Do you have your ideal rifle or are you still looking for it?

mdwest said:

Mind you that in 56 years I’ve never hunted p-dogs… and I have no future plans to hunt them…

But by God I’m prepared now! lol..,

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I'm glad to find out that I'm not the only one who does this.

I don't want an opportunity to hunt a particular type of game in a new environment to appear & then start looking for an appropriate rifle. I want the ideal rifle to be sitting in my safe already setup & ready to go.

So some of my rifles are ideal choices for imaginary scenarios I dream of encountering one day in the future. But that just gives me an excuse to buy extra rifles I don't really need & gives me a reason to go out to the range & shoot. I enjoy the process. Over the last several years, I've had about nine different locations I've regularly hunted in. In each case, I try to choose an ideal rifle to be used at that specific location. I don't know if I'll ever actually make it to Africa but I have my 375 H&H and 458 Win Mag ready just in case! I practice with them on a regular basis.

One of the ideal rifles for the hunting I currently do is my left-handed Sako 85 Hunter chambered in 30-06 (top below). With a Schmidt & Bender 1.5-8x42 Stratos, it is a great all-around workhorse that will effectively kill anything I've been pointing a rifle at recently. It's incredibly accurate too so no excuses if I don't do my part correctly.



Since the OP specifically mentioned his 375 H&H, as a left-handed shooter my choices are very limited. I'm really lucky to have a nice LH Winchester 70 Safari Express (bottom above) since I'm not sure if & when they'll ever start making more. Smooth operating, accurate & feels great in my hands. With a Swarovski Z6 1.7-10x42 scope, I could get good use out of this rifle in a lot of situations.

Because I'm right-handed but shoot left most of the time, I'm a big fan of ambidextrous falling blocks. With my Winchester 1885 Safari Octagon in 375 H&H, I keep things simple on the single-shot falling- block by having a fixed Zeiss Diatal Z 6x42 MC. With its 28" barrel, I'd love to do some PG hunting with this rifle one day. My 375 H&H's are uniquely different but I love them both.

Bought a 404 Jeffrey barrel for my SAUER a few years ago. Insanely accurate. Have taken Cape Buffalo, Sable, Water Buffalo and a pig with it. Heading to SA for Plains Game this year and think I will have to take that barrel along with the 300WM barrel.

Russ16 said:

I have what you describe. A Model 70 Safari Express that shoots frat and fits me.

But I don’t have my “ideal rifle” for me that’s a laser fast small bore. Probably a 220 Swift for nostalgia. I’m fascinated by such gins for some reason.

DG rifles are cool and I love them but they aren’t what I dream of when I think of an ideal rifle.

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On of my greatest regrets is selling a 220 Swift I had years ago. Cracking cartridge.

Pre War Mauser in 275 Rigby preferably not drilled and tapped

Pretty new to hunting in Africa just came back from my first safari in August. I purchased a Ruger guide gun in 375 Ruger, loaded up some 300 grain swift A Frames. Started out using reloader 19, the rifle would shoot clover leafs at 100 yards. Before we left my brother told me I needed to source some more reloader 19, I decided that I wasn’t going to spend double or triple for it so we settled on H4350 after finding an old magazine article on reloading the 375 Ruger. While the H4350 wasn’t as accurate as the R19 it was successfully used on 6 animals ranging from warthog to Cape buffalo. I set the rifle up with a Leupold vx5 2-10 duplex with no open turrets. To me this was the perfect setup short enough to handle quickly and in tight spacing but still pushing 9lbs empty. I don’t know the next time I will make it back but I know the Ruger will be with me. To me it was the perfect one gun solution.

I’m still looking for the perfect squirrel gun. Any old 22 LR will work, but I want something that’s not junk but heirloom quality.

My other theaters of hunt are pretty well covered. I want to make some mods to my Mod 70 in 416 Rem to make improvements (Extended magazine, new walnut stock, ghost ring rear sight), but otherwise I am content with the “perfect” rifles I have.

However, shotguns are a sore subject. I have a Mossberg 835 and a janky Turkish semi auto. I have them purely out of functionality, but I hate them. I really want SXS sets of basically every gauge from 410 to 12. I say “sets” because I like taking my wife and kids with me. Sadly, this is a very expensive and lofty goal, especially when I haven’t shot very many sxs guns to know what I like. I do enjoy them more than O/U’s even though O/U’s are easier and cheaper.

Whenever this question comes up, in my mind if you could only have 1, I mean truly 1, what would it have to be to do everything, that makes the answer a lot easier. To me that is a 375 of some variety, on a standard action so the rifle is a manageable weight and size, with a 22-24" barrel, an open sight provision, which for me at my age has become a peep configuration, and an QR optic provision that isn't complicated, has good eye relief, with a reticle that makes sense, for that is a S&B Zenith 1.1-4, #4. I've had great experiences with 270-350 grain loads with this caliber, and it has always proved adequate. Honestly, I'm not a long range cowboy so the 300 yard max principle applies to me, and a 375 with a 270 grain bullet going 2800fps fits does IMO, and meets minimum for DG. One could argue for a 404J, 416 Taylor, 375 or 416 Ruger, and any other true 375-40 that fits on a standard action, but you get my drift.

