I have been on multiple African trips and have rifles all sorted out. Hiwever, I am taking a young man on his first safari to zambia next summer. We have buff, hippo, croc, sable, roan, both lechwes and other plains game on the ticket.

We went to sci last year and looked at a ton of rifles and he settled on a blaser, yeah i know! So we got him a 375 barrel with low power scope. We are workimg through it and i ma taking him to SAAM shooting school at FTW ranch next march. His case can carry one extra barrel. They have quite a few choices, not as many as i would like, but enough. So question is what other caliber? I am leaning towards a 300 win.I will have a 300 win with me for lechwe, which I believe we will be together on so technically could use same rifle. But he might like that for croc as it is a .1”rifle.
So let the opinions fly.
Mark Young I am glad to hear your as well on this

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
I have been on multiple African trips and have rifles all sorted out. Hiwever, I am taking a young man on his first safari to zambia next summer. We have buff, hippo, croc, sable, roan, both lechwes and other plains game on the ticket.

We went to sci last year and looked at a ton of rifles and he settled on a blaser, yeah i know! So we got him a 375 barrel with low power scope. We are workimg through it and i ma taking him to SAAM shooting school at FTW ranch next march. His case can carry one extra barrel. They have quite a few choices, not as many as i would like, but enough. So question is what other caliber? I am leaning towards a 300 win.I will have a 300 win with me for lechwe, which I believe we will be together on so technically could use same rifle. But he might like that for croc as it is a .1”rifle.
So let the opinions fly.
Mark Young I am glad to hear your as well on this

300 win mag - same bolt head.

I would get a good 3-9x scope - like a swaro z6 illuminated. Good back up scope on 375 if needed. Just figure out where it would shoot on a 375 and appropriate adjustment.

Mike

I agree with Mike. .300 WM for the second barrel.

I decided to just leave my .416 barrel on and shoot everything with that. Much easier than switching barrels around. IMO.

If you decide that a second barrel is right for you then I would go with a 300 win

There's little you can't do with the 375 - possibly with two loads. The 300 WM is a great caliber, but you aren't bringing much to the party. I'd save the Barrel/Mag money and get another scope.

I took a 300 Weatherby barrel as my only barrel and there wasn't anything out of reach. I've taken 9.3x62 as my only one, too, with good results.

If you had a 416 as the top barrel, then maybe the 300 or even a 6.5x55 for variety.

You mentioned there weren't many choices - what were you looking for?

This year I took my Blaser to Zimbabwe with my .375 H&H and 30.06 barrels, as I did when I hunted there in 2016.
Everything I shot was with the .375 H&H. No problem with all from DG to Plains Game ( mainly with Barnes TSX 300 gn ). The reality is it's just convenient to hunt with the one calibre and, as correctly said, the .375 H&H handles it all without fanfare. Yes, changing Blaser boltheads is very quick and simple but truthfully I sometimes cannot be bothered deciding each day which barrel is best to take, switching boltheads, swapping cartridges etc, etc. On any day you can't really predict what game will be encountered. You want the have in hand the rifle that will handle whatever. If you take the bigger / DG species and want to hunt smaller stuff thereafter, well OK, swap to the smaller calibre. But for me I just love shooting my .375 anyway and was completely content with that in my hands throughout the hunt.

Since a .375 H&H barrel is to be taken other possibilities in the alternative calibre vein, ( if you handload and I assume one load will be 300 gn bullets ) might be to work up a load with 235 gn bullets for the same barrel if you can get them shooting to the same POI. Or, rather than a second barrel / calibre maybe a backup scope in Blaser mounts could be a higher priority. Personally I regard good scopes as so reliable I don't bother with this but some guys are reassured by having a backup handy. If an alternative barrel becomes essential I think, as suggested because it uses the same bolt head, .300 WM is a great cartridge and choice. It might give dual capability as your default calibre for the USA hunting season. With two .300 WM rifles on the hunt it would be great if both shot the same ammo / load with similar accuracy.

Good luck making the decisions.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

Don’t laugh!

Anyone picking a Blaser has to complicate his life with more problems and more barrels and more ammo and more scopes!

One rifle.
One caliber.
One bullet.

Kills everything!

Happy hunting!

Brent... picture this... you are walking through the bush with the 330Wm barrel in hoping to shoot a Puku and.....out pops a Buffalo from the thicket and the PH says we need the 375!!!!!!!

Just use the 375 for everything mate.

What would happen is this.

