Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Next Rifle?

Go with a 20 mill a meter cannon .Best of both worlds

I use 250 gr. up to 325 gr. bullets in my 9.3x62 so the next logical step up for me was to get a 458 Lott which handles bullets from 300 gr. to 550 gr. I personally have no need for more than one big bore so the 458 Lott was a great choice to handle everything very big and nasty.

Hows the recoil on that bad boy? I'm sure it can be loaded down milder?

1st up will be a .270........2nd will be a .375 Ruger.....both in an FN Mauser package with McMillan stocks.....parts are being accumulated.

If you want bigger than .375 H&H, I'd go .416 Rigby if you plan to handload. If not go .416 Rem Mag. Bigger than that, you could go .458 Lott :)If you win the lotto, .470 NE

A full power 500gr. load in 458 Lott kicks alott ! But the good thing about 458 Lott is that its easy to download and with 350 gr. bullet it does not kick that bad.

Thats a chunk of lead flying either way! The only thing this post did was add a couple more wants to the list although the 20 mike mike is out of the question.

I'd go 416 Rem mag--and I did. My Rem 700 goes right at 10 lbs scoped with a 30 mm tube Kahles 1.5-6 in Warne QD rings. Last group I shot from the bench at 100 yds went 0.98" for 3 shots. 400 gr Partitions, book max charge of W760 in new R-P brass. No sissy pad, just wearing a t shirt--and pants too . Recoil pushes you back a bit but is not painful at all. If you want to go lighter, 300 gr bullets can be shot at 2900 fps+.

My 375 goes 8 lbs 4oz stuffed and slung, 270gr Speers prone aren't anything to worry for a second about. Trajectory like an '06, with 100gr more bullet. I'll take it.

Next rifle???? Hell, I haven't final chambered, much less bedded, the last(rebarrelled) rifle, from 2 years ago... a '98 action.

I really gotta get around to that, since I did it for caribou hunting up here... (27 inch hvy bbl in '06 - old .270 bbl SMOA ruined by storage in a wet basement - thank you, brother! One really should not loan rifles to CO. relatives for 22 years or so, if at all)

Stupid caribou don't know they are currently being shot with a 17 inch bbl RU 77 '06, it seems...

I've got to agree with Tanner here. I cant ever see needing anymore than a .375 in North America. I know several old timmers up here that has killed everything in Alaska for the last 50 years with a .270 winchester. I feel like .375 H&H is almost a little much. It would be my choice if I had to go big though...

If I had to sell every rifle I own, I'd keep the 375, more than likely. It just does everything so well.

If it were me (and I'm getting close to being in the same boat as the OP) my choice would be the 458 Win Mag. There is a wealth of data in many books and online for reduced loads. You could be shooting cheap cast bullets around the 1000fps mark for about 12ft-lbs of recoil, or 243 Win levels, to start with. You can load up the 300-405gr bullets meant for the 45/70 and load those from old trapdoor levels to much stronger loads meant for 1895's and Ruger No. 1's, and even surpass those. Don't think you'd ever find a person that says the 45/70 is too much for North America. And you also have the choice of going full bore elephant loads with the premium 450-500 range.

All in all, a surprisingly flexible option IF you are a hand loader. Fun plinking, varmints and small game all the way up to Brontosaurus, just a matter of bullets and powder!

I feel like the 9.3 is so close to a 375 and if I hunted anything bigger than plains game I might as well use a 416 Rem or 458. I reload for everything so thats not a problem as long as the components are readily available. I have it narrowed down to these to calibers since I can find a CZ or Winchester in them quite easily.

I'd also like to have a 416 of some sort, Ruger or Rem most likely, but I see that as being farther down the line. The 458 idea has really grown on me lately. With the flexible loading the rifle can really do it all! One way I helped convince myself...go look at Midway's bullet selection. 6 pages of 458 bullets from 250-600gr. Some only around .30 per shot, others over a buck per bullet. Brass is a bit expensive IMO, which baffles me because various other Win Mag brass can be had much cheaper. Maybe the 4 and 5 in the head stamp cost more then 3's, 0's and 7's lol

Thats a good point especially as brass, copper materials seem to continue to rise. Did some research on the 458 and some say the powder clumps together and doesn't burn correctly? Didn't know if this was old problems or something that continues? Could be internet rumor also?

If the choice was between 375h&h and 9.3- I would ditch that 9.3. 375 is flatter, faster, and with more energy. Wooly mamoths are extinct last I checked. You dont need a 458.

I try to tell myself I don't need a bigger caliber but the want is there to round out the battery of rifles. Realistically I don't need anything bigger than my 30.06 but what would be the point of that. I am planning a trip to Africa but only after plains game so I know I could do it all with the 06 but I will take the 9.3 x 62 just a little bit different?

Save the money you would spend on a new rifle and put it towards the hunt. You won't regret it.

The 416 Remington fits 3 rounds in the mag in standard magnum actions (338 WM, 375 H&H size) while a 416 Rigby really needs a Magnum Action to fit 3 down and feed well etc..