Remington African Plains Rifle?

14 May 2005, 08:36

500grains

QUESTION:

quote:
Originally posted by recoilpad:
Are the Remington African Plains Rifle good rifles to take to Africa, such as one in .375 Ultra Mag. Are these good dangerous game rifles? Thanks.

ANSWER:

quote:
from African Hunter Magazine:

Remington 700. The 700 may be a very fine hunting rifle. I donâ€™t know because Iâ€™ve never used one, but I do know that it is a
piss poor dangerous game rifle especially in .416 Rem calibre. Apart from the odd inexplicable misfire, a broken extractor cost us an elephant wounded and lost at Rifa. This is not the first year that Iâ€™ve seen a broken extractor on a Remington 700 in .416 either. In addition they are just about the hardest rifle to refill the magazine in a hurry. My memories this year of students and candidates using them is that of youngsters frantically trying to thrust cartridges into the mag, only to have a double feed, the rounds pop straight back out or many other problems. A two round reload took on average, twice as long with the Model 700's as it did with just about any other make of rifle. The difference between the Remington and the Weatherby is that the latter can be downloaded a little so as to operate flawlessly and the safety fixed, whilst I do not know that anything can be done with the Remingtons except to re-barrel them to a plains game cartridge and leave them at home when out after the dangerous stuff. To be fair though, all of the extraction problems seem to be confined to rifles in .416 and .375. and they seem reasonably reliable in .458 provided you are prepared to tolerate the awkwardness of the reload. I am not. A good single shot or even a Weatherby is a better choice.

http://www.african-hunter.com/lessons_learned.htm

14 May 2005, 09:59

new_guy

quote:
re-barrel them to a plains game cartridge and leave them at home when out after the dangerous stuff.

agreed. I happen to own one in 300 ultra mag. It was not by design, but by coincidence - I only purchased it b/c it was new and priced like a 700 ADL (came from an estate.)

Shoots good, but for the retail asking price, there are better options available.

14 May 2005, 18:18

Pathfinder

quote:
Are the Remington African Plains Rifle good rifles to take to Africa, such as one in .375 Ultra Mag. Are these good dangerous game rifles? Thanks

Not suitable for DG but OK for plains game as long as you don't keep a live round in the chamber. Of course you could have the safety changed to the M70 type.

15 May 2005, 21:10

ROSCOE

If you like the gun go hunting with it. A lot of DG has been taked with the Remington. It would not be my personal choice because because I have other rifles, however my good friend used a Remington on his buffalo hunt and had no problems. In my opinion one needs to be sure that your weapon functions correctly prior to a hunt regardless of make or type.

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15 May 2005, 23:47

Lawdog_Gary

Better yet, get a Winchester M70. Lawdog

16 May 2005, 02:07

baboon

After I got into hunting plains game I wanted a bigger rifle in case.I had a model 700 in 7mm rem.mag.that no one would buy and I no longer used.My P.H.made the suggestion that I rebarrel it in .416 rem.mag.Everything I looked at and liked was out of my buget.It took a nice waterbuck and gemsbok last June with it.I really do not plan on it as a DGR,but its a hell of a wacking stick.If who you hunt with is ok with it why not.When I can afford to hunt dangerous game then I can afford a double.