quote:

I've told the story before about how the 700 action froze after shooting a buff, which prompted me to get the CRF job done. What a stupid feeling to be standing there with a bolt that wouldn't open. homer

Now had you been holding a DR you wouldn't have had a story to tell

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by D R Hunter:
Only for ELEPHANT does Saeed have SOLID as his choice.
I'd have thought follow up shots at buff, rhino and hippo might
call for SOLIDS in Saeed's opinion. I'd like to ask him to com-
ment further based on his personal experiences.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Leopard - 375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog bullets.

Lion - 375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog bullets.

Buffalo - 375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog bullets.

Elephant - 375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog SOLID bullets.

Rhino -
375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog bullets.

Hippo - 375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog bullets.

Croc - 375/404 and 300 grain Walterhog bullets.

I have never found the need to use solids except for elephants.

In fact, on a side brain shot, I will be happy to use our normal Walterhog bullets.

I have shot a cape buffalo bull in the rear end, hitting him in the left rear leg, and the bullet went all the way to stop under the skin of his neck on the right hand side.

A fine test for expanding version of the WH bullet! Sir, have you ever fired at rhino and or hippo?

I have never shot a rhino, but have shot many hippos with these bullets.

If you look at my hunt report at the top of this forum you will see many videos of these bullets in action, including crocs and hippos.

Thank you; I WILL !

My choice is that I was alive 100 years ago & hunting in Africa with my rifles - the Simson 9.3 by 62 was aready in existance then but my 416 Rigby would have been a London Rigby!

Leopard - 9.3X62 Simson with German soft point ammo

Lion - 9.3X62 Simson with German soft point ammo

Buffalo - .416 Rigby with Kynoch soft point ammo

Elephant - .416 Rigby with Kynoch SOLID ammo

Rhino - .416 Rigby with Kynoch soft point ammo

Hippo - .416 Rigby with Kynoch soft ammo

Croc - 9.3X62 Simson with German soft point ammo

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:

quote:

I've told the story before about how the 700 action froze after shooting a buff, which prompted me to get the CRF job done. What a stupid feeling to be standing there with a bolt that wouldn't open. homer

Now had you been holding a DR you wouldn't have had a story to tell

You are quite right. Indeed, right after our return from that safari, I remedied that shortcoming by both having Butch Searcy do the CRF conversion by installing a Model 70 extractor AND getting a double.

My hunting partner there, who ran a gun shop outside Chicago, acquired several old doubles from Jim Bell of Brass Extrusion Labs fame. He talked me into buying one of the better ones, at least in my opinion, a H&H 500/450 Nitro Express that Jim had had restocked with a left-hand cheekpiece by Al Biesen, presumably for his personal use. (Why do it otherwise?) Later, I was able to buy some brass and Jim's own dies directly from him.

Some many not know that Jim's mother ran Bell's Gun Store, also outside Chicago – and that when he served as a young man in the Peace Corps in India, he was able to stock up on old doubles in obsolete calibers. That led, I understand, to his buying some military surplus cartridge extrusion machines and setting up Brass Extrusion Laboratories Limited (B.E.L.L.) in an industrial park next to O'Hare Airport. This was a major factor in bringing back those old cartridges to popularity. I had the chance to meet him and see his operation back in the 1980s, before he moved it west.

Weight and balance make the 500/450 quite pleasant to shoot, something that I could never say about my post-64 Model 70 or Ruger No. 1 in .458 Win Mag.

One great attraction for me was that this caliber uses .458 bullets, so with the brass I can reload easily. I did find that I needed a bigger press, though that was a minor issue.