African Safari/Dangerous Game Rifles

[RedneckRampage]

Lets see them!

I've been on a kick lately for safari type, big bore rifles with open sights or low powered scopes. To me, they are some of the coolest looking and most beautiful rifles ever made.

Although my Remington 700 in .338 WinMag isn't a real common caliber for African use, I'm sorta going that direction with the rifle, but still keeping it capable for the NW.

Currently I have a Leupold VX3 3.5-10 on it, but am going to put quick release rings on it, and have a 1.5-4 scope for it as well. Also, I'm putting open sights on it when I get a missing screw.

I figure the rifle will work well here for up to 300-400yds, all the way down to a brush gun with the open sights.

Some day I'd love to have a .375 or .458 or something huge! Show me your big bore rifles!

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[BiggerHammer]

.450 Ultra Magnum. It's a .375 Ultra Magnum necked up to .458.


CEB Non-Cons


.450 Ultra Magnum(Left) .500 Jeffery(Right)



Assorted bullet weights during load development.



I had PTG do my reamer. Went with a 26" Benchmark barrel in a 14 twist. Then started killing stuff dead. My first test media was a Washington State bull, flat crushed him!







Shooting a 500gr bullet on top of 102gr of Win 748, in a 8 pound rifle isn't for the faint of heart! But it kills stuff dead!

 

[TacticalDragQueen]

Holy wow....now that is what I am talking about. Big bullets for big game.
Probably don't do much plinking with that....
That's a beautiful elk.

 

[orygun]

I used to have this. Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger. Had absolutely no "reason" for it. But I really wanted to shoot one, so I bought it.
I already had this Hogue stock with the bedding block and used it on this gun. The weight of the bedding block wasn't a bad thing when you consider that the handloads would push a 260 or 270gr bullet at 2700+fps. I put the 3-9x40 Leupold on it cuz I wasn't afraid to take it to Eastern Oregon to hunt elk with. Unfortunately never got to see what it could do to an elk.
What I really liked about this rifle was that it's nearly identical to my Ruger '06 and the 260gr Accubond has the exact same trajectory as my 180gr '06 handloads. No need to remember what gun I was shooting. Just aim and pull the trigger.
I ended up trading it for the nicest 50's vintage Winchester Mod 70 Featherweight I've ever seen. Wish I'd not made that trade...

 

[Sam Kinard]

I think the .338 Win. Mag would be a fine plains game rifle. In the right rifle, it could make just about the perfect leopard rig. I wouldn't want to mess with Syncerus caffer without a heavy(for me at least .45 caliber and 500 gr. projectiles). It is my belief that an '06 and a heavy can truly take home anything you'd want to bag. For a one-gun safari that didn't put me up against lion, Mbogo or elephant these days I would take a .35 Whelen. The .375H&H is a wonderful cartridge and can be used on many things in Africa, though it is an exaggeration on reedbuck and risky on buff. The same goes for the 9mm's(9.3x62 &9.3x74). FWIW, Graham Whistler took two buffalo with a .357mag revolver(!). As with anything, bullet placement will always trump bore size, but just because cape buffalo have been taken with .30cal rifles and deer taken with 22lr doesn't make the '06 a buffalo gun and doesn't make the 22lr a deer rifle.

Maybe if we didn't need chromium so badly we would still have Rhodesia and if we still had Rhodesia, I may have moved there by now. While there are still fine hunts to be had in Africa, the good ol' days were prior to my birth. I don't know anyone that has gone on safari and hasn't spent all their time trying to get back. If you can spend $40,000 on a safari, it is the most incredible hunting experience there is(That is pure opinion. Sheep hunters will tell you that a trophy Dall is the best.). You can go and hunt for even $10,000, but I can't imagine that you would bring home a single trophy for that money.

 

[MountainBear]

I spent some younger years reading Green Hills of Africa and Peter Capstick books. Partly what took guns from an interest to an obsession. I cannot afford a Holland & Holland double or a Rigby Mauser or a Griffin and Howe Springfield, but I can try to dulicate as close as I can to the latter two. At current, I have seven or eight projects (not all big bore, but all safari inspired) in various levels of work, but none completed to show.

 

[MountainBear]

Had to go watch Hatari! last night and now it has me back into Safari Rifle mode. Damn. Looks like I switch back to the 9.3x62 project for a while...

 

[Medic!]

I like the fine wood and blued steel of the double rifles. My little 22 is the only rifle I have in league with the beauty of these guns.

But I jumped over many of the safari calibers in favor of .50 BMG. At $1.75 a round It's more bang for the buck?

