Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Ruger No. 1 .450/400 3"?

Do any of you boys have one? If so, have you used it "across the pond"? How is the recoil in the 9 lb. tropical?

maddog

I don't have it in the Ruger, but it is a wonderfully effective round. Mine has buffalo and elephant to its credit, and the recoil in a 10 lb double is very manageable.

Haven't taken it afield yet, but beware of factory listed "average weights".

My No 1 450/400 came in at 7.94 lbs, while the same in 405 was 8.30.

A Limbsaver is clearly indicated.

SOS

SOS, I thought those tropicals were supposed to be in the 9 lb. range. That might be a bear at under 8 lbs.

maddog

It is going to kick. A lot. Even if it goes 11 pounds, which it won't, it is more for looking at and speculating than shooting.

Mine is at 9lbs with a 1.5-5 Leupold.I have played a lot with some cast bullets and it shoots well.My factory loads are the Kynoch and Hornady,maybe I'm a little seasoned,but I don't find recoil severe,a touch more than a .375HH.I'm been shooting a .404 Jeff and several .458's for years.The new recoil pad Ruger is using now is a bit better than the old black 'Hockey Puck' from a couple of years ago.Grand old cartridge....

There are some ways to fatten a rifle up and even shift the balance point forward, rearward or keep it where it is. It's a little more difficult with the AH foreend, but a little routing will open up the channel for a mercury recoil reducer and the butt can take that same treatment. Extension rings add a few ounces too, if the look doesn't bother you.

There's still going to be meat at both ends.

If you can handle the recoil from a .375 H & H, you can handle the .450/400. When a cape buffalo is in your sights, you never feel the recoil. I can shoot my double at and pop off twenty rounds and not suffer at all. I can't say the same about my .450 #2 NE.

One of the great advantages of the .450/.400 is its relatively mild recoil. The "traditional" velocity is 2100-2150 with a 400-grain bullet, and even a 9-pound rifle isn't going to kick all that badly with that. Hornady's load is listed at 2050, which is even milder.

To me the recoil is about like a .375 H&H with 300-grain bullets, certainly not much more. I took an iron-sighted .375 No. 1 to Botswana a few years ago, weight 8-1/4, and used it on a bunch of animals with 300's at 2600 or so, no problem. Personally, I think the No. 1's perceived recoil is a little less with iron sights, since the butt is firmly under your cheek then, and there isn't as much muzzle rise.

Some guys I know have bought No. 1 .450/.400's and loaded them hot, to 2300+ with a 400-grain. This is perfectly safe in a No.1 but makes no sense to me. Why buy a .450/.400 and then make a .416 out of it?

I'm sure it would be a great rifle. I have a hard time imagining it that light, but guys have obviously weighed theirs.

Would be a beautiful Heavy-Medium double or #1. I almost think that I'd like to have one.

I have this very rifle and find it no worse to shoot than my 458 Win Mag CZ 550 with 500gr loads.

The barrel is noticeably trimmer than the 458 and 416 Tropical's, closer to the 375 but with a bigger hole. Mine balances perfectly with iron sights.

Luv mine. I've not yet started handloading for it but I'm collecting the brass by shooting the Hornady factory rounds.

Recoil is a hair more, but not by much, of a standard 300 grain 375 H&H factory round. Perhaps more like a 350 grain Woodleigh from the H&H @ around 2400....

Oh, yea - no way does it weight 9lbs...easily is lighter than that...

too dang much fun!

Most of the African game I have shot has been with the 40 calibers..The 404, 416 Rem. and with my doubles in 450-400..They all kill about the same as far as I can tell..

I will at some point buy myself a Ruger No. 1 in that caliber...

I don't see how you could go wrong with a Ruger no. 1 in either 404 Jefferys or 450-400-3"...other than some believe the single shot is not a good choice for Dangerous Game, and that may or may not be so, I have mixed emotions on that subject. The bottom line is that its an individual choice that we must make outselves, and we must live with the consequences of that choice..I, for one, can probably live with using a single shot on dangerous game.

Since we're talking Ruger No.1's - single-shots and African hunting, let's not forget the 45-70 in that rifle. It'll do the same thing in a much lighter package at sane psi. Before Ruger shortened the throat a few years back, a 400gr could be seated "out" to the bottom cannelure of the 400gr Speer, or any other premium bullet of that weight even with no cannelure, as a crimp wasn't needed anyway. Using RL-7, CUP was less than 35,000 at 2178 fps!

My first No.1 in 45-70 had the long throat (an excellent used one); my second (new)had the short throat and I promptly had it "throated" by .30". It's my favorite rifle. It'll do whatever a 458WM with a 22" tube will do! And I have a 458WM with a 25" tube, so I can easily make comparisons.

I've killed black bear with it and that's not ele or buff, but more people have been killed, maimed, etc., by black bear in NA than grizz, kodiak or polar. They can be larger and as powerful as a male lion. They bring down adult moose and cattle with no problem. There're not cuddly "teddy bears"! I've hunted more bear than anything and they can go from 0 mph to 35mph faster than you can read this! So, yes, I hunt dangerous game with a single-shot Ruger. And, I don't have to leave my province to do it.

Let the fun begin.

Landrum

CZ550
On this site good speak re 45/70 will get a lot of flack. Not ever from me as I have got 6 ft of penetration from mine in moose, and killed probably two dozen wounded pizzed off blackies when doing cleanup for outfitters. You have hunted them too as you know how quick they are, and unbelievably quiet. I live in the northwest of the province, and agree about their dangerous nature. One only has to be attacked to realize their true potential, and to not be embarrassed by shaky hands after the event.

Randy

Since nobody asked, I will. Maddog, what are you going to hunt with it? Are you planning a buff hunt?

RAC, ah well ah,

MAYBE!!

maddog

Having hunted buffalo only once, I will tell you that I absolutely positively never will hunt buffalo with any single shot rifle.

I weighted a new Ruger No. 1 in 450/400 just last weekend at a local gun shop - 7 pounds 15.8 ounces on a good digital scale. I re-weighed it four times because that's considerably lighter than listed on the Ruger website. Most of the time, rifles are a bit heavier than the factory lists. But not this time!

For conparison purposes, my Ruger No. 1 Medium Sporter in 9.3x74R weighs 7 lbs 5 oz.