If the hunter was using any decent rifle, in any decent caliber, the PH would say “just shoot it. It would not know what hit it”

Now imagine the client is using a Blaser, the PH would say “what a shame you do not have your .375 H&H barrel. You cannot shoot it with this one you have here”

One PH I know says anytime he sees a client getting his rifle out, and it is a Blaser, he says, “I tell myself, OH SHIT!”

What a joy to be going with someone on his first safari! In my opinion, switch barrel rifles are great in concept, especially in countries where thee are firearm limitations. However, in execution, I have found them to be seldom used as they add additional complications. I would suggest he find one load the 375 H&H likes. Practice, practice, practice in order to know it well and just use it on everything. No other concerns needed for ballistics, what ifs on caliber selection or juggling the weight and quantities of ammo for your flight (5 kg limit).

If long shots are likly to present themselves a .300WM works well. Changing barrels on an R8 takes about 2 minutes and no need to re-zero.

Sometimes one does not get 2 minutes while hunting!

I shoot a blaser and I find changing barrels on a hunt would be a pain. I take one barrel and shoot everything with that, like any other standard rifle. I choose Blaser because of its take-down capability and return to zero. Also they are ridiculously accurate without any tinkering.

Traveling around large airports with full size gun cases is a pain. It’s made travel so much easier

Saeed is right... most of the time you don’t have 20 seconds let alone 2 minutes. The middle of Zambia with a buff staring at you is no time to be dicking around with barrels.

For Africa, the 375 is all you need and I would never try to switch barrels out in the field.

That said, I use the Blaser system worldwide and the 375 isn't optimal everywhere. I prefer one rifle in multiple calibers as my familiarity breeds confidence and it just works.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

Don’t laugh!

Anyone picking a Blaser has to complicate his life with more problems and more barrels and more ammo and more scopes!

One rifle.
One caliber.
One bullet.

Kills everything!

Happy hunting!

You should send Walter to help him change barrels!

Hard to beat the .375 and .300 Win Mag combo, although some might lean towards a .338 Win Mag instead of the .300, if he plans on shooting eland or other really large plains game.

Personally, I think the perfect two rifle combo for a trip to Africa would be a .416 Rem Mag and a 300 Win Mag. But that is just me. LOL

BH63

One does not need a big caliber for eland, or any of the plains game.

I have no idea how many eland I have shot with a 270, as well as hundreds of every AFRICAN plains game.

But if one is us*ng a Blaser, he might need a bloody canon to kill anything

Brent,

Since I'm a little bit familiar with your itinerary and having hunted Zambia 3 times myself my suggestion would be to buy the 300 WM barrel. You guys won't need the 375 or larger in the first 3 areas your hunting so I recommend initially setting up with the 300 and an appropriate scope. A premium 180 gr load will do everything. Once you get to the Luangwa the 375 and a lower power scope will be all he'll need so no reason to worry about changing barrels. Here I agree with the others that you don't want to be changing barrels in the field. There might be 200+ yard shot but that's not a worry with a 375. With a premium soft the 375 is exactly want you want for the hippo, croc plus buffalo and what the safari operator recommends. FYI They don't recommend solids for anything other than ele and the tiny antelope.

Mark

Thanks for the replies and yes Todd Williams and Saaed, I agree with the Blaser comments! It is his hunt and he is funding my hunt, so who am I to argue. He thinks it is sexy and likes the way it feels, maybe he is related to Biebs!!!

The only real reason for the additional barrel is the 300-400 yd shots on lechwe. Not sure where the 375 will hit and I would rather have a different barrel/ scope set up than to resight 375 in for different loads. Mark, I totally agree that he will not need it once we get to Luangwa. Sable, roan and whatever on first trip the 375 will be good medicine. I will have 458 and 500 with me, only bringing the 300 for the lechwe. Johnny led me to believe it would be 300-400 yd shots. My little;e 458 will not really do that.

My wife and I had a baggage weight issue on our June trip to Zimbabwe, so I opted to take the .375 and leave the 7mm mag at home. The croc, impala and klipspringer never knew what hit them, and I had plenty of medicine in case I ran into a cheeky buff or elephant. One thing you did not mention was whether your friend can handle heavy recoil, as that could be a factor in his choice.

If you know your hold overs and can shoot, no problems with using a .375 with 300 grain bullets on lechwe at 300-400.

Been there, done that.

Bangwelu shot lechwe and tsessabe at 200 or so.

Kafue flats shot lechwe at 350 or so.

