2 · Post by **SmokeEater2** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:05 pm

That sure is a beautiful rifle 86er,but after reading your story I have no ambition to shoot it at all.

1886 · Post by **1886** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:06 pm

Big Fun! Have to love the BIG stompers. I have a .50-140 built on a #3 Ruger action. It just loves to drive my right thumb through my nose. After one such incident my left nostril dripped blood for three days. 1886

dr walker · Post by **dr walker** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:07 pm

OUCH, I hope you are o.k.
Glad to hear it cleaned the clock on the bull.
Did the Accubond bullets in the 300 mag hold up?

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:09 pm

OUCH!!!!

I've had scopes bite me in the past but never heard of a hammer doing noggin damage.

Had you fired this beast before?

86er · Post by **86er** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:10 pm

Hey Doc -

The Accubonds went 6" or so and never cut into anything important I am told. I did not stick around to deal with the aftermath. I had to get myself fixed up and go to work!

dgr416 · Post by **dgr416** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:13 pm

I shot a friends 470 capstick this summer.It was firing a 600 gr bullet at 2400 fps.I shot my 416 Rem mag the same day.It made my 416 seem like a 410 vs a light weight 10 ga.Did I like it ,yes.I will build my own some day.Try past pads.I have shot my 416 150 times in one day after I shot my 338s 300 times.I shoot standing off of a bull bag off of a milk crate off the top of the bench.I think some lever gun stocks kick harder than bolt guns.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:19 pm

Yikes! Those Wild West guns scare me enough that I'd never spring for one. Hammer in the forehead, eh? Not for me. I can only imagine the pain from that one.

I don't know what's up with those .300 Mags. I had a very similar situation happen to me several years back. A hunting partner whomped a bull elk 3 time with his .300 without visible effect. It took one shot from my .45-90 to kill it, knocking it down in the process.

jazman · Post by **jazman** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:21 pm

Hey Joe...I'm thinking you and that big bad boy are tied, both with headaches!

Really though, glad to hear you are fine overall. Jim

Tycer · Post by **Tycer** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:30 pm

Heal well buddy. Oooph!

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:32 pm

Great story. Reduce the MV to 1450 and keep the hammer out of your skull. Same results on the ballistic end. Plus no recoil to speak of..,
Grizz

foxtrapper · Post by **foxtrapper** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:34 pm

Hope yer feeling better Joe. Good thing it didn't get your eye! When I had my 50AK built the gunsmith wouldn't build it without a muzzle break. A lever with a break ,not my cup of tea but he would not build it any other way. I see his point! Did your family make the move yet? Hope you got the housing situation worked out. Cold as hell here today ,bet the weather is better where you are

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:42 pm

Now Joe, you know that it isn't fair to post pic's of the rifle and the bull but not your noggin. Wassup wit dat?

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:14 pm

86er, OUCH! I used to want to have Mic McPherson make me an '86 in 510 Kodiak Express, but now I'm thinking that's not such a good idea. Could the drop in the butt stock of a levergun be too much for these type of cartridges?

Hope that heals fast!

-Tutt

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:34 pm

I know it isn't funny but I'm ROFLMAO because I can picture what happened to you clearly. My sister-in-law shot her husband's Ruger Flat Top .44 Mag a few years back and she had a lose hold on it. It came back and the sight cut a nice notch in the bridge of her nose and the hammer made a big, bloody, hole in her forehead.

I suspect that just as you said, you brought the rifle to your shoulder quickly and fired without really anchoring it into your shoulder. I don't think the recoil would have been so bad had you had it pulled firmly into your shoulder.

Hope all is well with your face, head, nose and whatever other feature got dented.

shawn_c992001 · Post by **shawn_c992001** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:35 pm

I've got an Encore with an SSK barrel chambered in 50AK. I believe the barrel is 18" long including the three chamber muzzle break. With the 500gr Grizzly ammo it kicks harder than my 416 Rem Mag. I still want one in a levergun though.

Dave James · Post by **Dave James** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:47 pm

Gee and I thought my Ruger No-1 45-70 thats been rechambered to 450 3 1/4" Nitro was bad!!

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:49 pm

Kinda like a knife fight... ya both get cut only the looser gets cut worse.

Rusty <><

crs · Post by **crs** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:54 pm

86er;
I sent Sterling an email with a link to this post of yours. I agree with you that the best way to convince him NOT to buy a WWG 50 AK is to let him shoot one!
BTW, hope your head recovers before you begin your move to Texas.

86er · Post by **86er** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:23 pm

This is my head the day after:

Marlin .35 · Post by **Marlin .35** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:48 pm

Elmer Keith said the 300 Win Mag was a good deer rifle!!!!! Art

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:03 pm

Yeah, the .50 AK is a thumper! I shot Ben Forkin's a few years ago, and it seemed I could feel my brain bouncing around in my skull!

Never experienced that from recoil, even with a .600 Nitro (in a heavier rifle, of course). Too much of a good thing for me!
Glenn

Bronco · Post by **Bronco** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:29 pm

Squeeze the trigger, don't jerk, squeeze. I know the feeling, after a few of my M 71 50-110: I need a little alone time with a rimfire to get back to Squeeze.

John

horsesoldier03 · Post by **horsesoldier03** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:59 pm

Dang that looks like it hurt! Being a former Bull Rider, I think I would have taken my chances with a three legged bull.

I bet the hide turned out nice!

