We will construct this post together as it can be usefull for everybody .
We can contribute ,with the most pouplar rifles Phs are crying ,boots ,knives ,belts camps items etc any usefull advice by an experiemented guide can be usefull .
My constribuition -i believe most popular rifles are czs followed by the rest of Mausers ,customs .Musgraves ,Zastavas etc .PLEASE IF YOU CAN POST PHOTOS .
I saw many courtney boots ,and lately south african sniper gear .

Hey Juan-

From my own perspective, I really don't care what brand of equipment a PH uses. Most times their equipment is dictated by local availability and not necessarily by quality. This is especially true about firearms and ammunition.

Without a doubt, we in the U.S. have the best options and prices on firearms, ammo and equipment. Nowhere else in the world can a variety of components of such high quality be obtained at such reasonable prices from a local outlet.

On my Zimbabwe hunt some years ago my PH used a pre-64 Model 70 Winchester .375 H&H. His rear sight was a ghost ring made by removing the rear sight and soldering a washer in its place. Crude but very fast and accurate. His other rifle was a BRNO .243 with a Leupold VXIII 2.5-8.

I am not a PH but I am thinking Mausers and Winchesters in 375H&H and 458 WM are going to be in the tops.

I have observed during ten safaris that PH's are often not rifle guys. Their rifles usually range from adequate to downright dangerous, giving new meaning to dangerous game rifle. This is due in part to affordability and availability.

I've seen at least three different types and brands of ammo on a PH's culling belt. Some PH's compensate in part by being excellent shots, but some not so much.

I have been fortunate in that all of my PH's have been something on the "gun guy" side.

One had an Evans .470 NE double, and a backup 1917 Enfield in .458 Watts, along with a mauser .375.

Another had a custom built .458 Lott, and a .375 (I think, I never saw it.)

The third had a .500 Heym double, a mauser .375, a Dakota .416 Rem Mag, and a Benelli Shotgun.

The final one had a .505 and a .375 as well as a small bore of some sort (didn't see it, just the case.)

One reloaded his ammo, the rest had an assortment of factory ammo.

Most wore whatever shirts the company provided or t shirts.

Most wore shorts, usually cheap local stuff.

The Zim guys tended to have better footwear, but it all was pretty battered (I do tend to hunt late in the season) and wore crocs or some knock off sandals in camp. Half were wearing athletic shoes, not boots.

Hats were all company provided.

All had fairly modern garmin or similar GPS stuff, and all had sat phones.

All but one drove land cruisers, but they were mostly company trucks. The one who didn't drove a ford.

One made a comment that most of what the US/foreign hunters showed up with was not needed- usually good quality (he was happy with me leaving slings, belts, hats, etc.) but not really needed.

They also comment on our obsession with the guns being less necessary than being able to walk quietly...

quote:

The third had a .500 Heym double, a mauser .375, a Dakota .416 Rem Mag, and a Benelli Shotgun.

This guy knew where his priorities stood:

- a spare rifle for himself;
- possibly but not necessarily one for the
client;
- and the Benelli for shooting pigeons.

In RSA I've seen most guys carrying CZ's in 375. Though one had a 500 Jeffery.

In Zimbabwe my PH had a Churchill in 375.

In Namibia my PH has a Verney Carron in 500NE.

He also has a pre-64 M70 in 375 and Ruger RSM in 458 Lott, Howas in 243, 300WM and 338WM, a 338RUM on a M700 and a 22-06 on a M700. Plus 4 or 5 shotguns and half a dozen handguns.

Of the Ph's I know in Zimbabwe use the following:
A 500 Jeffries built by Sabi
A 458 Win Mag on a Sprgfld 03
A SS Mdl 70 in 37 5H&H
A 416 Rigby in a CZ550
A 458 Win Mag by BSA
A Searcy 470 NE

My PH carried a CZ 550 in 458 Lott. He also had a model 70 375.

