Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Africa with a NEF handi rifle[pics]

I posted about this last summer, in another forum, but thought you single shot afficianados, would get a kick out of the pics. My son and I went on our first african plains game safari, last summer. My son has always hunted with single shot rifles and shotguns, so that was what he was taking. He used a .30-06 handi rifle with Federal factory ammo, 180 gr. nosler partitions. He walked his a** off for 10 days, and here are the results, 7 one shot kills. Hope you boys enjoy the pics.



red hartebeast.



impala



warthog



zebra, with Ricco the wonder dog



Blesbok.



kudu

[img]http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii198/maddog1951/Africa%202008/IMG_1595.jpg[/img]

blue wildebeast.

maddog

WOW

and Thanks for sharing!

What kind of looks did he get from the other hunters? I think the Handis are a really good buy, and they certainly are handy but there is so much animus from the elitists that a fellow could be blackballed from hunting camp.

I am currently tuning a .25-06 Handi that belongs to one of my son's friends. I has the nicest wood I have seen on a Handi.

Leon

Leon, for starters, our party of 4 had the whole camp to ourselves. 3 of the 4 rifles taken were "unusual". Besides the handi rifle, I took my .45-70 marlin guide gun, and my buddy took his marlin xlr .308 mx. The phs had never had leveractions in camp before, and thought they were a hoot. The 4 of us took 30 head of plains game in 10 days of hunting.

maddog

Sounds like a fun trip. I like oddball guns. Oddball meaning anything outside the box. There seems to be such a stereotype of what is expected in terms of rifles. I really like your choices.

Leon

maddog;

You and your son and other hunters ought to contact Marlin/NEF (same company) about your trip. Who knows.....................

That rocks! You know, it doesn't matter what some of the elitists say, now you have proof that a ruger #1, Dakota Model 10, T/C Encore, etc. will not get the job done any better than a handi rifle since you have been to Africa to prove it!

War Eagle, don't get me wrong, I love Ruger no.1s. Hope to own 1 someday. My son isn't a gun crank, he shoots the cal./bullet combo i tell him, and goes out and kills somethin It was his idea to use the single shot handi rifle, because all his deer, and 1 bear were killed with either a handi or a tracker II 20 ga. It not only worked, but he only has $200 in the gun AND scope.

Here's a pic of all our trophies, except the zebra skins, after 10 days hunting.



maddog

Dontchaknow you can't do that you need at least 416 double barrel rifle that costs at least $50.000 to take all that game . now put it back.


PS: well done.

Maddog...Absolutely beautiful trophy's your son has there...I get a kick out of the zebra photo with that hound dog! ...I bet your son won't be selling that handi any time soon...

Actually, the rifle he was going to take[H&R Ultra-fancier handi rifle], broke 4 days before the trip[long story]. My buddy let the boy borrow his handi .30-06. The boy bought it for 2 bills after we got home!

The hound was a 3 mo.old bloodhound that they were going to train to be a tracking dog. Ricco was in the truck everyday with my son. Dan got so attached to the little feller that he got him in all his hero pics. But the one with the zebra is priceless!

maddog

Very nice post and demonstration of the Handirifle's capabilities in the right hands.

But, just write me off as an elitist, cuz I would no more go to Africa with one -- a once-in-a-lifetime shot for me-- and use it there, than I would have walked up the aisle with my bride wearing a 'wife-beater' tee-shirt,sipping white lightining from a jar.

But then that's just me...or maybe even a few more of us, if we told the truth.

1B

1B, yep, take whatever gun yer comfortable with. Thats the point, my boy took what he was comfortable with. I personally am not making a statement about elitist or not, never really took to those kind of "arguments", anyway. My son doesn't post on the gun forums, isn't a gun loonie, and just hunts what with what he likes. I probably "upchucked" a few folks when they saw I hunted over there with a Marlin GG.......oh well....

maddog

As long as the caliber is sufficient, then the make and model of a gun makes no difference..Your son used a proper caliber and a perfect bullet and shot well, and thats the bottom line on any hunt...

By the same token there is nothing wrong with an expensive double rifle if you can afford one and can shoot it, and when hunting dangerous game the whole picture changes, a double could possibly save ones life and it has in the past on more than one ocassion, it it a must?, I hae mixed emotions on the subject and have used both bolt and doubles extensively in Africa, and I guess I still perhaps lean a tad towards the Mauser in a 404 Jefferys as my favorite gun/caliber. Its lighter to pack than any double and us old'uns like "lite beer and rifles"

Ray, hellava good point! But not everybody can afford a dbl. That being said, my son might opt for a ruger no. 1, in an appropriate caliber, if we do a dangerous game hunt.[which we are looking at]. BTW, just got a text from the boy, and he killed a big moutain lion in AZ. today. I am SO proud of him!!

maddog

Ya dun good, dawg!

Ugg...95% Indian...5% arrow

Ya know, those africans certainly know the proper way to show kill shots. Clean the animal up, prop him up correctly. Excellent photos.

CWG, yer right about taking time to pose the animal. My son and I decided after that trip, to do a better job of taking pics of our deer trophies, like getting the pic before gutting[if possible], and sticking the tongue back in the mouth, etc. It certainly makes for better pics.

maddog

I think this is a great thread. A synthetic stocked .223 Handi is one of my guilty pleasures and I've had a lot of fun with it. It's wears a scope that costs $100 more than the rifle.

I had accumulated a couple thousand pieces of .223 brass that I picked up at the range and decided to get a .223 rifle to use it in. First I bought a stainless/synthetic Ruger Model 77 in .223 and shot it a bit, then I bought the Handi on a whim one day when I had a few spare dollars to blow.

I've shot the Handi a *lot* more than the 77,....not because it's a better rifle,...just because it's more fun.

There's something very satisfying about a $225, break down, .223 single shot, American made rifle with a hammer.