Hi guys,

I don't post much, but I've been reading a bit and I'm concerned about the stigma (if that's the right word) about the usage of the single shot big-bore.

Now hold with me here if you can. Any rifle is a good rifle, and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I'll accept any reason for owning a rifle, even if it's 'just because I want one'.
I own a No. 1 Tropical in .375 H&H and the rifle is a loyal shooter.

I'm primarily a bow hunter, so I understand single shot theory. But when I can do it at 100 yards, it's no longer a bow. I hunt with most of my rifles, and I'm concerned that the big bore single shot is being pushed aside because of it's lack of follow-up on large dangerous game. Sure repeaters are faster, but I'm pretty surprised at how fast I've gotten in reloading my single in just a short amount of practice.

Anyway, I've read plenty from the African threads, so I'd like to hear what the single shot fans feel about the big-bore, and what would you use it for? It certainly is heavier than the .30-.35 cal sporter barrelled rifles out there that can take the same game - What would make you lug it around?

Thanks and a great day to you.

EMC2

If I was needed as a truck sniper. A gun that big would kill a kenworth dead. Ron

I use mine for everything bigger than a rabbit - why? Because it works and I like it.

good enough for me.

Brent

Nostolga is one reason to use them, and as you mentioned, a practiced shooter can hang in there with most bolt-action shooters on follow-up shots. Also, for me, with a well-balanced single-shot I end up with a shorter overall rifle that will point faster. your No. 1 in .375 H&H is a good example. I have used a No. 1 .375 H&H as a heavy timber/brush gun because I can make a first aimed shot faster with it than any other rifle that I have owned. A good single-shot balances and points like a good double rifle.

A single-shot would not be my first choice for a solo hunter after dangerous game, but I would use one if I had to or had another hunter to back me up.

There are practical reasons for a single shot in any caliber. Light weight, relieable and simple, In some cases they break down and are more portable.
Anyone would be hard pressed to lable a single shot as an Archotype dangerous game gun but although perhaps not for practical reasons they may have there place.
I've taken several brown bears over the last few decades and when I drew a covited permit for a bear hunt on Kodiak island I wanted to go on the hunt but I felt like I needed to make it a little more interestiong than just adding another bear skin to the trophy room.
My decission was to hunt solo with my #1 .375.
I've done a little archery hunting and a lot of handgun hunting to make things a little more interesting but this time my challenge was hunting dangerous game with a single shot.
The hunt was successful And went off without a problem. It was after the hunt and I was skinning the bear that it got interesting as another bear came into the kill and decided to claim it for himself. I have to at this point admit that I backed myself up with a .454 casull on this day and it came in handy although it all came out well in the end and we both survived the encounter

.Don't own any big bores at the moment,
But a #1 Big bore would be a great saddle rifle for an elk or moose hunter.
Also for a guy that hunts dangerous game. Might get a bigger thrill out of the added danger a single shot.
...tj3006

Boddington used a new No. 1 in 450-400 3" to take a nice cape buff...of course he had a PH backing him up. I think a good single shot with the right bullets would be fine for the big stuff....except maybe elephant at close range. I'd be real sure I could reload very fast though for that ONE time you needed it.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI

there's probably no reason for using a single shot that can't be reputed by a repeater, but there are reasons. like loud n boomer says - nostolga is a big one - just like is plays a big part in a double, the form and grace of a classic single can't be copied by a repeater, the shortness of the action, the mental factor of having but one shot, and the quickness of bringing the first shot to bear. all minute factors, but so what. people are allowed tolike different things without justification. its what makes the world go around

In my mind there is no stigma in useing a single shot for any type hunting, dangerous game or not.....its all about shot placement!

quote:

Originally posted by will227457:
In my mind there is no stigma in useing a single shot for any type hunting, dangerous game or not.....its all about shot placement!

I believe that concept was understood and implied in most of the posts above. Ethical hunters have shot placement at the foremost factor in shooting any form of hunting tool. Having hunted bears with a single shot, your point was paramount in my mind, but not the reason I used a single shot.

Anything that can't be passified with a single 650gn bullet from a 50 cal is going to be too tough to eat anyway!

We tend to forget that most of the great, early dangerous game hunters, like Selous, Baker, etc., started off with muzzleloadfing arms, many of which were single-shots, and which could not be reloaded nearly as quickly as the slowest breech loader. I do not consider hunting with a bigbore Ruger No. 1 or Dakota #10 to be much of a handicap. They can be reloaded about as quickly as it takes to recover from the recoil. A bolt action may be faster, but not much! Yes, fast reloading of the single shot requires practice. If one doesn't enjoy practicing with one's rifle, then use one that requires less skill.....

The late Jack Lott of .458 Lott fame once wrote a specialty magazine for Guns & Ammo on big bore rifles. In one of the sections in the book, he stated that a single shot big bore rifle was perfectly adequate for dangerous game.
Al Miller in an issue of Rifle Magazine did an article on speed loading the single shot rifle. IIRC, he stated that a practiced man with a single shot was about as fast as the average hunter using a bolt action. He did say that those who practiced rapid fire with a bolt action would be much faster in getting off a second shot.
One can use the recoil of the DGR single shot to one's advantage. As the rifle recoils upward, the shooting hand can sweep down operating the lever ejecting the fired round. The shooting hand is then free to pick up the next cartridge in order to reload the rifle. If one has their spare cartridges in a convenient place, reloading is swift and simple.
Paul B.