Hi Mike ,i believe ,in Alaska ,Argentina ,Africa and Australia just to name popular hunting countries the PHs -most of them hunt 300 days a year-use the best they can hand regarding quality-price.Without doubt in America at Cabelas or Bass Pro you can find everything but this isnt the reality in the rest of the countries.
A good example is the Withworth in Alaska having all kind of weapons the guides choose something cheap and good .Nowadays you have excelent Ruger guide guns etc but its always interesting to see what type of tentes and price they are buying ,campingt equipment ,boots knives flasligths everything usefull good and at the best price ,i have now to replace all my tents and im looking for new equipment .In my outfit we use CZs rifles -of course some Argentine mausers too ,Berettas shotguns -mostly- and we have a few Glocks pistols .Reason always quality price.

juan,

In my experience the African PH's personal kit was completely dependent on what he could afford and items he may have been given. Often a PH just can't afford a high dollar rifle let alone afford to shoot it at the prices ammo brings in most of Africa. You may see several brands of ammo in any PH's ammo belt!!!! The rifles I have seen have mostly been the well worn versions of everything imaginable from a push feed Mod 70 458 with a broken stock held together with duct tape and sporting a non functioning safety to a classic Webley and Scott 470. Most PH's viewed their guns as tools and really were not rifle cranks. One guy was a reloader and knew quite a bit about guns in general. Another guy told me he was going to start reloading to save money and it scared me to death. Vehicles if the PH's personal vehicle were old but quite well maintained. Some PH had only a piece of rope to hang baits with and loaded animals by brute force. Others had elaborate winch systems saving a lot of backs and an electric beverage coolers. Most of these guys did not dress in "Safari togs" and in fact one of the best PH's I had wore Hawaiian shirts.

I guess from my experience it would be very difficult to nail down what most PH use for any particular thing and what is the best. The only thread that seems to be common is that they all think the Land Cruiser is superior to the Land Rover.

Don't get me wrong as I think African PH's do a Hell of job often with minimal resources and I respect them a great deal.

Mark

Mark i wish we have land cruisers in Argentina .We used defenders ,rangers and toyotas hilux ,but nothing is comparable to the great Land Cruiser .
Sadly toyota doesnt import these greats safari vehicles ,they would be very usefull for my family farms .
I have to said the we have good results with rangers and hiluxs and we have many in the farms permanently used by guides and gauchos in every weather and terrain condition .

My PH's rifles varied from a Remington .375 H&H, a Remington .416 Rem mag, a blown out .458 African that I have not seen anywhere else, to a .458 WM. The .375 didn't have a front sight.
And all of them had mixed ammo in their ammo belts.

An old mauser 1909 open sigthed 7,65 an ol shotgun and an old taurus 9mm an old custom knife because Juans pays very few .....

quote:

The only thread that seems to be common is that they all think the Land Cruiser is superior to the Land Rover.

Given that there are more Cruisers than Rovers in Africa today with more PHs owning one, serves to confirm the Cruiser's superiority so its hardly a question of thinking which of the two is superior.

Even the Rover fanatics silently bite their lip, inwardly wishing they could divorce themselves from their pile of scrap.

Landys are classics but you cannot compare them with CRUISERS ,the latest models have too much trouble .

Most of the PHs I have hunted with, had:

Custom 404 jeffery (Winchester M70)
Custom 458 Lott (Bruno 602)
CZ 550 375 H&H
Zastava 458 win

Most wore courteney boots (well worn) most had a Toyota land Cruiser or hi lux..usually good binocs (Leica,meopta,Leupold) usually a nice gift from a client.

The PH's I've seen use lots of CZ's in 375 or 416 Rigby. I've also seen a few Muskgrave rifles, made in RSA a basic Muaser action

My PHs carried the following;

Westley Richards 450/400 double
Cogswell & Harrison 404 Jeffery bolt
Merkel 470 double
CZ550 458 win. bolt

I forgot to add a Ruger in 416 Rigby.

465H&H

First PH SA plains game: A Savage .270

Second PH Zim: Weatherby Mark5 in 460 Wby backed up with a 458WM in a model 70

PH for the Third through Fifth, SA and Zim: carried some sort of spanish .470 double he shot very well, a 416Rigby CZ and a Musgrave 30/06.


.

Gerard Miller in his element! Buffalo hunting in Masailand December 2010. Didn't see many cruisers out there that day;-)

This may perhaps be a bit gory for some of you;-)
This LANDY is loaded for a 3 day fly camp;
Supplies, drinking water, beverages (Crown Royal,food, trophy salt (75lbs),car fridge, lunchbox, spare fuel ..etc
Add to this :
2x hunters,1 PH, 2x trackers,1x driver,1x game scout, 1x man friday.
hanging from the back: one crafty and ancient buffalo quartered , matumbo and all. enough said

Almost forgot this is the Buffalo we passed on;-)

quote:

Originally posted by juanpozzi:
Mark i wish we have land cruisers in Argentina .We used defenders ,rangers and toyotas hilux ,but nothing is comparable to the great Land Cruiser .
Sadly toyota doesnt import these greats safari vehicles ,they would be very usefull for my family farms .
I have to said the we have good results with rangers and hiluxs and we have many in the farms permanently used by guides and gauchos in every weather and terrain condition .

