Do you ever "over think" or "outsmart yourself" on your gun? By this I mean - you look at your .30-06 and think, "this is just not the right gun for kudu" knowing full well it is actually perfect. Or do you look at your ammo and think, "These Remington Core-lok bullets just kill the way a Barnes TSX does" when you know it really does.

I do this on the action type in a rifle as well. I have been a Winchester fan forever. I have tried several others. Then I bought a Remington and kind of like it. Same with a Mauser action. I have always disliked the Mauser as being a bit clunky. I never really have bought into the logic that a controlled round feed is better than a push feed when I see what the PH's in Africa hunt with.

Anyway, I think I over think a lot of things.

Agreed
I made 404 J from 300 RUM on shoestring budget ( a bit over $ 800 including purchasing price)
Boy, it's plum ugly, but it shoots my cheap reloads within 80 yards like some fancy custom gun. Which in a way, it is custom Ha Ha

Aren't the majority of us in that same boat? Always looking for an excuse to upgrade even though we know it isn't necessary?
Me, I like to try different calibers just to see how they perform. No need involved, I just want to.

The internet would be half as busy if people didn't over-think guns!

Sure do, lots of fun!

Ok. I am feeling more normal now.

I over think every detail. Some people lose their minds over socks.

So I guess I am not so bad.

That old saying "beware of the man with one gun, because he knows how to use it" rings true. I have my go to guns, depending on the hunt, but it's fun to keep them company.

overthinking - underthinking- yup you'll end up with a blaser

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
overthinking - underthinking- yup you'll end up with a blaser

Exactly!

I have quite a number of rifles, and every year Walter and me have an argument on what to take hunting.

Years ago I have made a decision that for dangerous game safaris, I will use my 375/404 - regardless of what animals we shoot.

This has worked like a charm, shooting elephants, buffalo, lion down to duikers.

And when I am hunting plains game, I have built a 30/404 for that purpose.

Again, both work, and that is all I want from a working hunting rifle.

Now, working on other rifles here in our workshop, we do go to the nth degree to see what the results are!

When I show up at deer camp I usually have 3 rifles with me, never less than 2. Part of the fun is deciding which 1 is going hunting with me.
My wife's 4 most used words are "you don't need that". To which I reply "I know I don't need it, but I WANT it & that's much more important".

Going on my 5th hunt next month for plains game. I have taken a different rifle each time. This one will be a Ruger #1 in 9,3X74R. One thing is consistent, I have used a .366 caliber on the last three hunts. I am too much of a gun nut to be tied down by one rifle.

Dogcat,

We all over think to some extent. But I agree with Saeed. Pick a caliber. Pick a rifle. Then hunt with it.

My caliber of choice is a .416 Rem. A bit different than Saeed's but a .40 caliber and it's done the same thing from elephant to duiker.

Once you decide on the rifle, you'll likely find yourself in the same situation that I am. Your "light" rifle sits in the case and you shoot everything with a .40 caliber.

It's the bee's knees. Trust me.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Do you ever "over think" or "outsmart yourself" on your gun?

I do this on the action type in a rifle as well. I have been a Winchester fan forever. I have tried several others. Then I bought a Remington and kind of like it. Same with a Mauser action. I have always disliked the Mauser as being a bit clunky. I never really have bought into the logic that a controlled round feed is better than a push feed when I see what the PH's in Africa hunt with.

Anyway, I think I over think a lot of things.

As far as I'm conserned you can not over think (know your rifle and action). The better you know your rifle and know that your action works will greatly minimise f$@k ups.
And please don't tell us that plenty of PHs get away with Winchester and Remington push feeds as I've seen way more failures of these types of PH guns fail miserably than I'd like.

One of the great pleasure in life, as you get older it beats overthinking women.

Good bullets are much more important that cartridges IMO. I'm a KISS guy.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I over think every detail. Some people lose their minds over socks.

So I guess I am not so bad.

I have four sock drawers, each designated as to weather conditions.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Dogcat,

We all over think to some extent. But I agree with Saeed. Pick a caliber. Pick a rifle. Then hunt with it.

My caliber of choice is a .416 Rem. A bit different than Saeed's but a .40 caliber and it's done the same thing from elephant to duiker.

