Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Second Rifle for a 2-gun Safari

The .375 and.450 Rigby. If on the very slim chance your .450 Rigby ammo is lost,you can still carry on your hunt with the .375 H&H.

While I have only been to Africa twice, I never recall wishing the hole in the muzzle of my rifle was smaller. Now I was not on the kind of hunt that allows you to shoot many shots each day, so recoil was not a factor.

I get the same feeling walking out in the dark when hunting around Yellowstone NP and cutting bear tracks.

There is always a bunch of .375 ammo rattling around a safari camp, if worse comes to worse.

i've been 4 times. only taken a 375 H&h the last 3 times. Its done everything ive needed.

Townsend Whelen once wrote, "The .30-06 is never a mistake." He was commenting on general use for big game in North America, and was correct. While Whelen never hunted in Africa, he could have made the same comment about the .375 H&H over there. Unless, of course, somebody is obsessed with the so-called "Tiny Ten"....

I've used .375's as both the "light" and "heavy" rifle on 2-rifle safaris, and it has always done the job whether game weighed 50 pounds or 1500.

I am a total novice on africa, having never been there. But on non dangerous game I cannot imagine shooting an animal with a 270 or bigger at less than 300 yards in the lungs or heart and having it not be enough and not do the job. Yikes. Obviously a whole nother league

Not saying anyone is wrong just voicing my ignorance and confusion

John,

I believe there is consensus on the 375H&H as the 2nd rifle. I agree.

The rifle I’ve selected is a Win pre-64 transitional model (DOM 1948) which I was fortunate to find some years ago. It was shipped from the factory with a FS, rear Lyman peep, and the 25¨barrel. It was sold in Seattle to the original owner as described and came to me with a G&H detachable side mount which originally held a Weaver 2.5X scope in the rings. That’s how I bought the rifle. I’ve put together a 2nd detachable set of rings from G&H mounting a Leupold 1.75-6x32 scope which is my favorite on the medium medium cartridge class and will be the setup for this trip. What better way to bid farewell to African safaris than with a 375H&H pre-64 Win M-70 in hand?

The response to my inquiry has been both surprising and greatly helpful in reaching the decision on the 375H&H as the 2nd rifle.

John, I appreciate and greatly value your counsel.

um, heck yeah!

Giraffes are no slouches and I'd call thin skin+. I'd use the 450 on the giraffe and frankly just a 300 on the rest. Even with a 375 on giraffe you can expect a second shot at a hip running away more often than you'd think.

Giraffes are, in fact, classified as pachyderms. Their skin is as thick as the elephants and hippos, so the same type of bullet is required. I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to have shot several giraffes in the past. The first was a classic first-shot shoulder shot on a very large, mature ‘black bull’ with a solid Barnes 400 grain 0.423¨ bullet. Follow up with a Swift A-Frame to the neck ended it. Unfortunately, this hide was burned up in a fire that destroyed the exporter’s warehouse, so I lost my skin. This is the reason I am planning on a similar bull on my last safari.

On a subsequent trip I was able to do some giraffe shooting for meat for the workers at a large agricultural concern in Zim. These were smaller giraffes, so all shots were neck or head with a 300WSM and 180 gr Nosler PPTs. This worked well, but tracking and hunting wary, large, mature bulls and shooting for meat are 2 very different propositions. That’s the reason I’ve been concerned about the 2nd rifle.

I am now persuaded from the input here, that the 375H&H is the way to go. I’ll probably load Barnes 300 gr Banded Solids for the tracker to carry in the 375 as backup on elephant and for me to use on the initial shot at the giraffe’s shoulder; then load SPs for follow ups. Haven't decided yet whether the SPs will be A-Frames or Noslers. It will depend on how well I can get the SPs to shoot close POI to the solids.

Because this 375 has a peep and a detachable scope, I may just zero the peep with the solids and the scope with the SPs. We’ll see as the loads are developed.

