Current DG Battery. Please Share Yours

[mdwest]

Come on Dave....you know deep down you want a double, Bobby has one now, so you need to step up and join the club!!

I hate all of you!

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

I hate all of you!

So, will you name your new rifle…..we can help you with that one too
Gumpy

 

[BruceS]

This is my present African DG battery. It has changed over the past couple of years. Since joining AH, you people have cost me a lot of money on African hunts and DG rifles!

Please feel free to share your DG rifle(s). I’m always keenly interested in what other AH members have and I know some are always selling and buying new rifles!

Here are my current DG rifles. I believe this is it unless someday there’s a double rifle in my future?

From bottom to top:

1. Heym Martini Express 416 Rigby 24 inch barrel, Leupold Patrol 6HD 1-6x24mm FireDot.
2. Custom Pre 64 Winchester M70 416 Rem Mag 22 inch barrel, Leupold 1.5x5 Vari XIII.
3. CZ 550 Safari Magnum 416 Rigby. 24.5” brl. SA with Leupold 1.5x5.
4. Custom Robar/AHR Brno ZKK-602 458 Lott, 22” brl, McMillian synthetic stock, Nikon African 1-4.
5. Winchester M70 Stainless Classic, 375 H&H, 22” brl, H&S Precision stock, Leupold 1.5x5 Vari XIII.

View attachment 752897
All have either Talley QD, Warne QD or Leupold QD rings/mounts. The #3 CZ 416 Rigby will be going to my outfitter in SA along with a Leupold 1.5x5 and Warne rings, it will become a camp rifle. All rifles sighted in dead on at 100 yards.

For DG...450 Ackley Mag built on a 1917 Remington Enfield.
404 Jeffrey built on a 1914 Enfield.
Both have open sights and red dots.

 

[Rare Breed]

Rigby DR 450 NE, Rigby Highland Stalker 9.3X62

Also Rigby Highland Staler in 275 Rigby for PG to complete my trifecta of Rigbys

 

[Rare Breed]

this is something I struggled with for a few years.. I couldnt decide what I actually wanted, vs what was really necessary vs what was most practical, etc.. etc.. and I went through a number of rifles for a little while..

I started with a Win 70 375 H&H Stainless Classic.. then ramped up to a 416 Taylor.. bought a 416 Rem Mag and turned around and sold it shortly thereafter.. Went nuts and bought a 585 Hubbel Express project rifle at one point then realized I didnt have the time or the patience to follow through with that project and sold it, etc..etc..

Ive contemplated doubles more times than I can count.. got within seconds of buying an R8 with a 375 barrel at least a dozen times.. etc..etc..

I finally rescinded myself to realizing I really only need 1 DG rifle.. DG hunting isnt something I do a whole lot of.. and Im more of a buffalo guy than anything else.. so stepping into the big bores, while it might be fun, isnt really practical (elephants, rhinos, etc arent on my wish list).. and Im a "client", not a PH..

So Ive come full circle.. sold everything off except the Win 70 375 H&H that I originally bought.. and just spent a little money upgrading it with a B&C stock, pillar and glass bedding the action, getting a trigger job done on it, etc..

My guess is that will be the only DG rifle in my safe from today until the time the good Lord calls me home.. Im super happy with it and it accomplishes everything I need it to do..

That is unless @roverandbrew and my wife talk me into a chapuis iphisi in 450-400.. theyve both been working on me for a while.. and the wife owns a iphisi in 375 that Ive been super impressed with... I know I dont need it... and I know I would rarely, if ever, hunt with it... but... those two are horrible enablers lol..

I too have come full circle. I was talking to @Fatback this weekend and it seems we are all similar. we buy the caliber we want not in the final brand of what we want. We experiment until we know both the caliber and action types we want then buy our ultimate top end brand we can afford both buying and selling rifles along the way. I am a Rigby man. I now have my three rifle Rigby battery that will take any animal comfortably on this earth and am finally happy so now no longer focus on guns at all only hunts and memories

 

[Adam Stevens]

Where did you find that recoil pad for the double?'

it was on the rifle, but its from Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing company. 1.5" period correct I believe was the part

 

[Redfishga1]

Merkel 450/400 double.
Saur 101 9.3x 62
Ruger safari magnum 375 H and H
Rigby big game .416 rigby
Ruger tang safety 7x57 in case I ever get to hunt a spotted kitty
Winchester pre 64 300 H and H
Dangerous 5 journey starts in May.

