Double rifles and Elephant

[50Gunner]

Rare Breed, yes Sir, indeed, and will do, the Holland Royal 450 it will be for this Elephant hunt, both SA PH's really want to see that 577 in action, so it will go along for the walk and stalk hunting anything we can close the distance on there.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Take the 577NE. I will be doing the same thing next year and by coincidence have a ranch in Oklahoma near Holdenville as well.

HH

 

[steve white]

You had me at Holland & Holland 500/450! If it handles like a bird gun, that may save your life more than a little extra power. Pondoro Taylor said that a well fitting gun can perform out of all proportion to a badly fitting one.

 

[50Gunner]

Hunting Hitman, Nice, i'll be looking for your hunt report next year, I remember Holdenville, a little West Of Calvin, seems I remember a road headed there going North, we hauled coal to the big cement plant in Ada for 20 years, that Hartshorne vein runs right through this farm, you guys should have some dang nice whitetail deer out that way.

Steve White, that's true and makes a lot of sense, my old 41 year Army retired E9 Gramps told me long ago, "son, even a slow hit in the right place forever trumps a fast miss."

We can all look back at what Bell did with agility afoot and accurate shooting, different time, rules and place, yes, but he lived it.

 

[VertigoBE]

Did I perhaps miss it or haven’t we seen any pics yet of the 500/450 or the 577?

 

[Foxi]

You know exactly which ones you want to take with you.
Don't tell us stories about your luxury problems.
You just want to hear about what great weapons you have.
(Should I go on vacation with the dark-skinned beauty or the blonde? That's how it seems to me.)


Yes, they are great weapons,cheers!

 

[50Gunner]

VertigoBE, no Sir, I've never had any pics of those two rifles posted.

LOL, Foxi, no, it's true, my little bulb really does burn that dim, I need all the help from these Pros on this board I can get, and Thanks.

 

[VertigoBE]

VertigoBE, no Sir, I've never had any pics of those two rifles posted.

LOL, Foxi, no, it's true, my little bulb really does burn that dim, I need all the help from these Pros on this board I can get, and Thanks.

Well, after three pages of captivating the envy of the AH members, perhaps some teaser photos are in order?
I for one would love to get a chance to drool over them!

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Steve White, that's true and makes a lot of sense, my old 41 year Army retired E9 Gramps told me long ago, "son, even a slow hit in the right place forever trumps a fast miss."

Based on your age, I'm guessing your grandfather was likely a veteran of WWII and Korea, possibly either WWI or Vietnam as well depending on how old he was when he had your parent and how old your parents were when they had you. Any way you slice it, he had a fair bit of experience on "Slow" hits and "Fast" misses.

If he had them, any idea how many stars were on his CIB and Mustard Stains on his wings

 

[Houston Bill]

In my opinion there is no question as to which double I would take and it would be the H&H and I would think of Teddy a lot while hunting with it. Teddy is my favorite president and I spoke with H&H last year about a project to make me a near duplicate of Teddy's double rifle. The nostalgia of your H&H 500/450 far outweighs the awesome power of the 577.

 

[50Gunner]

LOL VertigoBE, certainly not my intention to captivate, if degoins or Woodcarver wants to post up some pics I'll surely dig those two outta the safe for photos, the 577 is like a brand new sledge hammer with a black hickory handle, just a plain dark beast, the H&H is the honey colored beauty.

 

[50Gunner]

Mtn Infantry,
I can tell you Gramps was born in 1922, he joined the Army in 1940, retired after 41 years in '81, he didn't talk much about it even though I always had ears wide open and mouth shut wanting to learn, I remember WW-II, Korea and 'Nam, he was a boot heel tough old bird, guessing a German 8mm round creased his helmet early on in WW-II, he wore a scar above his right eye from I guess the bullet powdering the bone in his forehead, just a sunken in spot. he was an E9 Sergeant Major that stayed in the chit with his men.

His dress uniform was beautiful, can tell you he had lots of hash marks down the sleeves of his coat, though I never asked what they or any of the very large panel of Medals meant, he was the kind of guy you just didn't intrude on, even if you were a grandson.

We buried him ten days before Christmas 2015 at 93 years of age

 

[50Gunner]

Houston Bill, I think what finally made up my mind was you CANNOT impress an Elephant, regardless of what you hit him with, we all know even a solid to the brain from Bells 6.5 and 7x57mm's got a lot done, even a 320gr Woodleigh solid on frontal brain from my 9.3x62mm at 2400 fps would be exceedingly lethal where legal, that bullet penetrates for days here on home testing media.

Frontal or side brain shot Elephant with good solids and it's a done deal, the .458 cal. 450gr Northfork flat nosed solids departing at 2225 fps leave me without a doubt on the outcome.

I have however noticed you can indeed impress a Cape buffalo, the 577 has shown me a markedly noticeable difference in striking power over any other weapon I've used, even the mighty 505 Gibbs with 600gr cup nosed solids didn't rock the buffalo like the 577 did, others may have differing results, simply stating what I have seen off the ends of my rifles.

Could hunt Buffalo and Warthogs everyday I have left with doubles till little Wife orders a backhoe and flowers to plant my butt in the clay, I love it.

I remember earlier in this thread something about being over gunned, looking back, the 375 H&H is the smallest bore rifle I've ever brought on Safari, it along with the 400 H&H and 458 WM make great scope sighted light to heavy plains game and Leopard guns, perfect pairings to heavy doubles.

Only five Safaris from 2015 to 2022, man it's time to go back.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Mtn Infantry,
I can tell you Gramps was born in 1922, he joined the Army in 1940, retired after 41 years in '81, he didn't talk much about it even though I always had ears wide open and mouth shut wanting to learn, I remember WW-II, Korea and 'Nam, he was a boot heel tough old bird, guessing a German 8mm round creased his helmet early on in WW-II, he wore a scar above his right eye from I guess the bullet powdering the bone in his forehead, just a sunken in spot. he was an E9 Sergeant Major that stayed in the chit with his men.

His dress uniform was beautiful, can tell you he had lots of hash marks down the sleeves of his coat, though I never asked what they or any of the very large panel of Medals meant, he was the kind of guy you just didn't intrude on, even if you were a grandson.

We buried him ten days before Christmas 2015 at 93 years of age

That was along the lines of when I guessed he served. If you ever find a photo of his dress uniform and are curious, send it over in a PM. I’ll let you know what ear ribbon and medal is that he’s wearing and try to provide a little color on them.

Depending on what your grandfather did in the Army, he has the potential to be one of the 325 soldiers to have received a 3rd award of the CIB. There’s an exhibit at the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, GA that lists all the recipients. its one of the rarest awards in the Army and every awardee served WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.