All one shot kills. You don’t need a .300 for that. If your buddy has issues with a .375 and recoil, I’d get a .270 or a 6.5 creedmore barrel to go with it, as those are a lot less recoil for longer shots.

I’m not a Blaser fan, but if that’s what he likes...

If you are hunting multiple areas and only one where you’re pursuing DG then a second barrel for PG makes sense. Go with a 300 win. Then you’ll have the same bolt head and nothing to do but swap barrels once you get nd up in the Luangwa.

Brent
Several times I have taken the .375 as my light rifle. It works just fine on plains game.

A second barrel can make making weight on ammo a little tricky.

just a thought...make sure you do some experimenting with different amounts. It adds up real quick.

just bring the barrel - leave the rest at home

Stay with a single caliber that is suitable for the largest species you are likely to encounter. In addition follow the guide of not hunting with a cartridge that is younger than me.

The .300 Win. Mag. seems like the right choice under the circumstances.

Best of luck!

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
Thanks for the replies and yes Todd Williams and Saaed, I agree with the Blaser comments! It is his hunt and he is funding my hunt, so who am I to argue. He thinks it is sexy and likes the way it feels, maybe he is related to Biebs!!!

The only real reason for the additional barrel is the 300-400 yd shots on lechwe. Not sure where the 375 will hit and I would rather have a different barrel/ scope set up than to resight 375 in for different loads. Mark, I totally agree that he will not need it once we get to Luangwa. Sable, roan and whatever on first trip the 375 will be good medicine. I will have 458 and 500 with me, only bringing the 300 for the lechwe. Johnny led me to believe it would be 300-400 yd shots. My little;e 458 will not really do that.

If he really feels the need for 2 of something why not two loads and scopes for the .375H&H barrel - a 3-10x etc zeroed for 260g Accubonds and 1-4x zeroed for 350g or 300g softs and solids for buff.
My Blaser has made 3 trips to Africa, each time I took only one barrel, but always two scopes and only ever needed one of them.

.500 Jeffery...!

.375 for everything and spend the saved money on another animal or extra day

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
Thanks for the replies and yes Todd Williams and Saaed, I agree with the Blaser comments! It is his hunt and he is funding my hunt, so who am I to argue. He thinks it is sexy and likes the way it feels, maybe he is related to Biebs!!!

The only real reason for the additional barrel is the 300-400 yd shots on lechwe. Not sure where the 375 will hit and I would rather have a different barrel/ scope set up than to resight 375 in for different loads. Mark, I totally agree that he will not need it once we get to Luangwa. Sable, roan and whatever on first trip the 375 will be good medicine. I will have 458 and 500 with me, only bringing the 300 for the lechwe. Johnny led me to believe it would be 300-400 yd shots. My little;e 458 will not really do that.

Mount a Swaro with the ballistic cam on it and hold dead on at 400 yards.

I use Kenton Industries turrets on a lot of my scopes which are usually Nightforce as I have found Swaro and S&B are a bit fragile for Australia.

Fast, easy to use and if you supply Kenton with the right info, incredibly accurate.

Just remember to dial the turret back to your first zero range after shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by Blair 338RUM:

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
Thanks for the replies and yes Todd Williams and Saaed, I agree with the Blaser comments! It is his hunt and he is funding my hunt, so who am I to argue. He thinks it is sexy and likes the way it feels, maybe he is related to Biebs!!!

The only real reason for the additional barrel is the 300-400 yd shots on lechwe. Not sure where the 375 will hit and I would rather have a different barrel/ scope set up than to resight 375 in for different loads. Mark, I totally agree that he will not need it once we get to Luangwa. Sable, roan and whatever on first trip the 375 will be good medicine. I will have 458 and 500 with me, only bringing the 300 for the lechwe. Johnny led me to believe it would be 300-400 yd shots. My little;e 458 will not really do that.

Mount a Swaro with the ballistic cam on it and hold dead on at 400 yards.

I use Kenton Industries turrets on a lot of my scopes which are usually Nightforce as I have found Swaro and S&B are a bit fragile for Australia.
Fast, easy to use and if you supply Kenton with the right info, incredibly accurate.

Just remember to dial the turret back to your first zero range after shooting.

Fragile for Australia? What is it about Australia that would make these scopes fragile for Australia but not Africa? Reminds me of the guys who try to tell us 100 degree African heat is different from 100 degree Texas heat!! 100 degrees is 100 degrees!!

