What rifle do you totally trust on dangerous game and what rifle do you mistrust on Dangerous game

[EarlsSon]

I trust the two big or dangerous game rifles that I own and load for. I shoot both of these rifles monthly off-hand and off of quad sticks and I feel comfortable doing so !! I know my equipment.

 

[Philip Glass]

Being fortunate enough to hunt DG with a double the last number of years I really don't want to go back to a bolt gun. The Double won't fail but it takes some getting used to.
The other rifle I really trust is my R8. The smooth, quick, short action gives me great confidence in the DG hunt scenario.
Regardless of the gun one needs to put it through some hard service at the range and know what it will do when abused. Having a leopard bearing down on you is no time to find out the little intricacies of your rifle!

 

[Betterinthebush]

Any CRF (Win, Dakota, Mauser, etc.) I’m hoping to get a lot of trust built up in my Dakota .338 WM that is coming in a few weeks. Because that’s what I’m taking for leopard.

One rifle I like (don’t love) is my Whitworth .375h&h. I’m very good with it, it’s accurate, and we did come to an agreement with one another on my PG hunt, but it’s no DG rifle. Sloppy action and I found that I have to cycle the bolt like I’m trying to tear it from the action to reliably eject the spent round.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I would totally trust a good quality double rifle of 400 and above and totally mistrust a bolt rifle of any calibre for DG.

 

[uplander01]

I'm a rifle snob so at this point in my life I would trust any of my rifles 375 & up on DG. That being said I have bought and sold guns and spent too much on them probably,over the last 20 years to get what I wanted and none of them are worth a penny less than8k. They have all been perfected by masters, shot quite a bit for practice, tested over and over again trying to make them fail,.....they are all proven. But if someone said to me I could only have one rifle to walk around in Africa....it would either be my GMA 416 Rigby built by Dennis Olson, or my Griffin & Howe 404 Jeffery based on Pre 64 Win M70 action. Both have QR optic provisions, but both have fantastic open sight system that I can use really effectively within 50 yards.

 

[Beck]

I like my Sako's, Ruger's, and CZ's quite a bit. I have a Mossberg patriot in .375 Ruger, that gun should really just be destroyed. I wouldn't even give that gun away for fear that someone would take it dangerous game hunting, and get themselves killed

 

[bowjijohn]

I would imagine that, for most of us, trust is earned

You trust a rifle that you have a working knowledge of, that you have tested in a variety of conditions, and with which you have a familiarity borne of practice

You might borrow a camp rifle - then you are putting your trust in others. which is not a problem however you will almost certainly wish to check zero; and 'chamber rounds' before going out

You can find that reliability in a variety of makes

For me

I've found it in Cz and R8

I've also thrown away a custom rifle in Mauser 98 - it was useless as it wouldn't feed Jeff 404 correctly

Even Cz's and Bruno's are often heavily modified

1. To ensure feed ramp is smooth for those flat meplat rounds

2. To ensure that there is not a huge gap in the mag well so that rounds don't smack into the leading edge whilst under recoil - and perhaps distort them sufficiently that they will not feed

3. Curve that bolt handle up so that it can be swept up by the cupped hand rather than finger and thumb - that helps with reducing the likelihood of short stroking under pressure

 

[mdwest]

For me, trust is affixed to a specific rifle.. not a particular make and model…

Sure, certain makes and models are known to be more accurate and more reliable than others… but… there are brands and models that occasionally turn out a turd in their factories… and there are turd factories that sometimes get everything absolutely right and perfect..

I unequivocally trust my Winchester 70 stainless classic in 375 H&H.. with my 300gr TSX load it will put 5 rounds into a 1 inch circle at 100 reliability (as long as I do my job).. and I’ve got hundreds of rounds through it at this point and have never had a failure to feed, failure to extract, etc.. it’s comfortable and reasonably fast in my hands.. and I know the rifle well..

That doesn’t mean my wife’s .375 H&H chapuis isn’t trustworthy… it might turn out to be a stellar weapon… by all accounts it should be… I’ve done exhaustive research on the iphisi in that particular caliber and every report I’ve read from hunters that own and use them is extremely positive…

But…

At this point she’s got exactly 0 rounds through it…

Until it’s been taken out and run pretty hard a dozen or so times and has at least a hundred rounds through it, it won’t be taken on a DG hunt..

 

[Bandera]

I have used a Left handed Ruger African in 375 Ruger. No issues.
Same with many different Savage, Ruger, Remington rifles hunting non dangerous game. Never any cycling issues, never any feeding issues.
Lever guns most people short stroke the lever and create issues.

Funny thing about an action that is maybe not the smoothest. You don’t notice it when pull the trigger and run the bolt getting ready for a follow up shot.
If you do, you should have practiced more.

 

[Flewis]

None 100 percent. I know an older PH who was hooked by a buffalo after the firing pin broke on his big named double. He now uses a Musgrave bolt gun for DG.

 

[pilar]

My take is a scoped large bore double rifle, with a quick detachable scope.. I scoped my .470 Krieghoff with a red dot Leupold...that give you an edge to place shots in dense bush.. OR detach the scope if the bush is darn dense and use the irons..

I took a quick shot at a buffalo cow at about 70m..took her in the neck as she stood in the front of a herd.. I could not have taken such a quick snap shot sanse optics..

View attachment 724590

I also scoped my 9,3 x 74R double..

View attachment 724591

I would NOT trust a non CRF bolt rifle or a Blaser R8 (I will get flogged for this..)

I don’t trust Blaser either, I bought a Blaser R93 from a friend in Houston
He called me and said don’t shoot it and he would give me the $$$$ back “ it’s got a recall “
Since then I have a little devil in my brain that says “ Blaser danger “ I know silly

 

[bigborelover]

Let’s see now…

Calibers:
I like .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, .404 Jeffery (German loading only), .416 Rigby, .416 Remington Magnum, .425 Westley Richards, .450 Rigby Magnum, .505 Gibbs, .500/416 Nitro Express, .577 Nitro Express, .600 Nitro Express.