GANJIRO · Post by **GANJIRO** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:51 am

I'm a wimp, i'll stick to my 45-70 450 grainers at 1500 FPS.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:35 am

Big ouch! I'm glad you're doing okay. I always worry on those big guns with an exposed hammer that it could hit the shooter in the eye...

I guess you brought enough gun - and then some!!!

KirkD · Post by **KirkD** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:57 am

Well I know it ain't funny, but I got a good imagination and I just couldn't help but laugh at the double whammy.

Reminds me of a variation of a joke I once heard .... "What was the last thing going through the bull's mind as he stared at 86er? ANSWER: a 500 grain bullet at 2400 fps."

In the post mortem, did you all check out what the other fellow's pea-shooter did?

500 grains at 2,400 fps!! You must still be pretty young. Someday, when you get old like me, you'll settle down.

SJPrice · Post by **SJPrice** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:00 am

86er,

What does you WWG 500 weigh? This is a true life version of the old englishman hunting elephant with an 8 bore story. Gun goes off, bull goes down, hunter goes down. Whoever gets up first wins. Congratulations, you won. Glad to hear you are doing okay. I agree with others here. You might want to slow them 500 grainers down a little bit.

gordylew · Post by **gordylew** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:32 am

Nice Bindi! now all you need is a Dairy Queen franchise to go with it.

Sorry could not resist.

86er · Post by **86er** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:10 am

Thanks for the well wishes. My head now looks like a golf ball is sticking out of it. My face swelling is starting to go down. This gun weights 7.25 pounds and the 500gr bullet is around 2000fps, probably 1970 something fps. The stock is too short for me and I did not have a good grab on the forearm. I think the stock slipped under my arm upon recoil, which caused the hammer to come at me. Or else the spirit of the Watusi wanted the last word that was probably something like "How do you like it"?

Lloyd Smale · Post by **Lloyd Smale** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:54 am

I spent a whole day at the range with my buddys 50ak and John Linebaughs 50ak testing loads for accuracy and penetration for a buddy who wasnt in good enough shape at the time to do it himself. Im here to tell you that after about the first 50 rounds there was no fun to it all!! He shot a red stag with his that went about 600 lbs using a 450lfngc at about 2000 fps cast out of 5050 ww/lyno and it deformed enough that it didnt give complete penetration. It ended up under the skin on the far side but did break both shoulders first. We came to the conclusion that a guy would be better off loading that same bullet at about 1600 fps. it would kill anything that walks and recoil is tolarable and bullet performace would probably be better. In penetration testing the only bullet that actually did better at 2000 fps were the brass punch bullets that Kelly Shlepp sells.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:14 am

There's NOTHING better than that self abuse !

Wanna go again ?

SJPrice · Post by **SJPrice** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:28 am

Lloyd Smale wrote: We came to the conclusion that a guy would be better off loading that same bullet at about 1600 fps. it would kill anything that walks and recoil is tolarable and bullet performace would probably be better. In penetration testing the only bullet that actually did better at 2000 fps were the brass punch bullets that Kelly Shlepp sells.

Lloyd,

Are you referring to the penetration tests from the Linebaugh seminar? It seems to me that those tests actually showed that some of the big slugs would not penetrate as well if driven at higher speeds. There seemed to be a law of diminishing returns and then at some point you would actually add more bang and recoil for a loss in performance? I may not be remembering it right though?

Post by **Hobie** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:48 am

I have some .50 AK brass that I'm now saving because I've got "enough" .45-75 brass for a bit. I've been wondering about a .50 AK but...

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:00 am

Ouch! Hope you get better.

I've had enough broken bones from my youth that now I ache, crack, snap and pop when I move certain ways. Not to mention the cruching and grinding that I hear in my shoulders. I don't need an abusive rifle to help me get worse.

Johnny

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:16 am

Thanks for the pic of your noggin. I was expecting something like a half inch hole.

I've seen a number of people that belong to the half moon club, commonly called scope bite, but none that were bit by a levergun hammer. That cartridge must be more than a handful. Hope you feel better soon.

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:29 am

Man that was a Bugs Bunny moment for sure

Next time you better wear a helmut!

Sorry Joe but this one is just plain funny! I know it had to hurt but I sure wish somebody got this one on film!

jbm1968 · Post by **jbm1968** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:36 am

Ouch

I have a .458 on a Mauser Action and it sure kicks but nothing like that! Impressive story, are you going to re-stock the carbine?

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:13 pm

Bloody hell

Birdman · Post by **Birdman** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:13 pm

Some of the biggest laugh's I have had is when me and my buddies are shooting and some one gets in over their head. Safety first, good times and good laugh's are second. It must be a sickness that the more pain a buddy is in, the more funny it is to every one else. Can't wait to go again !!!!!!!!!

brucew44guns · Post by **brucew44guns** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:48 pm

We have all giggled and noticed, that when shooting at game---we hardly notice the recoil, as compared to bench shooting. In this case, it proves that this saying isn't always the truth, or the facts of the matter. Im sure glad you popped the bull, he would have closed that gap pretty fast perhaps, while you were coming back to life after the shot!!!!! That is a really fierce cartridge I'm sure. Glad you are ok now. Bruce

g5m · Post by **g5m** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:03 pm

Talk about a headsup! Thanks. Makes me appreciate lesser cartridges.

The 50 Alaskan is a real headache!

The 50 Alaskan is a real headache!

500 alaskan

heavy recoil