Once you decide on the rifle, you'll likely find yourself in the same situation that I am. Your "light" rifle sits in the case and you shoot everything with a .40 caliber.

It's the bee's knees. Trust me.

Being a religious person, I sort of figure that if God had intended us to hunt with one rifle, he would have only created one caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by ggruber:
Being a religious person, I sort of figure that if God had intended us to hunt with one rifle, he would have only created one caliber.

God did create only one, the 375 H&H, man went and created the rest for no reason.

quote:

I never really have bought into the logic that a controlled round feed is better than a push feed when I see what the PH's in Africa hunt with.

Selby used a PushFeed M70 .458win for some 8 yrs- to back up clients and perform cull duties,
while he waited for his .416 Mauser to return.

I doubt he was short of a dollar,so he could have
purchased another CRF if he felt it was really that important.

Nor did he feel the need to reach for his .450 SxS in that time....

Clearly Selby trusted his PF rifle to do everything required of it in his range of PH duties.

HE did say he personally 'prefered' his old Mauser, but he also gave NO criticism of Push-Feed.

The one feature Selby really appreciated in his working bolt rifles, was magazine capacity!....

quote:

Originally posted by MikeBurke:

quote:

Originally posted by ggruber:
Being a religious person, I sort of figure that if God had intended us to hunt with one rifle, he would have only created one caliber.

God did create only one, the 375 H&H, man went and created the rest for no reason.

Yep, when I go to Africa I bring my 375 H&H. I may play with different loads for specific animals/hunting condition but I don't mess around with other rifles.

I used to hunt everything in the lower 48 with my BDL in 270 when I was in my 20s and would hunt many days per year. I was familiar with it, had confidence with it, and could shoot it well. Now I hunt everything with my 500 Jeffery for the same reason (going to try it on prairie dogs this summer lol)

Life starts at .40.

My .416 Rem. Mag. is a push feed, but I've never had a malfunction, except when I short-stroked it, which could happen with any action. What I really like about it is it has detachable magazines. They hold four, so the rifle holds four down, one up, total of five.

I carry two spare magazines in a surplus grenade pouch right under my left hand. Here's the real advantage. One, suppose you shoot two or three shots and you want a quick follow up. I can totally re-stoke the rifle faster than you can by thumbing cartridges into it. And, the rifle still has one up the pipe.

Or, suppose you want to switch to solids quickly. I can do that too.

More than offsets the supposed disadvantages of a reliable "push feed." IMHO

I have a Romanian Friend that hasn't quite mastered the English language. So sometimes he usese words that arent quite correct. Sometimes it just fits though.

He says to me. Steve, its some kind of sickness. I do not need another rifle, but I want one.

This might be the top 5 most thought out thread of the year!

Yes, I way over think caliber and ammo.

My first trip to Africa I worried and researched too much over what to choose. I finally decided on Barnes. I was not all that impressed and would have been just as happy with my Winchester soft points.

My next trip my wife, by accident, bought me a 30-06 (long story). I wanted to take a .300 win but decided to deal with the 30-06. After a lot of practice, and after a a couple days of hunting, I was really confident with it. And, the animals fell just as dead then as they did in 2011, when I had my .300.

Our group had a couple different calibers, ammo, etc. All of them worked fine

If we didn't tend to over think guns there wouldn't be much need for gun magazines and forums. LOL

As much as I love to pick and choose the right gun for each hunt I find the most comfort in using a tried and true friend that covers most situations well and has a proven history.

Gentlemen....its called a hobby. Sometimes hobbies tend to turn into obsessions..and the difference between a man and a boy is...well you damn well know it..

quote:

God did create only one, the 375 H&H, man went and created the rest for no reason.

Quote of the Year Nomination that. Well done Mike. Since it's not copyright protected; may I? "God did create only one and He said ""it is good!"" Man went and created the rest for no reason"

The problem - if it's a problem at all - is that a lot of rifles and calibers work just fine, but nothing necessarily works best.

I think anyone who is serious about hunting everything from jack rabbit to Elephant tends to over think his firearms for very good reasons.

In my case I like them all for different reasons. Like everyone else I have preferences in both caliber and rifle type for different animals. OVER THINK? I don't think that phrase applies in most cases. What some think is over thinking it seems to me is just trying to avoid as many things as they can that could cause a problem at the very worse time, especially when hunting the BITE-BACKS!

