Your favorite 2 rifle and 1 shot gun combination

IvW
The .500 Nitro Express calibre double barrel rifle which you desire ... Will it be an over under as well ?

It would be SxS

As for 450/400 NE and smaller O/U as regulation is easier and fitting qd scope mounts a lot easier which increases versatility and longer range shooting
 
I would choose a Czech trio that I have already:
For big game, CZ550 AHR upgrade #3 in .375 H&H and with a Karl Kaps fixed 4x scope in Talley QD mounts, and good open sights. Loaded with 300 gr. Swift A frames, or Barnes TSX for most game and flat nosed brass solids for the biggest game.
For plains game, a light and trim CZ ZKK600 30-06 Customized by Chris Griesbach, with custom stock and metal work, 1.5-6x Meopta scope in Talley QD mounts, also equipped with a peep sight and loaded with Norma Oryx 180 gr.
For birds, a rather plain but very rugged and well fitted and balanced Zbrojovka Brno ZP49 12 ga. 2-3/4" SxS sidelock with 28" barrels, IC/ Mod, (1/4 - 1/2 choke) straight grip stock. Ammunition varies with species hunted, but I mostly use #6 shot, and moderate field loads.
I could reasonably hunt the world with those three.
Why , you chose exactly the identically same calibres which l chose , Long Walker .
A .30-06 Springfield
A .375 Holland & Holland magnum
A side by side shot gun of 12 calibre ( although , l prefer 3 inch chambers , as a matter of personal choice )
 
Fascinating choices. I hear a good deal about the .450 Rigby . It is a relative newcomer to the world of sporting cartridges. How is it , as a cartridge ?
Mannlicher rifles are very well made . During my time , l had many clients bring them in .256 Mannlicher and .375 Nitro Express . Back then , they used to have a rotary magazine . New models , according to what l have read on the internet, now use a box magazine.

Regular box magazine on the Manlicher, but it's made of plastic which I don't love. Also the mag release is almost too easy to operate if you know what I mean.

The .450 Rigby is pretty versatile in the dangerous game arena. It has a lot of case capacity, and most factory loads operate at much lower pressures than the comparable .458 lott. If you hand load, or buy premium Norma Ammo it can almost replicate a .460 weatherby performance. I also really like Sako's, this one can put four down, and one up. Shoots like a dream too. The Recoil is not for the faint of heart though; it makes my .416, and my .375 feel like pop guns.
 
Spike T
I will be honored to meet such a gentleman as yourself. You were one of the first friends l ever made on these forums . Does Zambia offer bull elephants or at least tuskless cow elephants ?

There is elephant hunting including for tuskless
 
Good evening , gentlemen. As many of you know , l contribute regularly to these forums in the article section , ever since l joined almost 2 weeks ago. I will be writing another article on these forums in 2 days , involving rifle calibres.
But , before we begin , l would like to collect some data for this article from all of you gentlemen ( who reply to this post ) as to your favorite rifle calibres. However , if l merely said favorite rifle calibres , indeed it would be a very broad question to answer . So , l am going to set up some perimeters to this discussion .
For the purposes of this discussion , you must each list 2 rifles and 1 shot gun , the combination of which you consider to be your favorite battery for plains game , wing shooting and dangerous game . You can keep it simple , by just mentioning the calibres . Or you can ( hopefully ) be a little descriptive by referencing the make and models and your choice of ammunition.
Let us begin. I will start with my personal favorites .
Taking into account all the game of India ( dangerous or otherwise ) and the calibres which my clients would bring into India , during my career as a professional shikaree in Nagpur, India from 1961 to 1970 , my choices are :
Rifles :
1) A pre 64 Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 Springfield , using the 220 grain Remington Core Lokt soft point bullet
2) A pre 64 Winchester Model 70 in .375 Holland and Holland magnum, using both the 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft point cartridge and the 300 grain Winchester solid metal covered bullet.
Shot gun :
12 calibre side by side shot gun made in Belgium with 3 inch chambers , twin triggers and and 28 inch long barrels ( left : full choke , right : modified choke ) . Ejectors would would be nice , but my own personal shot gun has extractors and l was never disappointed with it. This gun would use both shot for birds , and Eley Alphamax Lethal Ball cartridges, for mammals larger than a mouse deer ( which l would , and still do kill , with triple A cartridges )

I hope that you all will contribute to this thread .
Yours sincerely,
Major Poton Khan ( Retired )
Poton
After read this thread it is nice to dream of all these beautiful rifles like Rigby, Krieghoff etc but being of humble means I would have to settle on 2 .
The 35 Whelan with accubonds for PG and 310 grain woodleigh soft nose and solids or the hydraulic stabilized woodleigh for the bigger stuff. This may seem under gunned but I would feel comfortable using my choice even on daga boys and elephant.