I don't get the Blaser thing at all. "Do I take two barrels or just one barrel with one caliber but take two different scopes for the 1 caliber for use with two different loads?" Hell, why not take a barrel for each day of the week, or at least a new scope and a specific load for each species taken. So let's stick with every one's "best bet", the "scoped 375". You can have one scope and a 235 gr Partition for Impala, then a 275 gr TSX and a different scope for Eland, then a 300 gr A-Frame for buffalo with of course, a different scope for that load. Throw in some CEB 300 gr solids for possible buffalo follow up and Oh by the way, remember to change out the scope when moving from the A-Frame to the CEB ... I'm sure the buffalo will wait for you to change it all out. Kudu you say, well let's go with a 250 gr Hornady and of course, a load specific scope for that one as well.

As Saeed said, this Blaser thing is the answer to a problem that simply doesn't exist. Not to mention they are BUTT UGLY!!!


Just take a couple of rifles if you like a bit of variety. A heavy for buff and elephant and a light rifle in 375 for everything else. Take 1 set of expanding bullets and 1 set of solids for both, then learn how to shoot each at different ranges. Forget all this scope twisty cranky crap and the associated remembering to reset it to zero after the shot. Forget about, "let's see, do I have the right barrel on the frame for this Zebra? What about the load? Is this the right scope for this bullet/powder combo? Is this the right bullet/powder combo for this animal?".



Good Grief

But then again, it's your hunt. If it trips your trigger, pun intended, have at it.

So todd, i see your inner asshole will not stay quiet. You are always complaing that when people post pictures of thier hunt how everybody has an asshole opinion and then nobody wants to opst about thisr hunt. Well seem that should be the same here. I personally shoot all B&M rifles, including the 500 MDM. I am all good. My buddy, who is paying for both of our hunts completley, happens to be a 23 year old how just likes blasers. So who cares, you squeeze the trigger and it goes bang and animals fall over.
No matter how much i have previously explained it apparently you cant get over it, we are not looking to switch out barrel during a stalk. That wuold be stupid, i beileve i stated at the beginning that this is along way from my first rodeo. We have hunts located in 3 different areas for vastly different species. Being my bud is new to this and has had some poor performances i;his past on missing animals, I am trying to make it easy so he is not dicking with 9-14”of holdover on a lechwe in the flats?
Sorry this is too much for you to figure out. Maybe if you dont have anything positive to add to the conversation, just shut up and move on!

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
So todd, i see your inner asshole will not stay quiet. You are always complaing that when people post pictures of thier hunt how everybody has an asshole opinion and then nobody wants to opst about thisr hunt. Well seem that should be the same here. I personally shoot all B&M rifles, including the 500 MDM. I am all good. My buddy, who is paying for both of our hunts completley, happens to be a 23 year old how just likes blasers. So who cares, you squeeze the trigger and it goes bang and animals fall over.
No matter how much i have previously explained it apparently you cant get over it, we are not looking to switch out barrel during a stalk. That wuold be stupid, i beileve i stated at the beginning that this is along way from my first rodeo. We have hunts located in 3 different areas for vastly different species. Being my bud is new to this and has had some poor performances i;his past on missing animals, I am trying to make it easy so he is not dicking with 9-14”of holdover on a lechwe in the flats?
Sorry this is too much for you to figure out. Maybe if you dont have anything positive to add to the conversation, just shut up and move on!

Bloody hell!

Take it easy my friend.

Hunt with whatever you like!

You should hear what they say about my rifle!

A clapped up, home made, piece of steel and plastic!

It has more dents on it than the surface of the moon!

A friend used 12 rounds with it to kill his buffalo!

But I love it, and never pay attention to those who are only jealous because they have no rifle with character like mine!

Still, I think I would use a spear to hunt with rather than be caught with a Blaser

Seriously, I hope you both have a great safari

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
So todd, i see your inner asshole will not stay quiet. You are always complaing that when people post pictures of thier hunt how everybody has an asshole opinion and then nobody wants to opst about thisr hunt. Well seem that should be the same here. I personally shoot all B&M rifles, including the 500 MDM. I am all good. My buddy, who is paying for both of our hunts completley, happens to be a 23 year old how just likes blasers. So who cares, you squeeze the trigger and it goes bang and animals fall over.
No matter how much i have previously explained it apparently you cant get over it, we are not looking to switch out barrel during a stalk. That wuold be stupid, i beileve i stated at the beginning that this is along way from my first rodeo. We have hunts located in 3 different areas for vastly different species. Being my bud is new to this and has had some poor performances i;his past on missing animals, I am trying to make it easy so he is not dicking with 9-14”of holdover on a lechwe in the flats?
Sorry this is too much for you to figure out. Maybe if you dont have anything positive to add to the conversation, just shut up and move on!

