I'm going for a 416 Rigby

[oscar1975]

You can't do anything better....

HWL

The important thing is, if anyone is interested, I'll deliver it with brass, bullets, reloading dies, and brass trim. The rifle is mounted with an old but very good-looking Swarovski Habicht 3-9x36 scope.

 

[oscar1975]

I have a 375 Ruger Hawkeye FTW 22" with a 3.5-10 power scope and red dot on top (piggy back) and primarily use Barnes 270gr LRX bullets which are amazing between 75-300 yards where I take most my shots with this rifle. I also have CEB 275 and 300 grain bullets I've used on Eland and DG. I use a silencerco Hybrid suppressor

I also have 19.5" Winchester M70 .458 WM with Silencerco Hybrid. I use 420 grain CEB Raptors at 2380 and 450 solids at 2330fps. It has a Holosun 509T red dot mounted and pointed very fast and nice even with the suppressor.

I too long for a .416 Rigby or similar cartridge. I don't see the point in a .500 as I'm not a PH backing up clients. The 416 would be a great rifle for dangerous game with a 1-6 power scope.

I feel as though it is too close to my other calibers. The way I see it you bring generally 2 guns to Africa. For recoil sensitive shooters something like a 30-06 or .300WM and a 416 lets you hunt anything. It bridges long range plains game ability with short range stopping power for DG. For those with more practice and meat on their bones a 375Ruger/H&H AND 458 wim accomplishes the same task albeit with a bit more authority and less chance for animals to run very far if a shot isn't perfect. That said, a 375 will kill anything and without a doubt is the caliber to pick. Last trip, hippo, large eland, and cape buffalo were all taken with a 375 ruger and 275 grain CEB raptors with a single shot each. Hippo at about 50-60 yards head shot and buffalo at 170 yards neck shot. Eland was around 120 yards frontal shot into the neck.

After my recent trip to Limpopo I realized with my style of stop and stalk hunting there are many longer shots that present themselves. When I return next year hopefully I've decided the 2 rifles I'm bringing are a 300 norma magnum (230 grain berger) for long range plains game, and my 458 win mag with red dot specifically for buffalo.

I will loan my 375 Ruger to a friend to bring so I'll actually have 3 rifles there technically.

One thing that shocked me when I went was basically every rifle my 5 PHs had wore a suppressor. I'm glad I fit in and had suppressors on both the rifles I brought.

Just wanted to share my experience and thoughts with you to help you on your decision journey.

Thank you very much for your experience. I'll probably never go to Africa, but I like these big rifles and treat myself to a cheap treat from time to time. My dream would be to use them in their ideal environment, which is Africa, but my social standing and budget don't allow it. I also dream of a Toyota Land Cruiser.