Mild large bore

JPbowhunter

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First of all I'm starting to hate this forum all i do these days is look up African hunting and large bore rifles, feel like my little bank account will be hanging in the red!

All this talk of cals has me wondering.

I'm very much an average joe, i dont have the money for DG hunts and are not likely to in my lifetime realistically. BUT you just never know! maybe i do need one after my 275 is finished.

My current safe is a 30-06, the 275 rigby, and a 50 cal muzzleloader. I can justify a bigger cal as long as i can load it down for sambar. A 250gn barnes from 9.3x62 comes to mind (brother has that in sako blackbear). Ive shot deer with it and enjoy it, it kicks a bit on the bench but nothing uncomfortable

Any recommendations on a rifle calibre that would suit? Something that can go down to a 250 or 350gn projectile with mild loading for general use but can be bumped if if i ever say hunt water buffalo or draw a MT grizzly tag (great odds on that im sure!)

Really starting to like cz 550 as a good working man rifle so thats a likely make.
 
given that you dont think you will actually hunt DG then i agree with @stug on going with the 375 H&H. it will be a more mild medium bore cartridge suitable for almost any game.

-matt
 
Yeah but if i was just going to get a 375 I'd buy a 9.3 given how simikar they are. Was hoping there would be something one step up from that to fit the bill.
 
want something bigger then a 375? get a Winchester M70 in 416 RM, i bought one years ago and id part with my doubles before i sold that rifle. i use a 300gr Barnes TSX at 2700fps to flatten game in the US and over seas. the pig in my avatar was shot with my M70 and thats a 416 RM cartridge sitting on his nose.

-matt
 
If its just a step up to a big bore youre looking for.. I would agree with the others and go 375 H&H.. it has been used successfully to hunt everything from dik dik to elephant.. and is legal to use in places that a 9.3 is not.. There are things you can do with a 375 that you cannot do with a 9.3.. but I cant think of anything you can do with a 9.3 that you cant do with a 375...

If youre looking for 1 step up from a 375... I agree with Matt.. you probably need to look at one of the 416's (I went the 416 Taylor route.. but thats only because I needed something that I could build on a standard 98 action without having to do a lot of work to the action itself.. otherwise I probably would have gone with a 416 Rem).. or consider a 404 Jeff (although Im betting finding a 404 Jeff in Oz at a reasonable price would be the proverbial needle in a haystack sort of affair)...
 
Talk to Von Gruff. He lives in your neck of the woods and had a 404 Jeffery built on a 98 Action. I understand that a Win. Mod 70 African Express in 300 RUM can be converted to 404 Jeffery by swapping out the barrel. The 404 will work just fine on Water Buffalo and or Scrub bulls. Woodleigh makes a good assortment of bullets.
 
If its just a step up to a big bore youre looking for.. I would agree with the others and go 375 H&H.. it has been used successfully to hunt everything from dik dik to elephant.. and is legal to use in places that a 9.3 is not.. There are things you can do with a 375 that you cannot do with a 9.3.. but I cant think of anything you can do with a 9.3 that you cant do with a 375...

If youre looking for 1 step up from a 375... I agree with Matt.. you probably need to look at one of the 416's (I went the 416 Taylor route.. but thats only because I needed something that I could build on a standard 98 action without having to do a lot of work to the action itself.. otherwise I probably would have gone with a 416 Rem).. or consider a 404 Jeff (although Im betting finding a 404 Jeff in Oz at a reasonable price would be the proverbial needle in a haystack sort of affair)...
Thats a fair point, but i dont see myself ever hunting dg in africa so the minimum legal cal isn't too big a concern for me.

I shot off an email to one of the importers asking about what they dp in 404. Curious to hear back.
 
I'm with the others recommending the 375H&H.
There are plenty of factory loads for this caliber that will make it a pleasure to shoot.
Staying at the lower end of the big bores will also minimize the cost of the firearm.
As the caliber goes up, typically the price does as well.
 
I will have a 9.3x62 Sako Black-bear with mounts, dies and cases for sale very soon if you are interested in going down that track and am located in Aus.

P.M if interested.
 
I will have a 9.3x62 Sako Black-bear with mounts, dies and cases for sale very soon if you are interested in going down that track and am located in Aus.

P.M if interested.
G'day Paul,

Cheers mate, ive done a lot of hunting with my brothers black bear in 9.3, definitely a great rifle. But I'm settled on a nice wooden rifle for my next, if i go sako ill either save for a grizzly or get a bavarian. Cheers
 
G'day Paul,

Cheers mate, ive done a lot of hunting with my brothers black bear in 9.3, definitely a great rifle. But I'm settled on a nice wooden rifle for my next, if i go sako ill either save for a grizzly or get a bavarian. Cheers

All good, JP.
 
As an example, I have a 375 H&H. I used 300gr on buffalo and on the same hunt with the same bullet took bushpig and bushbuck. Changed to 300 solid and shot duiker. Next hunt shot everything with 250 Barnes TTSX including warthog, Black Wildebeest, Eland, croc, and sable. For a mixed bag a 375 H&H is great IMO for an Africa one gun Safari. I plan to load 235 TSX for lion next year. We’ll see how that goes.
Best of luck in a tough decision!
 
As many have stated the 375 and 9.3x62 would work but you also mentioned something in the 40 cal range. If you don't mind a single shot you can get a ruger #1 in 450/400 and load it down or up to almost 416 rigby levels. It is a mild recoiling big bore with allot of African heritage.
 
As many have stated the 375 and 9.3x62 would work but you also mentioned something in the 40 cal range. If you don't mind a single shot you can get a ruger #1 in 450/400 and load it down or up to almost 416 rigby levels. It is a mild recoiling big bore with allot of African heritage.
I dont hide the fact that im a jim corbett fanatic, I've sourced his books from the other side of the world just to have em, and it was the primary driver for my love of 275 rigby which im currently having built. So yeah the 450/400 is definitely my favourite large bore! But i cant find any in a double that aren't at premium prices and I'm not a big fan of single shots.

I wasn't going to mention it in case it falls through but currently my old man is working on access to a water buffalo property up north for a trophy fee access deal. If it works out it's something I'd like to do every couple of years, so without a guide as backup I'd rather have more than one shot to cover myself.
 
Yeah but if i was just going to get a 375 I'd buy a 9.3 given how simikar they are. Was hoping there would be something one step up from that to fit the bill.

Well a couple of things. First, the 375 HH is hard to beat as an all around cartridge but it is not at all considered a big bore. Second, the 9.3x62 is much closer to a 35 Whelen and not so much to a 375 HH.

I agree with matt85- if you want at least a rifle that is at the lower end of the big bore scale and a step up front the 375 HH then consider one of the 40 cals. Hard to beat a 416 Rem Mag. Easy to load down with lighter bullets or reduced velocity or up to the "full power" standard in that cal. of about 24oo fps with a 400 gr bullet.
 
375 H&H. Legal to hunt anything on this planet, recoil is mild for the big bores. A Win M70 is a very nice rifle in this caliber. The CZ 550 is as well.
 
I suggest the 350 grain Woodleigh Bullets!
The recoil going from the 375 to say 416 is significant.
Shot placement is what you need or require rather than very large calibers.
 
IMO a lot depends on range. If you want a versatile rifle that shoot out to 400plus then look at 338Wm or any of the 375's, my personal preference being the Ruger. If mostly close range then anything from 375 to 458.
If recoil is an issue ( which is what the opening question suggests) then a 9.3 is preferable to a 375 in equal rifles and 458 loaded with 350 or 400gainers could also work for you.
Choices, choices
 

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