The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Need your opinion on a rifle buildGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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All, Assume you are building a “dream rifle”. Intended use is all hunting excluding dangerous game e everywhere in the world. What caliber is your “go to “ or all time favorite? | ||
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For me it is easy. 338 WinMag The only easy day is yesterday! | |||
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375 H&H. Ammo is readily available. Same ballistics as 30-06 but hits harder. What’s not to like ? | |||
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30-06 I had Rigby build my dream rifle; a Highland Stalker with wood, CCH and bolt peep upgrades. | |||
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.375 H&H Swift, Silent, & Friendly | |||
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Ross, Since you said non-dangerous I'd recommend one of the 300 magnums built with 26" barrel and in a portable weight of say 8# ready to rock with the scope. I don't have a "go to" as there are just too many cartridges out there that will do just about anything necessary. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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Another vote for the .338 WinMag If you add the .450 Rigby/Dakota you would have a two gun solution for anything on the planet. ___________________ Just Remember, We ALL Told You So. | |||
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If dangerous game include bears, then my rifle is a 300 Win Mag..Mine is a Heym straight pull. good for everything including crocs, elk, Sable and on. | |||
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Either 300 WM, 300 WSM, or 300PRC.   | |||
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My go to caliber right now is a .300 Dakota it easily gets 3150 fps with a 180 gr. bullet. DRSS Member | |||
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My choices ranked: 1.) 300 Win Mag 2.) 30-06 3.) .375 H&H 4.) .338 Win Mag DuggaBoye-O NRA-Life Whittington-Life TSRA-Life DRSS DSC HSC SCI | |||
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The .300 magnum of your choice. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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Ross, I have a rifle that ticks the box for my all round weapon, less DG. It's not a custom build. It's the Boddington No. 1 in 300 H&H. Shoots better than 1 MOA, shorter with its 26" barrel than most 24" bolt rifles and lighter to boot. I've done a sheep/goat type hunt with it hunting the southern Alps of New Zealand for Thar and Chamois making 2 one shot kills at more than 300 yards each. Taken numerous African game including leopard and all my baits, as well as a dedicated plains game hunt several years back. Elk and similar sized Red Stag, whitetail, hogs ... you get the picture. I'm sold on the cartridge and like its nostalgia. I really like the rifle platform but the one thing missing is the custom build, rifle of your dreams you describe. I think that could be accomplished with one of Butch Searcy's stalking rifles in the take down version. For a non DG rifle, I've never found the single shot limitation to be of concern. In fact, it may have forced me to be more careful before pulling the trigger. | |||
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You've had some very good suggestions. I'd just remind you that when the .300 Weatherby came out, some of the top world hunters of the time used that caliber for everything including Africa. Hemingway killed a rhino with a 30-06 with a solid. That said I'd probably go with a .300 mag of some kind and if I went bigger go to a .338 RUM. | |||
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^^^^ThiS^^^^ Unless you want to go classic. Then something like 318WR or 7x57 | |||
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Easy- 300 Holland & Holland! | |||
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30-06, 23" bbl, handloads to 270 Win pressures, 3x9 lightweight scope, simple BDC, reticle 7.5 lbs scoped. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Good list! I'd pick the 300 Weatherby or 30-06. | |||
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As much as I just love the 7mm RM, I have to agree. | |||
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I go for a 300 winny 26 inch barrel and a composite pillar bedded action in a sand blasted stainless setup. Why the winny ammo is very readily available. Mike | |||
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A Ralf Martini .300 H&H on a Hagen action. Want to buy mine? JudgeG ... just counting time 'til I am again finding balm in Gilead chilled out somewhere in the Selous. | |||
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Hunting everything, at any distance, 300 RUM. If no long distance is involved, either a 270 or a 30-06. Mine is a 30/404, for non dangerous game. Anything else, 375/404. | |||
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Stainless G-Series M70 in 300 Win Mag with a synthetic stock. Argali in Asia, Moose in Alaska, Plainsgame in Africa, elk in Montana or just deer from a blind in Texas, you're covered. Pretty good chance you can find ammo for it wherever you are as well. ____________________________ If you died tomorrow, what would you have done today ... 2018 Zimbabwe - Tuskless w/ Nengasha Safaris 2011 Mozambique - Buffalo w/ Mashambanzou Safaris | |||
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My choice was a Simillion/Echols .300Wea M70 with a Echols Legend stock to handle the weather, hunting in places like BC..I have experienced a wood stock rifle warp out after only 5 days of hunting in non stop heavy rain in the mountains.Only occasionally do I wish it was a .340 Wea.. | |||
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I agree with the suggestions for a 300 win mag. I couldn’t decide on a single caliber for non dangerous game, so I’m currently have a 35 Whelen built for everything over 350 lbs. and then I’m having a 280 ackley built for the smaller stuff (whitetail, mule deer, sheep, ibex, pronghorn). | |||
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No way: ONLY ONE!! George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
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If you are a functional kind of guy, more than nostalgic, a 7 WSM in something like a NULA rifle. Range, versatility, and a light package. A non wood stock just doesn't say "Dream rifle" to me, personally, though. If its a wood and blued gun but you are more worried about killing things than a classic, a .300 RUM in a relatively lightweight format. (this was the route I went). If you are a classics kind of guy, .300 H&H. | |||
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One more for THIS. Choose a .300 mag you like and have some fun. Roger ___________________________ I'm a trophy hunter - until something better comes along. *we band of 45-70ers* | |||
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50 Alaskan in a Turnbull leveraction. | |||
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Yes, I have two. A Winchester high wall and a pre-64 M70. I meant to be DSC Member...bad typing skills. Marcus Cady DRSS | |||
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Just buy a Winchester M70 Extreme Weather in .300 WinMag for around $1100 and you’re done. BUTCH C'est Tout Bon (It is all good) | |||
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The logical and unemotional decision.It's probably the best one too. | |||
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300 Mag of some sort is my vote | |||
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I thought the 6.5 Creedmoor was the answer to all questions. Have gun- Will travel The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark | |||
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. Non dangerous game and the world is your playground - plains, mountains, bush and thicket, walking, stalking and high seat, driven and stalked, small game, predators, antelope up to eland and other game bear, zebra, etc etc. I would have to go with an OU combination gun - Merkel, Krieghoff, Sauer or similar. Would look at 8x68S as the rifle barrel - will take everything from the mountains to the plains and out to impressive distances if needed. And I would put a 16 bore shotgun barrel on top - shooting slugs, SSG good for hogs and pigs, with size 3 or 4 good for fox, badger, raccoon and with 5 and smaller all your winged game is covered. All bases covered! My 2 cents Charlie . "Up the ladders and down the snakes!" | |||
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I've always thought that a take-down rifle on a Mauser action made by Duane Wiebe (or better rifle maker  ) would offer a lot of versatility, especially for travel. A 375 H&H can do almost anything, ammunition available world-wide in numerous loadings off-the-shelf, we all know the rest of the good reasons for it. That would be my dream rifle. Heck, I made long shots (for me) on plains game in Namibia loaded with 260 grain Accubonds.But if 375 H&H is too big, then just go for 300 H&H. _________________________________ AR, where the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history become the nattering nabobs of negativisim. | |||
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you thought about it after looking in my truck didn't you...LOL. I got to thinking about wanting the 300 WSM on the same rifle for this question. | |||
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The boring old do it all found everywhere 30-06 is hard to beat. | |||
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Got one! Love it! | |||
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Have asked Bailey Bradshaw to make me a rising block double in .300 H&H flanged magnum. Just in case some dangerous game is on the menu, he's including a pair of 450/400 3-inch barrels. Regards, Tim | |||
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