Juan,

My times in your country included riding in Hilux trucks and SUV, and Ford F100 trucks built like the Super Duty we have here. However, I did see a 70 series Cruiser at the Cordoba airport as a support vehicle. I'm surprised there weren't any Baiderant (sp?) from Brazil. I know Brazil and Argentina have a certain rivalry based upon futbol, but those are Cruisers built on Toyota machinery with MB diesels.

Wowo, you're right: when the rain is in, the Land Rovers shine... But you have to spend so much time fixing them that most people consider them a nuisance. Land Cruisers do the job with much less hassle.

On the equipment, the only item for which I've seen a consistent trend are binoculars. I'd say that about half the PHs I know carry a pair of Swarovski, with the rest having Zeiss or Leica - few are using other optics.

Rifles, mostly Mauser-styled actions in reasonably priced rifles: CZ (a preferred fare), Whitworth, old Mausers, etc. Usually well-beaten around the edges... Some use "heirloom" rifles, and love them, but not everybody is lucky enough to have gotten one, or can afford to buy one. Lots of .458 WM, .416 Remington, .458 Lott., .375 H&H.

Breaking camp. FUJOTUPO these are for you my old friend

Phillip A,
Agreed. Landies are not for everyone. Most certainly a one man car and not a company vehicle! With Tanzania/Botswana hunts north and sometimes way north of USD 2000/per day. I can't stand getting stuck or hindered by a gully, difficult crossing, conditions etc.. being stuck costs money! For me I'd rather have a little extra maintenance but have a capable vehicle that can get to difficult place. These are are normally places avoided and therefore the game is in
Each to his own. Don't hate the player hate the game!

quote:

Originally posted by Wowo:


Breaking camp. FUJOTUPO these are for you my old friend

Mpanga - Where else? - AnotherAZwriter loved the place!

Yip! Been very fortunate to be in these special places.

I would have considered the word privilege.

A permanent camp has recently been set up just "around the corner" .... on the water's edge.

The PHs I've hunted with used:

Gerard Ambrose: 458 Win Mag Remington 700

George Angelides: 460 Weatherby by Rigby

Nicky Blunt: 416 Rigby by Rigby and 416 Rem Mag pre-64 M-70 by T. Procter

Mike Branham: 375 H&H Sako

Paul Horsley: 458 Lott Brno 602

Brian Van Blerk: 375 H&H Sako

Ronnie MacFarlane: 416 Rigby by Rigby

My PH in Namibia, Jan du Plessis, carries a Ruger M77 Hawkeye Alaskan in .375 Ruger. He swears by it for both plains game and DG.

I have had PHs with

Leon Duplesiss (Save Safaris) - Brno (458 win) that he upgraded to Heym double (470 NE) after a close call with a elephant. Still owns the Brno. He has a 22lr anschutlz rifle that he has had all his life. Other assorted guns I have seen include M-14 clone that is used in culling. CZ shotgun. He knows his guns and I would say is a gun nut as one can be living in Zim.

Jason Bridger (Kanana) - Brno 416 and Brno 30/06. He is a gun nut and probably owns 20 plus guns in South Africa.

Ishmael (PH in Burkina) - Zastava 458 lott. Beat up 22 and shotgun. Not a gun nut. Wish I could send him a ruger 375 with scope in left hand.

Most PH like guns but compared to some AR members (not me by any shot) their knowledge of guns, shooting, ballistics, reloading ect in significantly less.

If you want to impress a PH is africa take a built AHR rifle on a cz platform.. They will be much more impressed than a dakota or anything fancy. They have grown up on brno/cz and a well built will one really impress them.

Mike

I have only hunted Africa once. My PH had a Ruger RSM in 458Lott and swaro binos from memory. Another PH in camp had a CZ550 in 416Rigby.

Wowo I believe you are correct about vehicles. The Cruiser is a much more preffered vehicle and with some justification, however if you want to go places off the beaten track then Rover is the way to go.

Louis Fourie Heym double 470NE. Ijust asked him . Hes here hunting with Juan .

black 0 matics

Regarding Toyota Land Cruisers, I do not know this status today, but I have understood that over the past 30 years their availability in Africa has been due to CKD vehicles being imported to South Africa for assembly.

Many PHs have homes or other ties to South Africa and have been able to get them there. I never asked about prices, but I am sure they were lower than other imports.