12 gauge Huglu (CZ Redback I think)
If I could afford it my choice would be to build a 404 Jeffery on a P14 action I have spare. But it's only a dream. I would prefer to put the money towards another PG trip.
Keep well major
Bob Nelson
 
1 - Uberti 1885 Courteney Stalking Rifle, 24" barrel single shot .303 British

2 - H&H Webley action 26" barrel single shot, .375 H&H Flanged (see my profile pic)

3 - H&H hammerless back action sidelock double, 30" 12ga
 
Of what I have:

7x64 on a Mausingfield for plains game.
404J on an FN Commercial action for the big stuff
12b over under Browning B525 28” barrel multichoke for winged game. Maybe keep some buck shot and genuine Brenneke slugs for routling around in the brush for pigs.

If I could get by with any choice:

PG: the 7x64 is a bit of a long range toy. Maybe a Winchester M70 in 30-06 would be handier

DG- leave as is

Shotgun - maybe take my BPS as it just shoots where I look
 
FN Commercial 98 lightened, full custom by CP Donnelly 257 Ackley Improved
Winchester M70 (1953) full custom by Tipton Burns 404 Jeffery
Parker 0 frame 16 ga restocked English Walnut.

Possibly photos to follow if requested
 
FN Commercial 98 lightened, full custom by CP Donnelly 257 Ackley Improved
Winchester M70 (1953) full custom by Tipton Burns 404 Jeffery
Parker 0 frame 16 ga restocked English Walnut.

Possibly photos to follow if requested

Very nice!

Got an FN Commercial 257 Roberts myself
 
FN Commercial 98 lightened, full custom by CP Donnelly 257 Ackley Improved
Winchester M70 (1953) full custom by Tipton Burns 404 Jeffery
Parker 0 frame 16 ga restocked English Walnut.

Possibly photos to follow if requested
Yes please send photos!
 
Poton
After read this thread it is nice to dream of all these beautiful rifles like Rigby, Krieghoff etc but being of humble means I would have to settle on 2 .
The 35 Whelan with accubonds for PG and 310 grain woodleigh soft nose and solids or the hydraulic stabilized woodleigh for the bigger stuff. This may seem under gunned but I would feel comfortable using my choice even on daga boys and elephant.

12 gauge Huglu (CZ Redback I think)
If I could afford it my choice would be to build a 404 Jeffery on a P14 action I have spare. But it's only a dream. I would prefer to put the money towards another PG trip.
Keep well major
Bob Nelson
Those are some mighty sensible choices , Bob. Your .35 Whelen is ballistically quite similar to the traditional European 9.3 x 62 Mauser , which l am intimately familiar with ( it uses a 286 grain bullet ) . It should be a nice plains game cartridge. If it were legal to use , l am confident that with appropriate bullets and critical shot placement , it could certainly kill both elephants and cape buffaloes with the 300 grain solid metal covered bullets ( However , l would personally opt for something a little larger , like a .476 Westley Richards ) . As a small piece of trivia , in Bangladesh , our forest department officers occasionally need to shoot the odd rogue elephant which may be attacking the people living in the villages surrounding the Sundarban forest . They use their issued .303 calibre Lee Enfield bolt service rifles and 215 grain monolithic solid bullets made by the Australian company , Woodleigh . The bullets are specially loaded by workers at the Bangladesh Ordinance Factories for the forest department officers.
Your 12 calibre Huglu is a Turkish shot gun , yes ? Is it an over under model ?
While l have no experience with the .404 Jeffery calibre , my search on the internet has led me to believe that it is a ballistically identical bolt rifle version of the .450/ 400 Nitro Express calibre which l do have personal experience with and highly endorse as a large game calibre . I do have plenty of personal experience with the Pattern 14 rifle action and it is 1 of my favorite rifle actions of all time , 2nd only to the pre 64 Winchester Model 70 action.
 
