What is the consensus on a New Haven made Winchester safari express as a reliable dangerous game rifle? Would I be better off investing in a Dakota?

I’m left handed so options are limited.

Perfectly fine.

This Winchester 1886 45-90 did well on buff , ele, and leopard.so surely a new modern Winchester will also.


It is actually ambidextrous.

All of my bolt action dangerous game rifles, with the exception of ONE, are Winchester, Model 70, New Haven actions. I have killed everything from elephant on down with them, including all of the Big Five, Magnificent Seven, Tiny Ten. . . . . .well, you get the point, I hope.

Potentially it’s fine.

I’d say (from experience) that you might need to have a good gunsmith work over the feeding, especially with large flat meplat solids. (Like northfork or the flat nosed Barnes ones that they stopped selling...)

Any brand can have those issues, but I haven’t had them with my Dakotas, but have had with one Winchester M70.

If you are going to have someone who knows what they are doing work it over, then no concerns.

Safari is expensive, The Win.is fine, but any gun you buy for DG should be glassed, have an extra recoil lug, two cross bolts, and tested on the range for feed and function at 100%..I would expect at least 1.5" groups at 100 yards off the bench and 1" suits me better..Thats what I do anyway...Practice your off hand shooting.

The Dakota M76 is for functional purposes same as a Winchester M70, as long as both have been properly finished and tuned,
and you do not have a bum extractor made of pot metal instead of properly tempered spring steel on either of them.
They are both CRF with pushfeed capability, and no undercutting of the extractor tongue & groove,
i.e., not a true Mauser 98 with Controlled Round Extraction.
M76, M70, M98, all are DGR material.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Potentially it’s fine.

I’d say (from experience) that you might need to have a good gunsmith work over the feeding, especially with large flat meplat solids. (Like northfork or the flat nosed Barnes ones that they stopped selling...)

Any brand can have those issues, but I haven’t had them with my Dakotas, but have had with one Winchester M70.

If you are going to have someone who knows what they are doing work it over, then no concerns.

This for sure^^^^^^^^^^^^
Also my P64 was worked over and it fed just fine UNTIL I needed another fast 2nd shot on a buff. After it is worked over try to cycle it with your safari ammunition like you are trying to tear the bolt off!

Having a rifle that feeds well is different from having a shooter that can feed the rifle well. Having the rifle in a vise and perfecting function only ensures the mechanics of the rifle are working properly. Put that rifle in the hands of a person, from the shoulder, and ask them to manipulate the bolt and all kinds of things can happen. I don't think enough people practice working the bolt as if they are actually shooting. I've seen (and done it myself) guys practice without ever dropping the firing pin. This eliminates the all important factor of having to re-cock the thing. Unless you've practised it, recocking the thing adds all kinds of torque to the process which can throw a shooter off. Stuff like this is apparent in some videos we see.

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
Having a rifle that feeds well is different from having a shooter that can feed the rifle well. Having the rifle in a vise and perfecting function only ensures the mechanics of the rifle are working properly. Put that rifle in the hands of a person, from the shoulder, and ask them to manipulate the bolt and all kinds of things can happen. I don't think enough people practice working the bolt as if they are actually shooting. I've seen (and done it myself) guys practice without ever dropping the firing pin. This eliminates the all important factor of having to re-cock the thing. Unless you've practised it, recocking the thing adds all kinds of torque to the process which can throw a shooter off. Stuff like this is apparent in some videos we see.

Right. We saw it in my double vs bolt speed shooting video where by buddy Eric jammed his custom 416 Rigby several times, then jammed my customized CZ in 416 Rigby. There were some criticizing Eric but the fact is, he is a very experienced big bore shooter.

It was that little bit of added pressure from the competition that gave him enough of an adrenaline bump to snatch at the bolt guns in a similar fashion one might expect in a DG hunting situation that calls for a quick follow up. In the end, he had to back off just a little, like a sprinter relaxing in order to get max performance. It's something one won't expect unless you've experienced it and would easily be forgotten even if you do know about it.

Both rifles feed slick as butter typically. But he managed to jam them both. That comment about slick feeding omits the process you described of pulling the trigger thereby including the recocking action when cycling the bolt.

Train as you fight, and you won't have any problems no matter what you take into the field. I do not see enough of it, here at least; guys fire a few rounds off the bench and declare it good enough to hit anything.
Train under field conditions, and you and your equipment will perform when needed. And you will have the confidence to do the job. Fail to do that and you will fail, no matter what you are carrying.
It's basic, simple Army doctrine, where the game shoots back.

WHAT DPCD SAID +1

Plumb profound.
Yep, train as you would hunt or fight.

So the shooter makes the DGR out of any proper Winchester M70, Dakota M76, Mauser M98, Ruger M77, MRC M1999, CZ 550 Magnum or Medium, etc.,
but never a Blaser !

Rip ...

Rip ...

Very true. I did a lot of fast second shots on targets but that is very different than fast second shots on something that wants to smear you into the dirt.