My Grandson’s First Rifle

[BeeMaa]

30-06 will be a perfect cartridge for him to grow with. Give him some time to get used to it and he can step up to using your 375H&H. After all, anyone truly addicted to hunting Africa will certainly need one.

Congratulations to both of you.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

A fine rifle for sure, if he finds out well 220 bullets work, he will likely never change.

Why thank you, Wyatt. Yes, the 1:10 twist rate is sort of optimized for the heavier bullet weights (180-220Gr).

 

[Hunter-Habib]

165 gr 30-06 in modern bullets is plenty for plains game and provide much better range. Maybe 190 gr for zebra and eland. I only reserved 220 gr for grizzlies. Fortunately, I never needed them. 165 gr will also be much more comfortable to shoot.

Ontario Hunter, what bullet weight do you use for moose & elk ?

I'm personally a huge fan of the 220Gr Remington Core Lokt for the African big boys (such as eland, giraffe & Kudu). In my humble experience, it's plenty accurate at ranges under 150 yards (which is typically as far as I shoot).

But I agree with you. For hunting the smaller plains game out to longer ranges in the open plains, I can see many merits of the lighter weight bullets due to the flatter trajectory out to longer ranges. The 180Gr Remington Core Lokt (for instance) outranges the 220Gr variant by a good 65 yards (at least).

When I began hunting in Africa in 1974, I observed that resident African hunters (including my white hunters) exclusively preferred 220Gr bullets out of a .30-06 Springfield. It wasn't up until the mid-1980s that the 180Gr bullet weight started gaining prevalence (at least in Tanzania and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe).

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Ontario Hunter, what bullet weight do you use for moose & elk ?

I'm personally a huge fan of the 220Gr Remington Core Lokt for the African big boys (such as eland, giraffe & Kudu). In my humble experience, it's plenty accurate at ranges under 150 yards (which is typically as far as I shoot).

But I agree with you. For hunting the smaller plains game out to longer ranges in the open plains, I can see many merits of the lighter weight bullets due to the flatter trajectory out to longer ranges. The 180Gr Remington Core Lokt (for instance) outranges the 220Gr variant by a good 65 yards (at least).

When I began hunting in Africa in 1974, I observed that resident African hunters (including my white hunters) exclusively preferred 220Gr bullets out of a .30-06 Springfield. It wasn't up until the mid-1980s that the 180Gr bullet weight started gaining prevalence (at least in Tanzania and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe).

I started with 180 gr cup and core bullets in 1964 for both deer and elk. I eventually stepped up to 190 gr for moose. 220 gr was reserved for grizzly. I tried 165 gr cup and core for deer in late 70s but did not like meat damage and poor knock down so back up to 180 gr. But nowadays with proper copper bullets, 165 gr 30-06 can be very good for deer and elk. Great penetration without the splatter factor. Also less recoil and more range than 220 gr. I used 165 gr cup and core Hornady bullets in Africa last year because that's all I could get. I was expecting long range shooting for Barbary sheep. The meat damage for those bullets can be severe. This mule deer buck shot after returning from Africa lost much of the front end when 165 gr hit it square in right front shoulder. However, he did drop on the spot.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Nice!! Can't go wrong with the 30.06!!!

Why thank you, R.M.C

 

[Hunter-Habib]

30-06 will be a perfect cartridge for him to grow with. Give him some time to get used to it and he can step up to using your 375H&H. After all, anyone truly addicted to hunting Africa will certainly need one.

Congratulations to both of you.

Why thank you, BeeMaa. The boy dreams of hunting a large leopard over bait with his new .30-06 Springfield (and me!) in Ethiopia in 2025.

This year, he shot 5 impressive heads of plains game with my 7x57mm Mauser Churchill Gunmakers Model Deluxe during our Tanzanian safari.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I would think it shouldn't be too hard to find Weaver bases for that model Savage. Might be a better choice than a rail someone split in two. I would be concerned that the front and back half aren't same elevation. Possibly not even the same rail? Factory 2-piece bases should be fairly close to being aligned. And they look better too.

My Mauser is in the mail on its way back from bluing. Should be here Monday. I worked very hard polishing all the metal up to a gleaming sheen before sending it off. Very anxious to see how it turned out. Same fella reblued the Springfield two years ago. He is an artist!

Nice shotgun! Does Beretta still make a SxS these days?

Currently, Beretta only offers the Model 486 Parallelo side by side shotgun. But only in multi-choke configuration. Mine has fixed chokes (a fully choked left barrel & a modified choked right barrel). I personally prefer the old fashioned fixed chokes, since I’m old school.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Why thank you, BeeMaa. The boy dreams of hunting a large leopard over bait with his new .30-06 Springfield (and me!) in Ethiopia in 2025.

This year, he shot 5 impressive heads of plains game with my 7x57mm Mauser Churchill Gunmakers Model Deluxe during our Tanzanian safari.

@Hunter-Habib
Your grandson is very fortunate to have a grandfather as yourself. To pass on all the experiences you have enjoyed and that he is now enjoying with you is a great gift. To hunt game with such classic calibers as the 7x57 and 30-06 is the best teacher and shows he can shoot and not need a magnum to achieve his goals.
You are a very fortunate grandfather and he a very fortunate grand son.
Enjoy the gifts you give each other.
Bob

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Currently, Beretta only offers the Model 486 Parallelo side by side shotgun. But only in multi-choke configuration. Mine has fixed chokes (a fully choked left barrel & a modified choked right barrel). I personally prefer the old fashioned fixed chokes, since I’m old school.

I'm old school too ... sort of. I hunt birds and shoot targets with a 1961 Browning A-5 Magnum Twelve ... wearing a 1972 trigger group ... and no maintenance after market plastic ... and a 1990s Miroku barrel with Invector choke tubes. The tubes allow me to shoot skeet and waterfowl with the same shotgun. The plastic allows me to take a tumble hunting and not worry about beating up a fancy piece of wood. Came in handy today when I tripped in a cut cornfield trying to run down a crippled honker before it got into the still standing crop. Once in there it's lost. The fall hurt me enough to spend most of the rest of the day at the emergency room. The honker gave up running for it and turned to attack me. It happens but not often. My Lab is having problems with her hip so I gave her the day off.

Fortunately, no heart attack. Only bruised ribs.

 

[Ravensview]

What an awesome first rifle and with the history behind it a cherished gift, your grandson is a lucky young man. May he have many memorable hunts with it.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

What an awesome first rifle and with the history behind it a cherished gift, your grandson is a lucky young man. May he have many memorable hunts with it.

Why thank you, Ravensview.