Dangerous game rifles

[tac]

Shooting .600 NE in a double rifle gets spendy very fast, like after the third shot at $14.50 a pop. Over here in yUK the auctions locally have usually got a few African calibre double rifles, which is where the serious money is - $20 - 30K gets you started on something from any of the big five English builders as they are known over here where most of them came from anyhow. But then they quickly go stratospheric. Typical new build from Boss, Cogswell and Harrison, Churchill, William Evans, Holland & Holland or Boss can easily reach the $100K mark without even stretching the tick the box list. Plus you have to BE there every now and then to make it fit - tough if you have a busy schedule stateside...

Bolt guns can be had, too, of course, and a VERY nice Rigby long action Mauser in .416 Jefferies by the late and much-missed Ron Wharton - taken to Mozambique once - went for ~$8500. Ammunition for that is still made by Kynoch here in UK and in Kenya.

You just need to be rich to have bragging rights on a real African rifle bigger than .375 H&H.

I get to shoot a pal's W. Scott double rifle in .450 Black Powder Express. Shooting a 500gr hardened lead bullet over 120gr of 3Fg is a bit much for me these days, especially after a facial rebuild last November on the right side, but 70gr is manageable. The thing is built like Harry Potter's wand, and points like the best shotgun you've ever had in your hands. Loading for it is a breeze - you can even use a nitro equivalent of around 55gr of 4198 if you want. It cost him around $6800 three years ago, and is one of the beautiful guns I've ever handled in my many years of shooting. Mind you, it came as a bare gun - no case, no accessories. You can easily add another $1500-2000 for that lot.

Here I am shooting it a while back -

You might notice that although I'm pretty short at a tad under 5' 11", I'm built like a brick s**thouse, and weigh North of 225#, and even with the pussycat loads it's still a moving experience.

 

[turq]

Weatherby Vanguard Dangerous Game rifle.

 

[osprey]

Weatherby Vanguard Dangerous Game rifle.

To me a true dangerous game rifle is either one of the custom doubles or a crf action bolt gun. No pushfeeds.

 

[tac]

There are still a good few builders of tradional double rifles here in England, over in Germany we have Merkel and Ferlach, and in France we have Chapuis. In Iddly we have Rizzini.

That second shot with a double is as near instantaneous as it can be - just get over the recoil and trigger it off and you are done.

 

[Mike Minihan]

African heavy rifle..............Stolzer & Son's Gunsmithing Stolzer & Son's Gunsmithing
I have a .375 Hollands,I've used on elk for 30 years.

.375 H&H Magnum - Wikipedia

The .375 H&H might be the best all-around hunting caliber


The 375 holland in 300 gr. virtually matches a .30-06 150 gr. as far as bullet drop.

 

[tac]

Sir, the .375 H&H is not strictly classed as an African heavy rifle, In fact, in MOST countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that cater for dangerous game style shooting, it is the MINIMUM cartridge allowed. 'Heavy' includes such worthies as the .458 Winchester - for US calibres - and goes up to .700 Nitro Express, although a few intrepid BP shooters have used double rifles of 4 Bore. That, for those who are unaware of it, means that each bullet weighs 4 ounces - NOT the cartridge, JUST the bullet.

 

[Mike Minihan]

I accidentally left the Stolzer 2 bore rifle off my original post.

 

[TTSX]

To me a true dangerous game rifle is either one of the custom doubles or a crf action bolt gun. No pushfeeds.

Why no push feeds? The Remington 700 is darn reliable and it's a push feed...

 

[tac]

Many PH do not allow their clients to use a push-feed action rifle in the wild. Obviously this is based on practical experience of things going wrong, which can often result in either the client [bad] or the PH [worse] being converted to what is called, in Sarth, 'klient blok' - customer paté by a wounded Cape Buffalo or ellyfunt.

 

[284guy]

Many PH do not allow their clients to use a push-feed action rifle in the wild. Obviously this is based on practical experience of things going wrong, which can often result in either the client [bad] or the PH [worse] being converted to what is called, in Sarth, 'klient blok' - customer paté by a wounded Cape Buffalo or ellyfunt.

I have several friends who go to Africa regularly, and I think that's just hooey. The ONLY restriction I've ever heard of from PHs is no single shots, such as a #1. Btw, most shoot Remingtons because they are fairly inexpensive as far as large bore rifles go.

 

[tac]

Shrug. I'm too poor to have friends, let alone friends who go to Africa. I'm just reiterating what a PH on gunboards noted.