....................................................................

Mac,

I can say I never shot a rabbit with my .416, but I'm sure it would have handled the situation adequately. I did kill a turkey with it. :-)

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Mac,

I can say I never shot a rabbit with my .416, but I'm sure it would have handled the situation adequately. I did kill a turkey with it. :-)

Speaking from experience a 416 Rem mag w/400 gr A-frame is a reliable jack- rabbit load---

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Life starts at .40.

My .416 Rem. Mag. is a push feed, but I've never had a malfunction, except when I short-stroked it, which could happen with any action. What I really like about it is it has detachable magazines. They hold four, so the rifle holds four down, one up, total of five.

I carry two spare magazines in a surplus grenade pouch right under my left hand. Here's the real advantage. One, suppose you shoot two or three shots and you want a quick follow up. I can totally re-stoke the rifle faster than you can by thumbing cartridges into it. And, the rifle still has one up the pipe.

Or, suppose you want to switch to solids quickly. I can do that too.

More than offsets the supposed disadvantages of a reliable "push feed." IMHO

Heresy, but totally pragmatic

Well, if I am not overthinking it, I'd just grab a .338wm loaded with 250 grain Noslers then I'm good for anything short of elephants.

Truthfully I have tried to keep it simple when it comes to firearms that I actually hunt with.

I bring a 470 Nitro Double and a CZ550 375 H&H with a scope. There is nothing I cannot kill with either, and the 375 has more than enough range to shoot at any distance I ever intend to.

Bullets are simple, I like the premiums (CEB or North Fork), the double and CZ feeds each flawlessly.

I do think at times people try to overthink the accuracy of their rifles. They spend all of their time trying to squeeze out the 1/10" of accuracy and not work on their shooting which will cost them many inches of accuracy in the field.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by butchloc:


Years ago I have made a decision that for dangerous game safaris, I will use my 375/404 - regardless of what animals we shoot.

This has worked like a charm, shooting elephants, buffalo, lion down to duikers.

Beware of the man that only has one gun - he probably knows how to use it!

Seriously though, there is something to this. I shoot a lot with some pretty competitive rifle guys. One of them in particular, comes to mind when speaking of rifles and how well one can be used. This man was professionally trained with a 308, years ago, still mainly shoots 308, and I would not want to be down range of him within 800 yards! I don't know how well he shoots a 300 WM or 338 lapua, or anything else, but with any 308, zero at 100, he does not even dial. Range estimate, wind call, shot out, bang clang. Every. Single. Time.

FWIW, he has also been to Africa for sporting purposes. With a 375 H&H. While on a PG hunt, the PH he was with was asked to deal with a problem lion. Lion wouldn't come to bait when they were in the blind, so they built a blind 300 yards away. Lion comes at dusk, Bang clang. Same result as on the range. Fundamentals, are well..... fundamental.

This year for the fun of it I decided to use my 30-06 in Burkina, I typically favor my 375 H&H. I really enjoyed using it and it performed superbly on everything I pointed it at including this Roan at close to 200 yards. I was using 180 grain Nosler partition reloads.



The only problem as you can see from the photo is there was zero blood trail, it dropped to the shot, got up ran about 60 yards and was found stone dead. I think a 375 H&H would have left a bit more blood or killed it a bit quicker. It was a little low in the shoulder, but straight in the heart.



If you screw up a shot on a big animal with a light gun then you have a problem!

The other problem when hunting in DG country is if you run in to fellows like these with a 30-06. Bad enough even when you have a bigger gun!




Arjun Reddy
www.huntburkinafaso.com

J

quote:

Originally posted by reddy375:



The only problem as you can see from the photo is there was zero blood trail, it dropped to the shot, got up ran about 60 yards and was found stone dead. I think a 375 H&H would have left a bit more blood or killed it a bit quicker

If you screw up a shot on a big animal with a light gun then you have a problem!

The other problem when hunting in DG country is if you run in to fellows like these with a 30-06. Bad enough even when you have a bigger gun


Arjun Reddy
www.huntburkinafaso.com

Guilty, I over think everything. But, i tend to be prepared. Which is generally more helpful for the underprepared around me than it is for me. Its just what i do.