Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Tell Me About The 404 Jeffrey

I never thought I'd like mixing SS and blue, but it sorta grows on ya.

DF

Ya gotta find someone to nursemaid all those cows and go hunting...

DF

You got that right DF, need to go out to the shop and jam that 4' pipe wrench in the gears of this slave camp and hook a$$.

Gunner

I ran around 650 mamma cows at the peak. Right now, I have zero cows. Some land has been sold, the rest is leased out.

650 is good, zero is better...

As high as they are right now, cashing out would have it's own reward.

And, for sure, that would fund several safari's and a few brown bear hunts thrown in...

Best of all, it would buy you some TIME, the most precious commodity of all...!

DF

So DF, which one are you going to take for Nilgai? The .404 or 9.3x62??

LOL DF, but Wifey says I gotta keep the moo moo's and the trucks for some sort of write off laddered annuity BS, smart folk confuse the hail outta me.

But you are perzactly right, no amount of money can ever buy ya time.

Gunner

Good question, FOst.

I guess the 9.3. Wouldn't want to kill them too dead...

Plus, the 9.3 will be a pound lighter than the .404J.

I've been studying bullets. I think those soft cup and core Hawk 350 gr. .404 bullets would be great for soft skinned stuff. Check them out on line if you're not already familiar with them. They look interesting for local hunting with a big boomer.

I'm probably going to work up 250 NAB loads for the 9.3. Those have great B.C.'s and the 500 yd trajectory is really good for a medium bore. They have 1,800 ft. pounds of K.E. at 500 yds. and one turn of a CDS will reach out that far.

DF

Of the regrets one may have at the end of life's journey, not having spent enough time at the office certainly isn't on the list ...

It's hard to do a safari, using a walker...

DF

Either rifle will obviously suffice! However, Nilgai are extremely wary and spook easily. The lighter rifle might make for a more enjoyable hunt as one can spend a tremendous amount of time stalking those antelope.

My first hand experience with .366 250gr. AB is rather limited. I've heard from some extremely reliable folks that it penetrates and hold together well.

I've used the 250gr. TSX with excellent results. I like the 286gr. Nosler Partition. I personally haven't seen much of a velocity increase (less than 100fps) with the 250gr. bullets, so I've settled on using 286gr. NP for everything.

I have the TSX and the NPT, both will be tried.

The 250 NAB has the best B.C. and think it may be good at longer ranges. That's all moot until I see which bullets the gun likes. I'm just thinking ahead.

Check out Hawk bullets and let me know what you think. They're soft lead with a soft copper jacket, made to different thicknesses for different applications. They're reportedly accurate and expand nicely, good for thinner skinned game, like whitetails.

I'd use tougher bullets on Nilgai and Gemsbok.

DF

Yeah, or keepin' a 577 Nitro from knockin' me outta my new Camo 4X4 power chair with sand bags on the dash.

Gunner

OHHHH, I love to bust a Big Bull Nilgai with those 320 gn Woodleigh's @2400 fps outta my 9.3X62, anybody know how they taste?

They are in the Antelope family, No?

Gunner

They are indeed in the antelope family. In fact, the second largest. And they taste pretty darn good.

Those Nilgai are BIG antelope...

So, why would you use your little ole 9.3, when you have a 577...??

DF

Causin I aint bloodied the 9.3 yet. I done HULLED an armydiller [and I mean hulled] wit my 577.

Gunner

Spectin' the Eland over on the Dark Continent would be the Heavy-weight champ?

Gunner

Nilgai are big, Eland are REALLY BIG...

Like twice or more bigger.

Haven't killed either one, but quite motivated to do so, getting all geared up.

DF

I'm sweatin' pure green envy here DF. Good Luck and Better Hunting, Bro.

Gunner

They're not much of a "wall hanger", but the trophy is in the hunt itself (can be extremely challenging) and the meat.

A good friend of mine had a young bull several years ago that was bottle raised. Dang thing must have thought itself a dog! Very friendly and loved to be petted and scratched behind the ears.

Nice lookin' critter Fost, bettin' a full grown Bull may provide 5' of backstrap per side about the size of a mans calf.

Gunner