Cape Buffalo Hunt-Bring or Rent a rifle?

[Franco]

Buying and owning a beautiful rifle is part of the rich experience of your African hunt, or any hunt for that matter.
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Very well said.

Rent, borrow, own? If the goal is to take a certain trophy, or trophies, does it matter which option you chose? Only to you, and it depends on the circumstance.

If the cost of a large caliber, DG rifle is what's stopping you from considering a hunt, then rent or borrow one.

If the hassle of traveling with a firearm seems too inconvenient, then rent or borrow one.

Your trophy will be just as dead, the mount will hang or stand the same in your trophy room, and your joy and sense of accomplishment will be equal. You will not be judged or have points deducted because you used someone else's rifle.

Will your hunt be any less memorable with a rented or borrowed rifle - NO.

But, as Kevin said, owning a beautiful rifle is a part of the rich experience - it is an enhancement. Each of my rifles has a history, memories which present themselves as much as looking at the mounts in my trophy room.

It's not easy to describe, but there's a feeling of partnership and confidence when I pick up one of my rifles. I made a 228 yd shot on a croc with my 375, I would not have tried that with a rented or borrowed rifle.

Granted, traveling with a firearm can be a major pain-in-the-butt, and I will not argue against anyone who chooses to rent based on that criteria. Sometimes major issues can occur; I had to charter a flight from Lusaka to Harare once because the airline wouldn't allow 3 rifles. I have explored the option of leaving a couple rifles in Africa as a means to avoid the hassle, it seems that is an even bigger hassle.

For me, and for now, the benefits of having my own rifles outweigh the inconvenience. I hire agents to assist whenever possible, I stay longer in an effort to minimize the pain by dividing it by more days - seems to work.

Consider all the factors, weigh out what is most important to you, and most of all - enjoy your hunt.

 

[Flbt]

I undeerstand the nostalgia about rifles but in reality they are just tools. I never see a carpenter in front of a house holding his favorite hammer. Just saying.

We overly romanticiz tools.

I have seen grandsons of carpenters put grandpa tools on the wall for display.

It’s not up for display in the house but in the tack shed.
My grandpa hook up tool for lack of a better description. It’s a metal hammer/ wrench / pry bar and hole Aliment
It was something he had back when he farmed with mules. Was made to be used on pulled equipment and wagons. Then it just went to the tool box on the 8end then to the A. C. Then to the ford 400 the to the old Massey then to the one in the yard.
Had a buddy point out he had only seen one other and I needed to put it up where it would not get lost.

Told him it had not been lost in all these years.
He pointed out that I not the driving the tractor most of the time now.
So it got put up.

Just saying

 

[RolandtheHeadless]

Dogcat1, with all due respect, I don't understand how a hunter can consider his rifles mere tools. To me they are much more than the hammer in my tool box.

Calling a rifle a tool means it's fungible, the same as any other rifle. It means you only need three cheap rifles--one each for small game, plains game, and dangerous game. No thanks.

 

[grand veneur]

Dogcat1, with all due respect, I don't understand how a hunter can consider his rifles mere tools. To me they are much more than the hammer in my tool box.

Calling a rifle a tool means it's fungible, the same as any other rifle. It means you only need three cheap rifles--one each for small game, plains game, and dangerous game. No thanks.

Unfortunately, it is true that rifles are primarily tools. Of course, every good craftsman loves their own tools. As an aficionados of older hunting rifles, I also prefer my traditional rifles with their own history, but don't forget that even back then, in the hands of the hunters from this times, some of these were also just tools for their work.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

I've hunted PG with both my own and borrowed rifles several times each. In every case it's worked out fine.
But when I hunted buffalo I took my own rifle. That's one I wanted to be super comfortable with and had plenty of practice with beforehand!

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Always take your rifle(s) to Africa. Upon your return, they become a prized heirloom and an object that will remind you of the trip and the hunt everytime you look at it or hold it in you hand. Further, I have made it my practice to take two different rifles on each safari so, that I have the excuse to acquire, set-up and practice with them over the year leading up to the trip. It provides hours of entertainment over and above the actual hunting trip. First trip I took a matched brace of vintage FN Brownings in 308 and 375HH. A perfect pair. Last trip I took a custom P14 Enfield in 375 for Buffalo and a modern FF CT Edge Titanium/Carbon rifle in 7mm/08 for PG. Jury is still out on the next trip. Looking at 338wm, 338 RCM, 7mm Mag, and 30-06 with the possibility of a heavy gun if we add DG to the list.