Bloody hell!

Take it easy my friend.

Hunt with whatever you like!

You should hear what they say about my rifle!

A clapped up, home made, piece of steel and plastic!

It has more dents on it than the surface of the moon!

A friend used 12 rounds with it to kill his buffalo!

But I love it, and never pay attention to those who are only jealous because they have no rifle with character like mine!

Still, I think I would use a spear to hunt with rather than be caught with a Blaser

Seriously, I hope you both have a great safari

Don’t worry Saeed I am building you (more correctly me in your name) a proper blaser safari rifle in 375h&h

Mike

Mike,

I hope you are half as good at hunting as you are at fishing!

I wish I was half as good at fishing as I am at hunting!

You are going to laugh at this!

I am on a flight on the way home.

35,000 feet and -38 degrees!

Had a great dinner, and they just brought me a chocolate ice cream!

Served by a lovely young lady from The Gambia!

I hope I do not have any more flights before heading on Safari - in a camp that is blessfully free from any Blasers!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Mike,

I hope you are half as good at hunting as you are at fishing!

I wish I was half as good at fishing as I am at hunting!

You are going to laugh at this!

I am on a flight on the way home.

35,000 feet and -38 degrees!

Had a great dinner, and they just brought me a chocolate ice cream!

Served by a lovely young lady from The Gambia!

I hope I do not have any more flights before heading on Safari - in a camp that is blessfully free from any Blasers!

I am glad Emirates stopped banning ar on their inflight WiFi. Makes long flights less painful when you can jump on ar

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by brent ebeling:
So todd, i see your inner asshole will not stay quiet. You are always complaing that when people post pictures of thier hunt how everybody has an asshole opinion and then nobody wants to opst about thisr hunt. Well seem that should be the same here. I personally shoot all B&M rifles, including the 500 MDM. I am all good. My buddy, who is paying for both of our hunts completley, happens to be a 23 year old how just likes blasers. So who cares, you squeeze the trigger and it goes bang and animals fall over.
No matter how much i have previously explained it apparently you cant get over it, we are not looking to switch out barrel during a stalk. That wuold be stupid, i beileve i stated at the beginning that this is along way from my first rodeo. We have hunts located in 3 different areas for vastly different species. Being my bud is new to this and has had some poor performances i;his past on missing animals, I am trying to make it easy so he is not dicking with 9-14”of holdover on a lechwe in the flats?
Sorry this is too much for you to figure out. Maybe if you dont have anything positive to add to the conversation, just shut up and move on!

Damn son! You're going to blow a gasket like that.

Don't take everything so personal, especially the tongue in cheek commentary.



I figured it was obvious I wasn't even responding to you Brent but rather I was making ridiculous commentary on two ridiculous responses above. One about using two different scopes for two different loads shot out of the same rifle and another talking about Australia somehow being tougher on a scope than other similarly remote and rough places while at the same time advocating changing the zero on the scope to compensate for a little hold over calculation, as if jacking around with the adjustments isn't inviting issues affecting zero.



I love giving you Blaser guys a hard time. Most don't have as thin skin as you however!

Todd:

I am just surprised a closed minded person not open to new technological changes and innovation like the amazing blaser rifle platform was provided an f-18 by Uncle Sam

I would have given a shovel - specifically https://www.armynavysales.com/...hovel-me138-231.html

Kind of like the double rifles you like

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Todd:

I am just surprised a closed minded person not open to new technological changes and innovation like the amazing blaser rifle platform was provided an f-18 by Uncle Sam

I would have given a shovel - specifically https://www.armynavysales.com/...hovel-me138-231.html

Kind of like the double rifles you like

Mike

Surely you know Mike, the "A" model Hornet's I flew were primitive compared to today's current model. Even then, they were too "advanced" for my taste. I left for the airlines before I had to "adapt" to any of the "upgrades".



I would have preferred a good old gunfighter jet like the F-8!!! All that switching between different weapons depending on the range made my head spin! I say Guns Only! The bigger the better!!! Preferably without any wiz-bang sighting systems. Just draw a dot on the windshield with a grease pen, put the dot on the bogey, pull the trigger and walk the tracers onto the enemy's cockpit!!!