Brownell's Saved Our Hunt!!!

[Bert the Turtle]

My wife and I are departing Saturday for her long-awaited leopard hunt. On Sunday evening, we did a final check of her rifle zero. Nearly a foot off at 50 yards!! Inspection of the rifle revealed a broken screw in the rear scope mount and a shim falling out. I appeared that the "gunsmith" that installed it used the wrong type of base and then over tightened the base screw, breaking it off inside the mount. How it worked for a 4 day class at **NOT**PERMITTED**, I cannot explain. Perhaps the front mount was holding it well enough to get by.

Of course, her rifle is a Sako, so it uses proprietary mounts not available at any local gun store. In the past, it has taken us weeks to get these mounts. I ordered a set from Brownell's and explained the dire situation. I ordered the mounts Sunday night and they were at my house Tuesday! I mounted the scope late last night. It is off the the range today.

Brownell's saved my wife's hunt. They have earned my future business. I recommend them highly.

 

[sestoppelman]

They are a good outfit and very accommodating. Good luck on the hunt!!

 

[Rob404]

Both Brownells and Midway are First Class

 

[enysse]

Both Brownells and Midway are First Class

I agree, quality companies!

 

[greyfox]

A broken screw on the base I can understand, but a "shim" on a base? On a SAKO? Hmmm. When you get back I'd like to hear more about your wife's rifle.
FWIW, Good for Brownells, they are good people, and if you'd posted here and I saw it, I'd sent you a set of Leupold SAKO rings to use for your hunt,
good luck, have fun, hunt safely!!!

 

[Bert the Turtle]

I con't explain the shim to save my life! If it was repaired at the last minute in Africa, I can understand rigging it with whatever parts were available but I really have no idea what they were thinking. It wasn't my usual gunsmith; now I understand why my usual guy has such a backlog.

Anyway, I did it myself, and everything worked like it was supposed to. Sako makes a quality rifle and quality mounts, so everything lined up and it was really pretty easy. The hunt went well, but old spots one round one. She sat and froze most every night for the 2 weeks we were there, and did see a female and her baby, but the tom never showed. Well, one night he did, about 8 yards from the blind, let them know he knew the deal, and then melted off into the night. They had another bait with nice tracks and it got some good action on the game camera, so they sat, but the honey badgers decided it was their bait, and that leopard decided 5 honey badgers wasn't good odds and just sat at the base of the tree out of sight. They saw him on the game camera the next day. The last night in the blind, they heard a warthog getting killed close by and it was game over. He wasn't coming to the tree when he had his own kill. Still, she had a good time and did get to see leopards in the wild.

My son had a hell of a good time. His goal was to take a honey badger and our PH managed to get a permit for one. Apparently not too commonly issued in Namibia for export, but he got a permit. So he got to sit in the leopard blind turned honey badger blind, but they didn't show. But my wife got to stay behind that night, so bonus for me. Son got the honey badger the next night. On his way to the blind, one of them just decided to hang out next to a tree, so he got out and shot it.

Son also got to do a fair bit of shooting on warthogs that were needed for bait. And my wife wanted a zebra skin rug, so he got her one of those. And a hartebeest and a gemsbok for the meat locker. So, lots of practice for an 11 year old.

A gemsbok with a very atypical horn showed up one day at the waterhole. She will be a nice European mount for me. And since it was my third trip over and I've never shot a warthog, I got me one of those as well.

Already have a deposit down on buffalo. We'll see if my wife wants to spend another couple weeks freezing next year.

Pictures to follow when I get the camera unpacked. Right now, the jet lag is kicking in.

 

[sestoppelman]

I didnt see the outfitter mentioned, did I miss it along the way? Sounds like a good hunt.

 

[bluey]

way to go bert , sound like you guys had fantastic trip
specially the bait gatherer
enjoy the jetlag mate
l think of it as the hangover after the party

 

[RickB]

enjoy the jetlag mate
l think of it as the hangover after the party

That is a really good way to put it!

Sounds like you had another good time. Cant wait to see the pics!!

 

[greyfox]

Sounds like you had a great time, and got your wife's SAKO up smoothly.

Where are you located? I am a gunsmith and a SAKO nut. If I can be of any assistance, just ask.
Sincerely,
GreyFox

 

[DOC-404]

I am a gunsmith and a SAKO nut.

Glad you got it sorted and had a good trip, Bert...now I have to hijack the ol' Greyfox for a minute. Doug, who makes a bore-guide for a Sako Quad..I can't find anything that fits past the darn magazine feeder !

Thanks Bert.. :thumb:

 

[greyfox]

Docman.
Check these guys RVB Precision | Welcome to the world of ultra precision

 

[BRICKBURN]

Nice to hear that they would jump on an order to help out.

Look forward to those pictures.