Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Seeking double rifle advice

One thing I haven't seen emphasized in this post enough is rifle fit.

I believe the best double on the market is the Searcy ... My .470 was regulated for 108 grs. of IMR-4831 and clocked my chronograph at 2245 FPS..Hard to shoot, recoil was hanious to say the least, so I loaded it down with RL-15, with a filler to 2020 FPS and it shot to the same POI, which most Searcy rifle will do ...

Ray, this info is real helpful. What bullet was your 470 Searcy regulated with? In looking at the recoil calculation the 2245 FPS load in an 10.5 lb rifle is about 75 ft-lbs (a real bruiser) while the 2020 fps RL-15 load is about 57 ft-lbs (much easier for a follow-up shot).

Do you have any opinion on the 470NE 2020 fps load for use on elephant? I know you're OK with the 450-400 on elephant, but for a DR to be used on elephant only - not on buffalo - would your choice be the 450-400 over the 470NE at 2020 fps?

As you may know the Krieghoff DR doesn't offer a 450 3 1/4" chambering (my preferred choice) so if this DR were my choice, this question would be important. I'm not considering the 500-416 chambering because IMHO it's not a sufficient step up in power and penetration from the 450-400.

I have a lot of experience elephant hunting, at least compared to most sport hunters who do it only for the fun and aren't Ph's. Your comment on the second page of this thread about loosing perspective with an optical sight is so true. No matter how low the magnification - even 1x - a scope, even shot with both eyes open, obscures a whole lot in front and to the left for a righty. There is a huge blind spot more than large enough to hide an elephant coming through the bush. (And that is a real possibility with the chaos that can occur at close range when the wind shifts or occurs after you drop an ele from a herd.)

But those with aging eyes no longer up to open sights aren't too handicapped if they instal a Doctor style red dot from what I have heard from a couple of guys. In maybe five years I am going to have to instal an apperature or maybe the Doctor. I will try the very large apperature option first though.

As for double rifles and elephants, the big bore double rifle is the perfect elephant hunting rifle, imo. A bolt will do the job. For buff, a scoped bolt is more versatile, but a double is a hell of a lot more fun.

On ejectors vs. extractors, the PING!!! of brass ringing when it is thrown by ejectors will have any remaining eles keyed into your general direction. The nuzzle blast doesn't pin point you, since it reverberates and causes confusion, but that PING will definitely do it. For the most part, remaining bulls will be bugging out, but cows can get ornery as hell.

Though I've been pinpointed by a herd matriarch because of ejectors a couple of times and had to do some running to avoid either shooting more elephants out of self defense or getting squashed, I would still rather have ejectors than extractors. They're faster for the reload, and I would rather have a loaded rifle and pissed off elephants who have an idea of where we are than an unloaded rifle and pissed off elephants who might catch a wiff or?

Skip the 450/400. A great option for buff, but not for elephants, imo. For more than a century, ~480grs and ~2100fps have proven to be the bottom end (and most useful all around) of reliable stopping rifles. (Others define stopping rifes as those with no less than 400 grains and ~5,000 ft/lbs of energy. The 416 Remington and Rigby would fit, but the 450/400 is woefully short of this mark at less than 4,000 ft/lbs from real rifles.) A stopping rifle is what an elephant hunter needs, imo. First elephant hunt or 20th elephant hunt or 100th elephant hunt, sooner or later you will be charged for real. Maybe your Ph will be in position to handle it, maybe not... Maybe your shot will be perfect, maybe not, maybe you will have a clear shot, maybe not... An elephant isn't impossible to stop with a less than perfect brain shot, but you ought to be using the cartridges proven up to it over the last century and more.

BTW, I've stopped a bull at seven yards and a cow at seven yards. Neither stopping shot was a prefect brain shot, but they worked! Don't forget, self defense begins within ten yards.

Best of luck with your selection.

JPK