 

[458JCE]

My trusty John Rigby BGR in 416, Ryan Breeding 505 Gibbs, then my loved Heym 89b Grossbox in 450NE, and also a 89b in 450/400, 88b in 375 Flanged Mag, and Westley Richards 450/400. View attachment 753021View attachment 753022View attachment 753023View attachment 753024View attachment 753025View attachment 753026

And my near-dream 500NE, another 89b with case colors and extended top tang should be exporting from Germany this month (likely just late to accompany on my April Zimbabwe trip) with its companion, an 89b in 470, both on Grossbox frames. The 470 will likely move along to another loving home, I just couldn’t leave it behind, seemed importing one, might as well do two.

View attachment 753027View attachment 753028View attachment 753029View attachment 753030View attachment 753031

OMG! I think a bit of wee just escaped.... you are blessed to have a lineup of magnificent rifles

 

[WAC62]

All Winchester Model 70
.375 Holland & Holland Magnum

.416 Remington Magnum
.458 Winchester Magnum
.308 Winchester is for comparison when discussing with non hunting friends.

 

[TXdawg]

That Dakota is a beauty.

Thanks FD..took a bit to find the right one, but happy with the outcome. Your 17 is really sweet!

 

[Beck]

it was on the rifle, but its from Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing company. 1.5" period correct I believe was the part

thank you!

 

[matt85]

Ive just got two at the moment. Some day I dream of adding a 577 NE double to the gun safe.

- W.J. Jeffery 8-bore 3.25" double rifle
- Winchester M70 Safari in 416 Rem Mag

 

[Tanks]

Rigby Shikari .500 NE
Rigby Shikari .450/400 NE
Heym 9.3x74R

Sold: Heym .500 NE
Sold pending funds: VC .450 NE

Safe Queens:
.458 B&M
.500 MDM
McMillan Heritage .375 H&H

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

The 375 is the perfect rifle for this endeavor! I have always owned a 375 H&H or two over the years, yet I’ve never taken one to Africa which is almost sacrilegious. I’ve either paired a 300 mag and 416 of some type or just a 416 or 458 as single rifle for Africa. Some day I will rectify this but the newly acquired Heym 416 Rigby is getting the nod for buff this year.

At this point I can confidently say, I’ll never go to Africa without a .375 H&H a couple solids and some TBBC’s or A-Frames. One gun, two or there I’ll make sure I have one. You never know when you’ll get an opportunity at a DG animal of some sort. It’ll handle distance, and Tiny 10 up through Elephant.

 

[Niklas]

Custom Husqvarna 640 (FN Mauser) in 338 WM
Blaser S2 in 470NE
Sauer 202 in 9.3x62 (additional barrels, 223, 6.5x55 & 308)
Blaser S2 in 9.3x74R

 

[John Telford]

.505 Gibbs Heym ultra magnum action and one on a Mauser magnum action (by Gibbs)
.500 Jeff Vektor Action
.404 Jeff Vickers mauser magnum action
.404 Mauser magnum and 2 on standard mauser actions. English made.
.450 Rigby Vektor action
.416 Rigby Vektor action
.416 Taylor Mauser k98 action
.458 Lott by CZ 550 and one on Zkk 602
.375 H&H by H&H on mauser, one pre 64, one on a Santa Barbara action, One on a Mauser Obendorf by Musgrave (my favorite).

Of the above rifles the Heym .505 is my go to for elephant and the 450 Rigby on Buffalo.

Still missing:
416 Taylor on BAR platform
.500 Krieghoff 89
.416 rem on pre 64 platform
.460 G&A.

 

[458JCE]

You win!

 

[Badboymelvin]

Have owned a few rifles that could be classed as DG rifles...

CZ 550 .458WM
Zastava M70 .375H&H
Zastava M70 .375Wby
CZ550 Safari Magnum (Kudu Services custom) .458WM
Winchester M70 .458WM
Zastava M70 .458WM
Zastava M70 .458WM

But now I just own the 1... a Zastava M70 425 Express custom built by NT Firearms Gove.
I really like it... CRF, light, accurate, powerful and stupidly reliable. Plus, being a custom rifle, it's the only one like it...
It has the same ballistics as a .404 Jeffery, a 400gn DGX at 2300 fps, or a 360gn Atomic29 copper HP at 2500 fps.
It's fitted with Warne bases and rings and a Leupold VXII 1-4x and I just love everything about this setup.
This will be the last rifle to ever leave my safe...

 

[425SCHADE]

Only a couple for me at the moment, would love to add a nice double one day but lets see what our Aussie "government" has in store for us...

Weatherby MkV .375H&H
CZ550 in my .425

 

[JG26Irish_2]

JP Sauer M90 in 458wm with Swarovski optic at the top and Enfield P14 ER Shaw custom in 375HH with Kahles K16i 1-6x optic.