 

[jbett98]

My Dad worked with a man that was a confirmed bachelor who spent all his earnings going on African safaris and race cars.
As a kid, I could listen for hours about his big game adventures hunting dangerous trophy animals.
Once a year my Dad and I were invited to his house for a barbeque that always ended with a movie showing his latest trip to some distant foreign land. In some ways it was better then Christmas.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

The only one I own is a custom double in .45-70, nice shooter but not sure it really quals. as a true dangerous beasty rifle.

 

[Capn Jack]

How about a 45/70 semi-auto, better known as an AR.458 SoCom?

Not as pretty, but very effective.

 

[tahoe2]

I would love to go to Africa ! Although I'm not interested in the "Stomp you !" "Eat you !" type animals.
I am interested in the "Bush-velt" or "Plains-game" animals; and my choice, being a Mauser fan, would be a 9.3x62 Mauser in a CRF (controlled round feed) type rifle. American versions are the Winchester M-70 Safari and Ruger M-77 (hawkeye), Europeans are CZ, Sako, Zastava, etc... also lots of used "Commercial Mauser" type rifles on the used market, Interarms, Santa Barbara, Parker Hale, Whitworth, etc... all of the above can be had in 375 H&H which is the minimum for Africa. A couple of countries still allow the 9.3x62 for "Dangerous Game" but they keep dwindling down. Personally for DG, I would use a 404 Jeffery, with 400 grns and a .423" bullet @ 2300fps, what a Stomper !! The 9.3x64 Brenneke is the European 375 H&H equivalent, but very rare here; brass is difficult to come by, as it has a rebated rim on magnum sized brass with no belt.

 

[Sabertooth]

The only one I own is a custom double in .45-70, nice shooter but not sure it really quals. as a true dangerous beasty rifle.

Should have gone with the 45-120 or the 45-140. Maybe a 50-110?

 

[U8395279]

If you want a cool scope to go with your rifle, get the Millet 1-6x24 Designated Marksman 30mm scope. It has a fantastic illuminated reticle that works great at all magnification levels. Very clear and bright scope for only $300. At 1x power it is as about as easy and fast to use as a Red Dot. And that illuminated reticle really shows up great!




You can get really high end and expensive scopes in this class from companies like Vortex, Leupold, and SWFA if you would like to spend some big bucks. The Millet is quite a bargain in comparison.

Here is a SWFA 1-4x24 mounted on a Winchester 70 338 Winchester.

I would definitely recommend that you go with a scope with an illuminated reticle if hunting dangerous game in heavy brush:

 

[Capn Jack]

"I would definitely recommend that you go with a scope with an illuminated reticle if hunting dangerous game in heavy brush:"

 

[Bon Sauvage]

+1

 

[jbett98]

Some scopes can't take the heavy recoil of big bore rifles. There's a reason top quality scopes cost more.

 

[tahoe2]

^^^^^^^^^ What he said (jbett98)!! Dangerous game scopes are usually low power variables; (1-3x, 1-4x, etc..) costing from $600 to $3000 depending on brand of course. And they are "abuse tested" by various methods to duplicate the heavy recoil of 375 H&H and up, If it wasn't "designed" to withstand that type of pounding, I wouldn't stake my life on it. If I were to purchase such a thing for Africa or Alaska, I would go for Zeiss, Swarovski, or Schmit & Bender and sell it when i got back (if I didn't like it).
Not that I want to hunt things that will stomp me or eat me, but if I did I wouldn't skimp on glass or caliber!

 

[U8395279]

Not that I want to hunt things that will stomp me or eat me, ...

Just think how much more exciting the hunt would be, though, if your quarry had the opportunity to crush or kill you. You would get much more of an adrenalin rush.

 

[jbett98]

One of the best stories my Dad's coworker told me, was about hunting Cape Buffalo in Africa.
He had wounded one and was standing his ground waiting for it to come out of a marshy swamp full of tall reeds. He could hear it bellowing in pain and certainly anger as it got up a head of steam to try and circle around behind him.
He had just a split second to get off one more shot from his double barrel rifle as it started charging him.
He missed, so he dropped his rifle and turned to grab his big bore single shot from the native gun bearer, but all he saw was the back side of the native running for his life in the opposite direction.
The gun bearer had dropped the single shot in the mud, so he snatched it up and, turned and shot the buffalo in the nose.
He said that if skidded to a stop 10 feet from him and the spray of blood completely soaked him head to toe.
I'm sorry to say it, but I really wished he was my dad, because he was the coolest, bravest man that I had met and standing next to him while he related his adventures was all a young boy could ask for.