Ideal African rifle is my R8 with the standard .375 barrel in place. My ideal everything else rifle is the R8 with another of several barrels in place. Finest production general purpose rifle yet produced by human hands.

Red Leg said:

Ideal African rifle is my R8 with the standard .375 barrel in place. I deal everything else rifle is the R8 with another of several barrels in place. Finest production general purpose rifle yet produced by human hands.

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Mmmm..... ....all I going to say....

BryceM said:

For North America, yes. I had a remarkable fellow build me a .300 Win Mag on a Stainless Rem 700 action with a 21" threaded barrel. It is married to an Ultra 5 ThunderBeast supressor and a nice Leupold Scope. McMillan Stock. Jewel trigger. It is a tremendous shooter and it is the first rifle I've absolutely trusted to put bullets exactly where I tell them to go.

The only reason that it isn't a great PG rifle is that a 21" barrel makes zero sense without the suppressor and travelling abroad with those things introduces a few new problems.

For DG........ no, probably not yet. I'm currently using a CZ550 in .416 Rigby which IMO is at a sweet spot in the "value for dollar spent" department. I like everything about it, except one thing. If I fill it up, the first round off the magazine is tough to feed and the action gouges the case wall a little bit. I'm sure a good gunsmith could clean this up, but for now, it's "good enough." As long as I remember to carry it 3 down and 1 up, there's no problem. Some sort of rifle upgrade here would be welcome, but it's pretty hard to find something that is definitively better than the CZ.

Lately I've been playing with an old Browning Safari rifle in .375 H&H. What a fun rifle to shoot! There's a good possibility it will come with me to Africa someday.

I kinda sorta think I'd like a double, but not because I really need one. I certainly can't afford the one I'd really want, and I there's no way on earth I'd use it enough to justify having it.......

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Why is the 300 win mag no good for plains game with a 21 inch barrel without the suppressor ?....mine is 22 inches so hardly a difference....and it's worked on a buff..a lion..leopard and plains game ...and driven boar in France once...

I have my ideal battery already. Starting on the bottom Ruger 77 RSI in 250-3000 savage for varmints to deer. Center is Mannlicher Schoenauer model 1905 in 9x56 for medium game. Top is CZ 550 FS in 9.3x62 for anything on the North American continent and most of Africas game. As you can see I have an affinity for Mannlicher stocks.

spike.t said:

Mmmm..... ....all I going to say....

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Luddite

MS 9x56 said:

I have my ideal battery already. Starting on the bottom Ruger 77 RSI in 250-3000 savage for varmints to deer. Center is Mannlicher Schoenauer model 1905 in 9x56 for medium game. Top is CZ 550 FS in 9.3x62 for anything on the North American continent and most of Africas game. As you can see I have an affinity for Mannlicher stocks.
View attachment 736418

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I had owned a CZ 527 FS I think it was in .223rem, took a nice buck at 200yds and carried it a little more afterwards but decided I wanted a Marlin Trapper 45-70 more and I wish I hadn’t made that mistake but it’s been a struggle finding a FS rifle. When I seen a Ruger RSI 10/22 for $350 I knew that would be my favorite squirrel gun. I’m still on the hunt for more though.

Red Leg said:

Ideal African rifle is my R8 with the standard .375 barrel in place. My ideal everything else rifle is the R8 with another of several barrels in place. Finest production general purpose rifle yet produced by human hands.

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I love the near fanaticism of the Blaser crowd.....not meaning it in a dick way so please don't take it that way, but that brand inspires a lot of emotion, there seems to be no middle ground. I used to sell them when our agency had the line, I appreciate what they are but I'm not into them at all. I would also never pay what they want for them. I can attest to the fact that the majority of their sales happen in very small regions in the US, mostly Texas and the SE. Michigan is the meat & potatoes of my territory, and I think I sold about 5 R8's annually for 3 years in a row. I'll sell the same amount of Chapuis Double Rifles annually if that tells you anything.

My wife and I always safari together. The Great Stirling Davenport built her a gorgeous .375 H&H on a 1947 FN Mauser action with Krieger barrel fitted perfectly to her. Stirling built me a beautiful .500 Jeffery on a M70 Classic action with Krieger barrel. On one-gun safaris I have taken my Ruger RSM .416 Rigby which has been ideal.

Yep, my .375 Ruger Guide Gun with the stainless steel and green laminate hardwood looks good, isn't bad to carry, is actually kind of fun to shoot (with the included muzzle brake and double ear pro), is accurate to the 300 yards that is the most distance I'll shoot it, and reliable.

