This may get a few members hackles up, its about their loved rifles.

[bowji john]

Yes indeed. I had in mind shooting open sights at 25m Thats what I was doing offhand with the double apart from checking zero of scoped .375 at 75m. 25m being what we got into with elephant, sometimes closer - certainly gets the pulse racing!

S

Funny how you don't feel the recoil when the wheels are coming towards you

 

[sh1kar]

Absolutely, or even the first shot! I well remember with Ron when he was regulating the .500 having to fire multiple shots right and left while he worked his magic Took us 2 sessions as I just couldn't deal with more than 10 rounds in a session and went home with my head ringing in spite of ear defenders and a tender shoulder. Barely recall the shots at buffalo, too busy getting the shot right, watching reaction and looking for opportunity to get another in
S

 

[CarlW]

Thanks but no thanks. I am fully responsible for making the shot and managing the downstream events. (I appreciate the PH's perspective needs to include client safety, but I will not be actively outsourcing my own responsibilty to be competent and prepared, including reliable rifle)

A good attitude to have, in life as well as in hunting! However, the backup will always be there beside you: often giving one the confidence to take such a view.

 

[Greener Jim]

I have absolutely zero experience with dangerous game however I'd take pretty much anything that I felt comfortable was reliable. Sure a mauser has less to go wrong than a push feed but then a mauser is just a club if the trigger breaks, which can be remedied by a double trigger double rifle but then the ejectors can fail and cause issues so you need a double trigger double rifle with extractors only.
So unless one is running such a rifle then a compromise has already been made, the fact that most PH's and clients dont use such a rig and encounter no problems is reassuring.
If I was doing it a lot and could afford something so specialised I would, however I dont and I can't so I won't

 

[artschool]

Good read. The author falls short of saying exactly WHAT is a good rifle for dangerous game. All the bolt guns seem to be trash -or at least he couldn't find one good enough to write about. I'm guessing the PH's double rifles are the only reliable, suitable rifles.~Muir

he most likely favours a Blaser.

 

[Roro]

If i was in a land where there were beasts that can kill you without breaking a sweat, i would be carrying a double rifle with double triggers. It is basically two rifles in one.

 

[J111]

I may have just scan read that but I seem to have picked up that basically CZ are the best. And to think people here are too snobby to shoot CZ CF rifles in this country!

 

[Muir]

I live in country where there are animals that can kill you without breaking a sweat. You can sarry what you will, but you'd better be able to use it with cold hearted efficiency. ~Muir

 

[Roro]

I may have just scan read that but I seem to have picked up that basically CZ are the best. And to think people here are too snobby to shoot CZ CF rifles in this country!

If cz's/brno's were made anywhere else, they would be a lot more expensive than they are. Lets face it, its not the function of a firearm that its judged by, but the price on the tag.

 

[alberta boy]

I live in country where there are animals that can kill you without breaking a sweat. You can sarry what you will, but you'd better be able to use it with cold hearted efficiency. ~Muir

Me too , and you summed it up in a nutshell .

AB

 

[Overlay]

Very interesting thread
Well written and a good read

Thanks for sharing

 

[LeftHandGuy]

It took me about two days to rework the extractor that the feed was 100% reliable and that also a cartridge thrown in from the top would chamber with the claw sliding around the rim.

That's really interesting - mine does this as-is, which I was not expecting and found out by accident. As I said above though - it did pass through the hands of a good gunsmith before being passed on to me, so I don't know if it came from the factory that way or if he worked the extractor a little without telling me as a bit of an "Easter Egg".

Either way, I'm glad I have that option too as 3 in the mag and one in the chamber is less than some DG oriented rifles and I wouldn't want to be short when facing something that might decide to do-unto-me....

 

[Greener Jim]

If i was in a land where there were beasts that can kill you without breaking a sweat, i would be carrying a double rifle with double triggers. It is basically two rifles in one.

Exactly, covers most eventualities. Though a bolt gun has 2 or 3 times the capacity so covers off the main downside to a double, doesn't have the two rifle in one contingency plan though.
Like everything with rifles, it's all a compromise.

 

[ejg]

That's really interesting - mine does this as-is, which I was not expecting and found out by accident. As I said above though - it did pass through the hands of a good gunsmith before being passed on to me, so I don't know if it came from the factory that way or if he worked the extractor a little without telling me as a bit of an "Easter Egg".

Either way, I'm glad I have that option too as 3 in the mag and one in the chamber is less than some DG oriented rifles and I wouldn't want to be short when facing something that might decide to do-unto-me....

I had never worked on or had a Mauser rifle before and just wanted to learn about them. At the same time I wanted to improve certain features. My Argentine Mauser would not feed the 308 cartridge at all (bolt was made for the 7.65x53). Trying to chamber the cartridge as a push feed might have snapped the claw. I thought it was an interesting exercise which included fitting a 45 deg safety and the need to understand how to adjust the safety. Also needed to make a bolt handle and fit it. Was a rifle just for me and I took my time. Lovely rifle now, mix of good old reliable action with ultra modern carbon fibre stock and modern military approved magazine.
edi

 

[john.d.m]

What amazes me is people buy rifles expecting to do work on them, triggers/extractors/ejectors/polishing/sorting feeding issues/ fitting after market stokes and other bits and pieces, the list goes on, perhaps I`ve been fortunate and never had any of these things to do.
All my rifles I`ve bought them, fitted scopes , zeroed them and away I went. And yep, if I fortunate to get to Africa again, I`d just check zeroes and away I`d go.

 

[ejg]

Well John, some are just not satisfied with standard, their is always potential for improvement.
edi

 

[takbok]

If I ever need more firepower I'll get an additional 9.3x62 or similar barrel for my Tikka T3. Job done.

 

[alberta boy]

I had never worked on or had a Mauser rifle before and just wanted to learn about them. At the same time I wanted to improve certain features. My Argentine Mauser would not feed the 308 cartridge at all (bolt was made for the 7.65x53). Trying to chamber the cartridge as a push feed might have snapped the claw. I thought it was an interesting exercise which included fitting a 45 deg safety and the need to understand how to adjust the safety. Also needed to make a bolt handle and fit it. Was a rifle just for me and I took my time. Lovely rifle now, mix of good old reliable action with ultra modern carbon fibre stock and modern military approved magazine.
edi

Is that the rifle you posted pics of a few years back ? If it is , I like that rifle . It's about as close to an all round rifle as you can get . It wouldn't be my first choice in a knife fight with a large bear , but I wouldn't feel defenseless . I've converted a few 98's to 308/7.62 , a magazine block really makes them feed a lot better . I basically copied the Isreali 7.62 98 conversion mag , it works perfectly .

AB

 

[alberta boy]

That's really interesting - mine does this as-is, which I was not expecting and found out by accident. As I said above though - it did pass through the hands of a good gunsmith before being passed on to me, so I don't know if it came from the factory that way or if he worked the extractor a little without telling me as a bit of an "Easter Egg".

Either way, I'm glad I have that option too as 3 in the mag and one in the chamber is less than some DG oriented rifles and I wouldn't want to be short when facing something that might decide to do-unto-me....

If you can't resolve a problem with four rounds of 375 H&H , it's probably not of this world and you shouldn't have picked a fight with it in the first place lol . Just kidding , I know what you mean .

AB

 

[howa243]

The S African game rangers rifle test involved shooting rapidly at 15 then 10 and then 5m

It was about cycling the bolt rapidly and re-engaging a 'moving target' (the wheels as they came off)

It was not about shooting the whiskers off a gnat in the neighboring country

Still a challenge though

If this is the expected range at which a PH might need to intervene, would a 12 bore with slugs not do the trick?