 

[284guy]

Shooting .600 NE in a double rifle gets spendy very fast, like after the third shot at $14.50 a pop. Over here in yUK the auctions locally have usually got a few African calibre double rifles, which is where the serious money is - $20 - 30K gets you started on something from any of the big five English builders as they are known over here where most of them came from anyhow. But then they quickly go stratospheric. Typical new build from Boss, Cogswell and Harrison, Churchill, William Evans, Holland & Holland or Boss can easily reach the $100K mark without even stretching the tick the box list. Plus you have to BE there every now and then to make it fit - tough if you have a busy schedule stateside...

Bolt guns can be had, too, of course, and a VERY nice Rigby long action Mauser in .416 Jefferies by the late and much-missed Ron Wharton - taken to Mozambique once - went for ~$8500. Ammunition for that is still made by Kynoch here in UK and in Kenya.

You just need to be rich to have bragging rights on a real African rifle bigger than .375 H&H.

I get to shoot a pal's W. Scott double rifle in .450 Black Powder Express. Shooting a 500gr hardened lead bullet over 120gr of 3Fg is a bit much for me these days, especially after a facial rebuild last November on the right side, but 70gr is manageable. The thing is built like Harry Potter's wand, and points like the best shotgun you've ever had in your hands. Loading for it is a breeze - you can even use a nitro equivalent of around 55gr of 4198 if you want. It cost him around $6800 three years ago, and is one of the beautiful guns I've ever handled in my many years of shooting. Mind you, it came as a bare gun - no case, no accessories. You can easily add another $1500-2000 for that lot.

Here I am shooting it a while back -

You might notice that although I'm pretty short at a tad under 5' 11", I'm built like a brick s**thouse, and weigh North of 225#, and even with the pussycat loads it's still a moving experience.

You don't have to be rich, you just have to know what you're looking for, and set priorities differently. $1200 can buy you a nice AR/AK, or a nice Remington, Winchester, Ruger, or CZ.

 

[tac]

Luckily for me I'm not easily embarrassed.

 

[tac]

You don't have to be rich, you just have to know what you're looking for, and set priorities differently. $1200 can buy you a nice AR/AK, or a nice Remington, Winchester, Ruger, or CZ.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[DB is Here]

Be excellent to each other Gentlemen. Divisive comments/jabs aren't what we're about.

 

[kisfish]

cz 550 in 9. x 62 fits the bill. Picked mine up with a ziess for a smoking deal

 

[kukusya]

cz 550 in 9. x 62 fits the bill. Picked mine up with a ziess for a smoking deal

Sadly but hunting BIG 5 or other dangerous game with 9.3x62 illegal in Africa. But otherwise is exceptional catrige for any game, with little meat damage.

 

[Ura-Ki]

+1 for the CZ in .375 Holland and Holland! Once you get tired of Normal, have it reamed to .375 Weatherby and really awaken things!
Sako still does the African IIRC in both 9.3 and .375 H&H
Or, have a Mauser Magnum mated to a custom barrel in .500 Jeffries and be the coolest guy you know!

As for CRF in dangerous game rifle's, ABSOLUTELY! I have seen folks panic when running a Pusher and dump a mag worth on the ground trying to get one in the pipe, all the while Old Mabogo is is only a few steps away from flattening your arse on the veldt! CRF dosnt have that issue and is why it's highly recommended and even insisted on!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Anyone else notice the complete lack of offerings from about anyone, new and otherwise of rifles in dangerous/African cartridges? Was looking them up last night and there's a literal ton of options yet no sightings in the "wild." Could this be due to the recoil/cost to shoot? I personally think having one would be fun for the sake of fun, though reading about their terrible trajectory past 200yds could be frustrating. Thoughts from anyone?

I had a pre 64 model 70 375H&H and when loaded right, the trajectory was nothing to sneeze at. If I were looking for a good "dangerous" game rifle these days, I'd look for a newer CZ, as they make some very nice and accurate rifles.

Oh, and by the way, please don't think for a second that a "dangerous game" rifle can't shoot either. Every hear of Craig Boddington tell the story about hitting a crock in the brain the size of a walnut?


Not too terribly hard when you have a good accurate dangerous game rifle...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Sadly but hunting BIG 5 or other dangerous game with 9.3x62 illegal in Africa. But otherwise is exceptional catrige for any game, with little meat damage.

They make exceptions, especially for the big 9.3.. Just sayin..