I have a Trijicon Accupoint Scope on it using the included scope rings, and it holds zero and is great to use in low light with the glowing dot. Also, the included scope rings are quick detach, and the built in iron sights the rifle came with are great for quick shots to 50 yards if needed.

Though for game that does not require the .375, and where semi-auto is legal, my favorite hunting rifle by far is my .308 Browning BAR MARK III DBM, it is very light, handy, and soft-shooting, and super quick accurate follow up shots are an option.

WHAT I HAVE
A .375 Holland & Holland Magnum Remington Model 700 Kevlar Stock Custom
A 7x57mm Mauser Churchill Gun Makers Model Deluxe
A .22 LR BRNO Model 2

WHAT I WANT
A .600 Nitro Express Heym Model 89B Jumbo
A .505 Gibbs Ryan Breeding 5 Shot Granite Mountain Arms African Magnum Mauser
A .338 Winchester Magnum Griffin & Howe Springfield Model 1903A3

In all fairness, what I have is serving me really well for all of my hunts (both local & foreign). But oh, the heart wants what the heart wants…

uplander01 said:

I love the near fanaticism of the Blaser crowd.....not meaning it in a dick way so please don't take it that way, but that brand inspires a lot of emotion, there seems to be no middle ground. I used to sell them when our agency had the line, I appreciate what they are but I'm not into them at all. I would also never pay what they want for them. I can attest to the fact that the majority of their sales happen in very small regions in the US, mostly Texas and the SE. Michigan is the meat & potatoes of my territory, and I think I sold about 5 R8's annually for 3 years in a row. I'll sell the same amount of Chapuis Double Rifles annually if that tells you anything.

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Tells me Yankees have what one would expect in taste for rifles, and it hardly surprises me they would perceive informed opinion as "fanaticism."

I am confident that I own and have owned as many types of rifles as most dealers will see. They range through every American name and a number of gifted custom makers. I have at least a dozen keepers from the Continent and Great Britain. Those I still own, I love.

My Bradshaw single is the most exquisite rifle with which I have ever taken a deer. My Germanic No. 1 has taken a greater number of game animals than any other rifle in the game room. My Rigby was the centerpiece of my most recent PG hunt in Zambia. But, none of that changes my appreciation of the R8 as the finest general purpose production rifle yet created.

I'm a shotgunner with a fascination for doubles that deer hunts. I won't bore anyone (pun intended) with the full story but, while I've killed whitetail my whole life, the first first in 1977, I never considered myself an actual deer hunter until 2017 then lost a nice buck in 2019.

The buck flopped and did the Curly Howard (3 Stooges) routine on a grassy road. My muscle memory for loading/reloading is irrevocably based on tens of thousands of shotgun rounds from top-lever guns so by the time I worked another round in the chamber of my bolt rifle, the deer had gotten up and run off. It was raining and we couldn't even find a blood trail.

I had always wanted a Browning Continental so this lost deer convinced me to go ahead and do it. I didn't find a Continental but did find a Superpose Express in .30-'06 with a Leupold 1.5x-5x scope already mounted. I already have a 20 gauge bird gun so I got the Express. Best I can tell, it's my soulmate (when it comes to rifles).

It's weird but I have zero interest in big game hunting in the western US but was always loved Africa hunting. I had books on hunting Africa but nothing on hunting the Western US. I knew more about hunting Kudu than Elk. I've described this as being fascinated with space but never wanting to be an Astronaut. When I got the Express, I decided to take it to Africa just because. It was the greatest 8 days of my life.

I have 4 Africa species, 12 whitetail bucks and a black coyote under my belt with this gun. So, yes, I think I have my ideal rifle.

I've never lost an animal with this gun but I won't go as far as saying it was because of the immediate second round. I will say, without doubt or hesitation, that several animals including a couple of 8-points, a 12-point buck and a warthog, were much, much easier to find because I was handling a rifle with a familiar action.

SafariCurious said:

Yep, my .375 Ruger Guide Gun with the stainless steel and green laminate hardwood looks good, isn't bad to carry, is actually kind of fun to shoot (with the included muzzle brake and double ear pro), is accurate to the 300 yards that is the most distance I'll shoot it, and reliable.

I have a Trijicon Accupoint Scope on it using the included scope rings, and it holds zero and is great to use in low light with the glowing dot. Also, the included scope rings are quick detach, and the built in iron sights the rifle came with are great for quick shots to 50 yards if needed.

Though for game that does not require the .375, and where semi-auto is legal, my favorite hunting rifle by far is my .308 Browning BAR MARK III DBM, it is very light, handy, and soft-shooting, and super quick accurate follow up shots are an option.

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While I think the muzzle break helps a lot with recoil, I immediately took it off my guide gun recoil isn’t bad and noise goes down tremendously.