Yup. People were scratching their heads why I was told to bring solids for my 375 on a lion hunt.

They weren't for the lion, they were for the bait.........giraffe.

I wound up using my 300 Win on my lion as the 350 gr TSX weren't opening up enough and acted more like solids- not what u want on a "thin skinned" lion.

PS Didn't matter, the lions were finicky and prefered zebra anyway. Don't blame them one bit, zebra is tasty & tender........

Wildcatter264

WOW some extremes. As you are looking for suggestion, everyone has an idea, however it is in your ball park to make a decision on what you take.

1st rifle
Your 450 for elephant will do the job provided you do your job and have good bullet placement. Scope or open sight, both should be a fun hunt. If you are using a scope, may i suggest you have it sighted for 25 to 50 Yards as you will usually shooting at under 20 yards.

2nd rifle
I would take the 338 WM and Barnes 225 factory loads. sight it dead on for 200 yards and your good to 300 + yards, or what you set as your limits, i limit my shooting to 350 yards and under off shooting sticks.

Using the above, i have taken two shots and 2 giraffes. one giraffe dropped in it tracks, the other giraffe went about 20 yards and fell over. Study a giraffe make up for good shot placement.

+1 for the 375

...........................Dunno if I'll ever see Africa or not. But! You can borrow my 338-378 Bee Accumark and tell me later how she did.........LOL>>>LOL

On DG hunts, I brought a .416 Rigby and a .470 N.E.: except for leopard

For leopard, a .338 Win.; with a .470 as a back up.

For PG, either a .300 Win or a .30/06.

Those worked for me.

I never hunted with a .375.

The .458's have a lot of bullets available for them. Why not load try a 300gn TSX for the smaller stuff, and then a 500-550gn for big critters. You could sight in for the 300gn bullets, and the 500's might only be an inch or 2 low at 50 yards where DG is shot. Might be easier to carry 1 rifle and 2 different loads than 2 rifles.

We all have our prejudices.....and I'm no exception.
1. IMO the .375 H&H will handle anything you point it at....and at some extended ranges as well. It's also classic African and that counts for something.....
2. The giraffe is also a large animal and the .375 might want to go on that hunt as well.

3. Sable and warthog are not at all that large....and if it's me hunting them, my .30-06 is what I'd like to be toting.....

Don't forget....your PH will likely be toting a heavy double on the ele hunt and others as well....just for safety sake. Count on him, but don't forget.....the .30-06 is no slouch and can easily handle very large and tough critters too.

Bear in mind that the most used cartridge to kill ele in Africa is the AK-47....(used by poachers) and it's no where near the punch of the .30-06

The other reason for this choice is that both .375 H&H and .30-06 ammo is found anywhere ammo is sold in Africa.....many other fine cartridges are not and that includes the .300 WSM and the .300 H&H.....

The .30-06 may be a tad boring, but it's still a fine choice for anything on the planet.....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


This.....make sure both rifles will work on anything, at anytime....

I've never been to Africa and doubt I'll make it. But having talked to a few folks that have gone. I suspect my choice would be the 375 H&H main gun to handle just about everything and a nice drilling in 16ga/16ga/7x57R, I've been told there is some fair bird shooting around camp and the 7x57 should handle anything that you think the 375 is too much gun for.

Something like this

Interesting idea. I believe I can borrow a shotgun from my outfitter, though I don’t shoot birds, so doubt this will happen.

As to the original question, circumstances have changed a bit. My elephant rifle will be the same type as the one I used for a bull elephant a few years back, a Krieghoff 500 NE 3” SxS. I have a lot is components and loads that work so this will work out.

The 2nd rifle is largely going to boil down to the way a couple of my rifles shoot and handle. Right now I’m working with a Win M-70 375H&H, my standby Ruger Hawkeye African 404-375 Ruger, and a CZ 9.3x62 CZ 550. Hope to decide in the next 3-4 weeks so I can sort out the SAPS permits with plenty of time to spare.