I dislike 10.75x68mm Mauser, .460 Weatherby Magnum, .600 Overkill, .700 Nitro Express.

I don’t particularly like the .458 Winchester Magnum, but I don’t mind using it as long as I have access to fresh hand loads (or Barnes 450Gr ammunition).

Actions:
I like Granite Mountain Arms Mausers , Waffen Prechtll Mausers, FZH Mausers, Reiner Johanssen Mausers, Hambrush Mega Magnum Mausers, Armeria Concarri Mausers, Mauser Oberndorfs (both the new ones AND the original pre 1939 ones), Ruger Hawkeyes, pre 1964 Winchester Model 70s, BRNO ZKK 600/601/602, Pattern 14 Enfields, Enfield Model 1917s, ManuFrance Rivals, Mannlicher Schoenauers, BSA Royal, Parker Hale Mausers, FN Mauser Series 300, Webley & Scott PHV-1 boxlocks, Heym Model 89B boxlocks, John Rigby & Co. Shikari boxlocks.

I dislike the Weatherby Mark V, Remington Model 700 (unless the factory extractor is replaced with an M16 extractor), push feed Winchester Model 70, BSA Monarch, BSA CF2, James Purdey & Sons sidelocks, any kind of single shot.

I’m not a Blaser R8 guy, but this is purely because of my whimsical nature (I like traditional looking rifles). They are really actually extremely reliable rifles. I’ll happily use a Springfield Model 1903A3 if the factory two piece striker is replaced with a titanium striker. I’ll happily use a BSA Majestic if somebody cuts off those beastly muzzle brakes. I’ll happily use an FN Series 400 if the factory coil spring on the magazine base plate is replaced with stronger one. But not in any dusty areas (otherwise what happened to @Red Leg , will happen again).


Ammunition:
I like Federal, Barnes & Labor Fur Ballistik

I dislike Weatherby, Hornady & Prvi Partizan (the latter almost got me killed by an elephant bull in 2006). Probably the one ammunition I hated the most, were Winchester Silver Tips. But fortunately, they haven’t been produced since 1999.

Norma & Swift are both good, but seldom available these days.


In General:

I like quick release mounts, wide V backsights, uncovered ivory bead foresights, ghost rings, red dots, India rubber recoil pads, Limb Saver recoil pads, manual safeties on double rifles, English or Turkish or French walnut stocks.

I dislike slings, telescopic sights with too high magnification, steel butt plates, automatic safeties on double rifles, Claro stocks on any caliber larger than 9.3mm.

I’m not a huge fan of synthetic stocks, but again… my reasons are purely whimsical. I’ll happily use one if it’s what I have available to me.

Any particular reason why you do not like the 460 WBY , 700 NE and 600 OK.

 

[mark-hunter]

My concern on these three would be: recoil, availability of ammo, and price of ammo.
But lets see what hunter habib would say.

 

[skydiver386]

For me, trust is affixed to a specific rifle.. not a particular make and model…

Sure, certain makes and models are known to be more accurate and more reliable than others… but… there are brands and models that occasionally turn out a turd in their factories… and there are turd factories that sometimes get everything absolutely right and perfect..

Until it’s been taken out and run pretty hard a dozen or so times and has at least a hundred rounds through it, it won’t be taken on a DG hunt.

This

Any rifle my life may depend on is going to be run rough with the ammo I'll be hunting with. Until that happens, I don't trust that rifle.

 

[Fatback]

I would take this Model 70, chambered in 416 Rem anywhere in Africa for any animal over there. I bought it earlier this year from a fellow AHer and practiced with it, alot, before my hunt earlier this year. It is very accurate, recoil is manageable and I enjoy shooting it. Enough so I have started to sell off some of my other DG rifles. I think this will be my forever African DG rifle

I am waiting on a McMillian stock to put one of my 375H&Hs in. It is cerakoted and this would be my bear rifle for Alaska or Canada. If I were to ever chase bongo and dwarf buff, etc… in a tropical environment, I would take that 375 H&H that I’m waiting on the stock for.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Any particular reason why you do not like the 460 WBY , 700 NE and 600 OK.

Recoil is barbaric.

 

[RR 314]

I would take this Model 70, chambered in 416 Rem anywhere in Africa for any animal over there. I bought it earlier this year from a fellow AHer and practiced with it, alot, before my hunt earlier this year. It is very accurate, recoil is manageable and I enjoy shooting it. Enough so I have started to sell off some of my other DG rifles. I think this will be my forever African DG rifle View attachment 724654View attachment 724655View attachment 724652I am waiting on a McMillian stock to put one of my 375H&Hs in. It is cerakoted and this would be my bear rifle for Alaska or Canada. If I were to ever chase bongo and dwarf buff, etc… in a tropical environment, I would take that 375 H&H that I’m waiting on the stock for.

Beautiful stock on the 70. I am in a similar position. I have a couple spectacular rifles that shine above the others. Still pains me some to consider selling, but truly is no need to keep them as they will not be used.

 

[Fatback]

Beautiful stock on the 70. I am in a similar position. I have a couple spectacular rifles that shine above the others. Still pains me some to consider selling, but truly is no need to keep them as they will not be used.

Thank you. It is a nice looking rifle for sure.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I’ll continue to use my SAKO in .375 H&H because it shoots accurately and is dependable.

I’m also eager to use my Dakota in 450 Dakota…

 

[Kharn]

I'll trust break actions before bolt actions but I wouldn't say I distrust bolt actions however I would say that I distrust lever actions...

My 2cents