By knowing your rifle in and out, you will feel and shoot with more confidence and that is priceless.

 

[Bonk]

The camp rifles I have seen for rent were high quality and ready to hunt, but nothing is as good as a gun you know. An example of this was my son wanted to kill a wart hog with our PH’s 458 Lott when he graduated high school. So the summer after graduation we went to Namibia and took our guns. First up he shot Phillip’s 458 and everything on the range went great. The following day while stalking into a pond the biggest warthog I have ever seen walked out of the brush 30 yards away and through an open area about 50 yards wide. Up came the 458 but then the fumbling for the safety started. The warthog made it across the opening before the safety was off and time to shoot was gone. Other than the lost trophy of a lifetime no big deal. What if this was a charging buffalo? One trip the family just took 1 gun. So happens a deprivation lion tag became available. So I rented another rifle for protection. I chose a 45/70 lever action. It was like a 30/30 I grew up hunting deer with. I feel familiarity is worth a lot.

Sounds more like a case of buck fever (hog fever?) than a rifle problem. Not being critical. Been there, done that.

 

[Bonk]

If I get the chance to do a buffalo hunt I plan to rent a rifle even though I already own a rifle purpose built for the task. It’s a CZ 550 375H&H with AHR mods/upgrades. Initially I intended to take my CZ but I’ve decided to practice at home with my rifle and use the camp rifle when I get there.

I hate air travel. Absolutely hate it. It’s the main reason I don’t travel much farther than I can drive in a couple of days. I hate airports. I hate TSA. I hate customs. I hate crappy airline seats. I hate delays/cancellations. I hate baggage claim and lost luggage. I know I’d hate the legalities/hassles of traveling internationally with a rifle. When I go to Africa I’ll travel with one carry-on to keep my life as simple as possible. BTW, I’m a retired airline pilot which may or may not help you understand why I hate air travel so much.

 

[grand veneur]

If I get the chance to do a buffalo hunt I plan to rent a rifle even though I already own a rifle purpose built for the task. It’s an CZ 550 375H&H with AHR mods/upgrades. Initially I intended to take my CZ but I’ve decided to practice at home with my rifle and use the camp rifle when I get there.

I hate air travel. Absolutely hate it. It’s the main reason I don’t travel much farther than I can drive in a couple of days. I hate airports. I hate TSA. I hate customs. I hate crappy airline seats. I hate delays/cancellations. I hate baggage claim and lost luggage. I know I’d hate the legalities/hassles of traveling internationally with a rifle. When I go to Africa I’ll travel with one carry-on to keep my life as simple as possible. BTW, I’m a retired airline pilot which may or may not help you understand why I hate air travel so much.

I was not an airline pilot, but like you, I also hate all that andenjoy the advantages of traveling without rifles and ammunition. All my rifles have seen enough overseas hunts that hunting without them is not a problem for me now. The main problem, however, remains the availability of rifles to rent, especially regarding bigger caliber.

 

[TOBY458]

If I get the chance to do a buffalo hunt I plan to rent a rifle even though I already own a rifle purpose built for the task. It’s a CZ 550 375H&H with AHR mods/upgrades. Initially I intended to take my CZ but I’ve decided to practice at home with my rifle and use the camp rifle when I get there.

I hate air travel. Absolutely hate it. It’s the main reason I don’t travel much farther than I can drive in a couple of days. I hate airports. I hate TSA. I hate customs. I hate crappy airline seats. I hate delays/cancellations. I hate baggage claim and lost luggage. I know I’d hate the legalities/hassles of traveling internationally with a rifle. When I go to Africa I’ll travel with one carry-on to keep my life as simple as possible. BTW, I’m a retired airline pilot which may or may not help you understand why I hate air travel so much.

I’m with you on this! I’ve traveled internationally six times with rifles. And although I’ve never had an issue, it’s the anxiety of what could happen that keeps me worried the whole trip. There’s nothing enjoyable at all about air travel. And guns make it that much more stressful. But, with that said, I doubt I could ever bring myself to use a loaner rifle on a DG hunt. Maybe a PG only hunt, but not DG.
Also, if staying in SA and not traveling further into other countries in Africa, the hassle is much less. I fly from Atlanta, and it’s a direct flight. So, I get my rifles pre approved, and that is fairly simple. But once you throw in another flight to Zim or similar, the simplicity goes away.