quote:

Originally posted by Mike McGuire:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

Pick the one you like best.

That is probably the best answer for just about every "which calibre" question and especially for a guns and ammo enthusiast.

The 400 H&H can be as satisfyingly oddball as any wildcat shooting a standard bullet diameter, e.g.:

400 Karamojo
.410/404 Jeffery Rimless Nitro Express

To get more satisfyingly oddball than that, you have to pay for custom tooling
to make the barrels to shoot a bullet diameter
that is available only by custom order.
Ergo gestum:

400/.395 Nitro Express 3-Inch (10.03x75R)
.395 H&H
.395 Max Ruger
398 Lapua Magnum
.395 Tatanka Rigby

Still looking for those 400 H&H naked person photos ...

THE FEW THE PROUD THE 395 FAMILY
Rip

To answer the original question. The correct answer to me is a 375HH. The OP has a 450 NE DR so my first thought is a single shot in 450 NE but that is what a double is, right? Two single shots married together. Your "Back up" is your other barrel so to speak. A separate single shot rifle in 450 NE makes a lot of sense since you use the same ammo. The 375HH is the the proverbial one planet, one rifle solution and since the OP mentioned "Range". That makes me think 375HH even more. The 400 is the fish/fowl goldilox paradox. I want matching rifles in 400 Karamojo and 375HH with the 375 as PG/DG/Back up gun. That said, a fine single shot in 450NE would keep me happy for everything as my personal one gun solution. Do I still want a well worn 577NE double? @&$# yeah! The 400's offer both range and TKO and that is good IMHO.
Boom out!(mike drop)

While an argument can be made for most anything, to me a backup/African medium/NA heavy is the .375 H&H.

I’ve used a Dakota 76 .375 H&H on pretty much everything short of elephant and rhino, and have no concerns with its ability to kill stuff. If you have a .450 NE, there is little reason to get another big gun. The .375 is pretty much the definition of a do it all gun. Will a .400 (or larger) serve? Sure. But I think you can pretty much guarantee finding at least some .375 ammo in any safari camp.

If you want something else, that’s up to you, but from a purely practical standpoint, the .375 is the best choice, at least imo.

You have as good a back up rifle as you can get in a 450 NE in double..

For NA, the .375 shoots flat and will kill even the big bears without hitch..A back up rifle is to clean up a mess real close IMO..Even at that, the .375 is pretty handy at that..