A Blast From The Past

[Hunter-Habib]

The year was 1974, Kenya. Five of these Remington 300 Gr steel jacketed FMJ solids topped with an RWS 300 Gr TUG soft point in the magazine of my white hunter's loaned BRNO ZKK602 ( a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum ) were my setup for my African Cape Buffalo ( the first of several ). The soft point was for the first shot ( a broadside one through both the lungs ) and the five solids were for the follow up shots. The recovered Remington "Solids" would frequently be quite bent and riveted all too often. To their credit, they DID manage to always bring the Cape Buffaloes and elephants to bag, though. But compared to Winchester’s pathetic 300 Gr lubaloy jacketed flat nosed “Solid” ( which was practically GUARANTEED to shed their jacket or even break in half when used against pachyderms or big bovines ), the Remingtons were OKAY.

Until 1992, when Federal began to load their .375 Holland & Holland Magnum ammunition with 300 Gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw premium soft points ... This setup continued to be my ideal Cape Buffalo combination. Once I began to use the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet in a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, I never looked back and used solids on Cape Buffalo ever again ( or indeed, for anything other than elephant ). And for elephant, I today much prefer the Nosler 300 Gr monometal Safari solid. The design is just so much superior with it's homogeneous construction and more impressive meplat.

Still, it feels nice to come across these things once in a while. Really makes us older guys appreciate how far bullet technology has come in the last 40 years.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I’d like to hear those stories of you would care to tell us.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I’d like to hear those stories of you would care to tell us.

You can see some of the photos on my media page. I‘m sure you’d find my stories fairly average and unexciting.

 

[PerH]

Its not far from Capitol to the Cliffs of Capeia(??) , as the old Roman saying was . One can take that into the world of bullets.

Like when someone in New Haven altered the recipe for the Silvertip or casually altered charge for the .458 months later in a deep dark jungle whilst searching for a maneating Tiger. That both the lucks or unlucks would meet together in a instant where old forticiation into the old bele of quality of those tiny objects became as shattered as a client of Bernie Madoff 5 mijutes after news broke.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Its not far from Capitol to the Cliffs of Capeia(??) , as the old Roman saying was . One can take that into the world of bullets.

Like when someone in New Haven altered the recipe for the Silvertip or casually altered charge for the .458 months later in a deep dark jungle whilst searching for a maneating Tiger. That both the lucks or unlucks would meet together in a instant where old forticiation into the old bele of quality of those tiny objects became as shattered as a client of Bernie Madoff 5 mijutes after news broke.

Very true, Per. In 1954, Winchester altered the jacket of their Silvertip bullet from a mixture of copper, nickel and zinc to pure aluminum. And suddenly overnight, the reports of bullet disintegration absolutely skyrocketed. In 1970, they replaced the strong steel jackets of their .458 caliber FMJ solid bullets ( used in their .458 Winchester Magnum factory loaded ammunition ) with a cheaper cupronickel jacket. In 1975, they reduced the velocity of said factory loads from 2130 FPS to 2040 FPS ( which improved the .458 Winchester Magnum’s shelf life at the cost of penetration and punch ). If I made an entire list of how many of their own excellent products Winchester destroyed in an attempt to cut down manufacturing costs… Then, my reply would turn into an essay.

Just about the only positive change which Winchester has accomplished recently ( in my book ) … Was to reintroduce the control round feed action Model 70 rifles in 1992.

 

[Pondoro]

But the .458Win. is today quite useful if handloaded with the right solids.. It has the same ballistics as the .450/470.....etc. class..

Not my favourite though..

 

[Hunter-Habib]

But the .458Win. is today quite useful if handloaded with the right solids.. It has the same ballistics as the .450/470.....etc. class..

Not my favourite though..

Neither is it mine, Pondoro. Labor Fur Ballistik makes an excellent factory load for it, which employs a 480 Gr brass jacketed flat nosed FMJ solid.

My favorite big bore calibers are the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and the .505 Gibbs.

 

[Pondoro]

Neither is it mine, Pondoro. Labor Fur Ballistik makes an excellent factory load for it, which employs a 480 Gr brass jacketed flat nosed FMJ solid.

My favorite big bore calibers are the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and the .505 Gibbs.

I have several I like.... .375H&H, .470NE, .475NE and recently I got a .500 Jeffery built..on a ZKK602 action.. The .505 Gibbs is of course a splendid cartridge..

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I have several I like.... .375H&H, .470NE, .475NE and recently I got a .500 Jeffery built..on a ZKK602 action.. The .505 Gibbs is of course a splendid cartridge..

Did your BRNO ZKK602 action’s bolt head have sufficient metal on it for the .500 Jeffery rebated rim ? Or did it require extensive modification ? Also, how many rounds is the magazine capacity ? Did you add an extended Rigby style floor plate ?

 

[Pondoro]

No bolt head alteration needed, 3 rounds in the mag....I did not add an extended floor plate now but might reconside on that...

 

[sestoppelman]

Both of my buffalo fell to that same R-P load.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Both of my buffalo fell to that same R-P load.

How many rounds did each take you, Sestoppelman ?

 

[sestoppelman]

My first in Tanzania took 2 from me and one from my PH. My first shot went high.

My avatar Okavango buff took exactly one shot, bang flop!