Gents that is some very useful information! Goes to show you can’t take just about any factory rifle as delivered after dangerous, or even any, game without seriously going over it and trying the loads you think you want to hunt with.
Exactly. I'd recommend shooting the Big Game Rifle match down here too. Good experience for practicing rifle handling and reloading under pressure (time pressure at least, not big teeth and claw pressure), as well as discovering any other potential rifle issues.
BGR match is where I discovered that my Merkel 500NE double will fire both barrels if the rear trigger is pulled first. Unfortunately the second goes off a very short time after the first, when it is pointing skyward. And it's not all that enjoyable when that happens either. The spectators got a laugh out of it though.
