A friend and I have a safari hunting outfit in Australia with exclusive access to 28000 square miles of premium Buffalo and Boar hunting territory. We cater for a good number of overseas clients every year,but these are rifle shooters not having a huge interest in hunting with handguns. The main reason I think is the difficulty bringing a handgun into this country to hunt with these days. If we get enough interest we are contemplating the purchase of two BFR revolvers ($2200Aus each) of our own in 45/70 cal for clients to hunt with. There is quite a substantial number of members in these forums and with the majority of handgun hunters being American I'm hoping you people may be able give me an idea if travelling overseas to hunt big game with an outfitters revolver is something you guys are likely to do. We'll be asking this question when we attend the hunting shows in the U.S next year but for now any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers Brett

Welcome to the forum, Bretto. I think folks here would be interested if it is a reasonably priced hunt. It's just too bad that a visiting foreign hunter can't simply bring his/own hunting handgun to Oz. Looking forward to hearing the details!

I would not be interested in hunting anywhere with anything but my own handgun.

Grumulkin raises an important point. Handgun hunters spend a lot of time dialing their own rigs in and practicing with their own handguns......

Still, if the gun was familiar and sighted right with the right loads, I see no problem. Since I own one I would not have a problem shooting another. One could bring his own loads, sight the gun and hunt too. Actually, I think the BFR in .475 Linebaugh might be a better choice since it is easier to handle. How many guys have the strength to hold and shoot the huge 45-70? Not the recoil, just the mass of the gun. It might be a better idea to buy one of each and let the hunter take his choice.

quote:

Originally posted by Bretto:
A friend and I have a safari hunting outfit in Australia with exclusive access to 28000 square miles of premium Buffalo and Boar hunting territory. We cater for a good number of overseas clients every year,but these are rifle shooters not having a huge interest in hunting with handguns. The main reason I think is the difficulty bringing a handgun into this country to hunt with these days. If we get enough interest we are contemplating the purchase of two BFR revolvers ($2200Aus each) of our own in 45/70 cal for clients to hunt with. There is quite a substantial number of members in these forums and with the majority of handgun hunters being American I'm hoping you people may be able give me an idea if travelling overseas to hunt big game with an outfitters revolver is something you guys are likely to do. We'll be asking this question when we attend the hunting shows in the U.S next year but for now any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers Brett

I'd do it. I wanted to stop through Brisbane to see a professor friend and hunt Oz a bit on my way back from Transvaal last April and there was no way around the fact that I had a BFR with me (in .45-70). Oz firearms cops suggested I "ship it home from Africa" which has a whole different set of problems including a high probability of it getting "lost", so I ended up skipping coming through Oz on the way home for an extra hunt. I'd sign up. As far as I know, I haven't heard of any outfitters in Oz that offer such a service.

One suggestion, for general purpose client use a holo sight or red dot on at least one might be the best ideal. Anybody can shoot those well within their useful range so it would cut down on woundings.

I've taken wildebeest and deer, with mine along with the odd mongoose, squirrel, and coyote. Be interesting to take an Oz buff with one. Also be interesting to see how well it explodes roos.

This whole topic of handgun hunting Buffalo in the N.T. was dealt with at length here in a thread started by Matt Graham on Sept. 22 2007. Interested parties may want to review that thread.

When these countries get their heads on straight about visting handgun hunters...then I will hunt there with a handgun...my own. Places like Canada and Australia need to understand that a visiting hunter is not going to rob the bank or the corner store. They are there to hunt and in all cases paying a lot of money to do so. That is all he/she is interested in. These countries are leaving a lot of money float away that could be used for important purposes. Perhaps these outfitters should spend as much energy as possible to get the politicians to be a bit more handgun hunter friendly. As for what gun I agree with bfrshooter...the 475 linebaugh has plenty of gusto for any size buff. I would also have an Encore with a 14" bull barrel, a low powered scope like a 4x Leupold and in a serious large game caliber of at least .375 cal. for the real serious handgunners who can shoot them. But I would still rather shoot my own.

heres my take on it. If im going to go on a once in a lifetime (and thats what it would be for me) hunt id surely like to use one of my own sixguns. If the hunt could be made cheap enough i might be persuaded though. But water buffalo are something that can be hunted relitively cheaply in the states now and done with your own gun and you can even bring the meat home to eat.

quote:

Originally posted by Lloyd Smale:
heres my take on it. If im going to go on a once in a lifetime (and thats what it would be for me) hunt id surely like to use one of my own sixguns. If the hunt could be made cheap enough i might be persuaded though. But water buffalo are something that can be hunted relitively cheaply in the states now and done with your own gun and you can even bring the meat home to eat.

The thing is, with Oz firearms regs, it's really onerous to do as far as forms and approvals even when you are only talking long guns you wish to bring in, god forbid it's a handgun and you aren't there to shoot in a pistol match...so if it's a choice of having to "rent" instead of use my own and not going at all I might be inclined to rent.

It's kinda like when I go shoot bobcats and coyotes in Mexico: I can have a borrowed Remington of the sort I like for varmints or I can give 300 dollars to the Mexican government and a whole lot of paperwork hassles to get one of my personal guns back and forth over the Rio Grande.

It's an imperfect world. I deal with it as best I can to use my toys rather than those of others, but it is what it is. Oz doesn't like handguns. UK and NZ don't either. It's actually ILLEGAL to hunt anything with a handgun of any caliber in NZ even if you were allowed to legally bring it into the country.

You pays your money and you takes your chances...

So what would happen if the outfitter also had a "pistol match" then you could get the gun into the country and go on a hunt at the same time??

the chef

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
So what would happen if the outfitter also had a "pistol match" then you could get the gun into the country and go on a hunt at the same time??

the chef

I have heard such things have been known to happen except that it was a pistol match in the area the outfitter knew of at a certain time near when a client wanted to hunt. Be too obvious if the outfitter had the match himself.

Local pistol match..... I love the way guys think! To be honest though I've been shooting handguns for over 15 years and have yet to lay eyes on Bfr in the flesh. So am a little unfamiliar with them at this stage. They are extremely thin on the ground here in Aus as we have an upper calibre limit now of 38 except for special purposes. (Exceptions being Metalic silhouette, western action at club level and of course hunting in the northern territory only)There is a mob to the south that stock Bfr's but they have yet to sell one in 475 linebaugh. Seems to be a very uncommon calibre here. They do have them in stock in 45/70 though, so I'll make the trip check them out. If they seem as you guys say too large for the average person we'll make enquires on the linebaugh. The other news is we,ve had a federal election last week with a change of government being the result. So we'll have to wait an see what this mobs true attitude to firearms is and whether they will change anything with regards to temp. permits to import guns. Not likely though but fingers crossed. And again as Matt graham mentioned regarding Croc hunting. We were hopefull of being allowed limited hunting of these critters under the old government but this mob seems to have a bit too much influence from greenies for my liking.
But as I can see from the responses so far there is a general dislike to the idea of using a gun on a hunt that is not your own. I can understand that as I know my self I've gone to great lengths to bring my own firearms on a hunting trip. With the first hunting show we do next year being Russia I have no idea at this stage what to expect from them in the way of handgun hunting. Be interesting either way I'm sure. I thank you people very much for your feed back so far and would be greatful for anymore info you have to include.
Regards Brett

I love Oz. The people, the food, the beer, and the attitude. Spent quite a bit of time there. But if I were to lay out that sort of cash for a flyaway hunt, I'd go somewhere that I could hunt my own firearms, be they rifles or handguns. The onerous firearms regulations are a tragedy. Keeps a lot of Americans out who would otherwise visit. Good luck.