1 - Uberti 1885 Courteney Stalking Rifle, 24" barrel single shot .303 British

2 - H&H Webley action 26" barrel single shot, .375 H&H Flanged (see my profile pic)

3 - H&H hammerless back action sidelock double, 30" 12ga
My , my . Single shot rifles. You like a challenge , don’t you ?
Also , English Holland & Holland side lock... extremely sophisticated. Does yours have 2.5 inch chambers or 2.75 inch chambers ?
 
Of what I have:

7x64 on a Mausingfield for plains game.
404J on an FN Commercial action for the big stuff
12b over under Browning B525 28” barrel multichoke for winged game. Maybe keep some buck shot and genuine Brenneke slugs for routling around in the brush for pigs.

If I could get by with any choice:

PG: the 7x64 is a bit of a long range toy. Maybe a Winchester M70 in 30-06 would be handier

DG- leave as is

Shotgun - maybe take my BPS as it just shoots where I look
Very fascinating choices , Scrumbag. The only 7 mm calibres which l have personal experience with , are 7 mm Remington magnum and 7 x 57 mm Mauser . How does the 7 x 64 mm calibre compare with the 7 mm Remington magnum or 7 x 57 Mauser calibre ? Also you chose an FN Mauser action for your .404 Jeffery calibre ? Is it the early control round feed actions with the bolt guide ? Or the post 1970 push feed version without the bolt guide ?
 
FN Commercial 98 lightened, full custom by CP Donnelly 257 Ackley Improved
Winchester M70 (1953) full custom by Tipton Burns 404 Jeffery
Parker 0 frame 16 ga restocked English Walnut.

Possibly photos to follow if requested
Yes , please ! During my career , most of my American clients used to prefer 12 or 20 calibre shot guns . It is interesting that you prefer a 16 calibre shot gun. The 16 calibre was an extremely popular shot gun calibre for my continental European clients.
 
DSC_0647A.jpg
DSC_0649A (2).jpg
DSC_0651A.jpg
 
Very fascinating choices , Scrumbag. The only 7 mm calibres which l have personal experience with , are 7 mm Remington magnum and 7 x 57 mm Mauser . How does the 7 x 64 mm calibre compare with the 7 mm Remington magnum or 7 x 57 Mauser calibre ? Also you chose an FN Mauser action for your .404 Jeffery calibre ? Is it the early control round feed actions with the bolt guide ? Or the post 1970 push feed version without the bolt guide ?

The 7x64 is not that far off a 7mm Rem mag but not quite as punchy. It and the 280 Rem are basically a .30-06 case necked down to 7mm (Length and case capacity are awfully close)

The 7x64 tends to be throated long and with a fast twist, 1:8.7 barrels (Seems a funny ration until you consider it is something like 1:220mm) so shoots long heavy bullets well.

Another way to think of it is a .270W that can shoot the wider choice (particularly heavier) 7mm bullets.

The .404 Jeffery is a bit of a strange beast.

It's a controlled round feed FN Herstal receiver and the Barrel states that it was built by Dumoulin for Parker Hale. That's the slightly odd bit as most consensus is that all PH 404Js were built on Santa Barbara actions.

Best guess is that the rifle was part of an order built for Parker Hale when PH didn't have the capacity for the order but it's something of a mystery.

Scrummy
 
.404 Jeffery in a CRF bolt action

can’t decide between a 6.5x55 or .275 Rigby

Can’t decide between a Grulla or AyA 16 gauge SxS or my FABARM L4S Initial Hunter. It’s the wood stocked one.
F815DC08-56B9-440D-9465-09B214E2DF3C.jpeg
 
My , my . Single shot rifles. You like a challenge , don’t you ?
Also , English Holland & Holland side lock... extremely sophisticated. Does yours have 2.5 inch chambers or 2.75 inch chambers ?

Hi, Khan--it is 2.75" - I really lucked out on that one, since it takes practically any store-bought 12ga.
 
Assuming ANY game in India, I would bring

1. .404 Jeffery Mauser
2. 7 X 57mm Model 70 (CRF)
3. Henry Atkin 12 gauge (2-1/2")
 
My three gun battery would be.
.270win Remington 700lh bdl
.340 weatherby mark v lazer mark
28 bore sxs
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,624
Messages
1,131,389
Members
92,682
Latest member
OmaMcGill
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top